County Maps US

Clay County, West Virginia

A county in West Virginia, ranked 49 of 55 by population.

CountyFIPS 54015

Within West Virginia
Clay County, highlighted, with the areas around it. Boundaries generalised from the 2025 Census cartographic boundary file; neighbour fills carry no data. The dot marks Clay, the county seat, located via the 2025 Census Gazetteer.

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Population
7,538
-471 (-5.9%) since 2020
Land area
342
square miles. A further 0.5% of the total area is water
Population density
22.0
people per square mile, computed rather than published
County seat
Clay
Seat of county government.
Established
1858
167 years ago
Largest city
Clay town
Population 363.

Sources: US Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025 Population Estimates, released 26 March 2026; US Census Bureau, Gazetteer Files, 2025 Gazetteer Files, released 10 September 2025; Wikidata (CC0), Wikidata. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

Satellite view

Aerial imagery of Clay County with its boundary drawn on top. A map shows you the shape; this shows you what is inside it, and which side of the line a place falls on.

Aerial view of Clay County, West Virginia from the USGS National Map, with its boundary outlined
Imagery: USGS National Map, USGS Imagery Only, public domain, requested from USGS by your browser when you reach this point on the page, at 731 by 800 pixels. The boundary is the 2025 Census cartographic boundary file, reprojected to Web Mercator to match the imagery. You can also open the USGS National Map viewer.

Where Clay County ranks

Position among the 55 counties of West Virginia, and among all 3,144 US counties and county-equivalents. Computed from the figures on this page.

MeasureValueIn West VirginiaNationally
Population7,53849th of 552,608th of 3,144
Land area342 sq mi37th of 552,705th of 3,144
Population density22.0 per sq mi47th of 552,170th of 3,144
Median household income$42,31851st of 553,018th of 3,143

Full data for Clay County

Every figure below is attributed to the Census Bureau product it came from, with the vintage of that product.
MeasureValueSource and vintage
Population7,538Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
Population in 20208,009Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
2020 estimates base?8,051Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
Land area342 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Water area1.9 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Total area343.8 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Population density?22.0 per sq miComputed: Vintage 2025 estimates divided by 2025 Gazetteer land area
Median household income$42,318American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median home value$109,100American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median age45.4American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Households2,972American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Housing units3,961American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates

Sources: US Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025 Population Estimates, released 26 March 2026; US Census Bureau, Gazetteer Files, 2025 Gazetteer Files, released 10 September 2025; US Census Bureau, American Community Survey, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates, released 29 January 2026. Population density is computed here, not published: it divides the Vintage 2025 population estimate by the 2025 Gazetteer land area, which are two different Census products. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

How the population changed

The Census Bureau publishes the components behind an estimate, not just the total. For the year to July 2025:

Births minus deaths
-87
65 births, 152 deaths
Net migration
-67
More people moved out than moved in.

Source: US Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025 Population Estimates, released 26 March 2026. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

The 5 areas bordering Clay County

Ordered by the length of the border actually shared, which the Census Bureau publishes in its county adjacency file and which no other county reference presents.

Bordering areaStateShared borderPopulation
Nicholas CountyWest Virginia32 mi23,848
Kanawha CountyWest Virginia21 mi172,381
Braxton CountyWest Virginia17 mi11,885
Roane CountyWest Virginia8.4 mi13,317
Calhoun CountyWest Virginia4.8 mi5,978

Source: US Census Bureau, County Adjacency File, 2025 County Adjacency File, released 15 September 2025. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

All 55 counties of West Virginia

Open the interactive West Virginia county map, or jump straight to any of them.

Data on this page last rebuilt 30 August 2026. How these figures are produced.