County Maps US

Clay County, Kentucky

A county in Kentucky, ranked 63 of 120 by population.

CountyFIPS 21051

Within Kentucky
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 Manchester, the county seat, located via the 2025 Census Gazetteer.

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Population
19,465
-843 (-4.2%) since 2020
Land area
469.3
square miles. A further 0.4% of the total area is water
Population density
41.5
people per square mile, computed rather than published
County seat
Manchester
Seat of county government.
Established
1806
219 years ago
Largest city
Manchester city
Population 1,411.

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, Kentucky 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 714 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 120 counties of Kentucky, and among all 3,144 US counties and county-equivalents. Computed from the figures on this page.

MeasureValueIn KentuckyNationally
Population19,46563rd of 1201,860th of 3,144
Land area469.3 sq mi15th of 1202,194th of 3,144
Population density41.5 per sq mi83rd of 1201,641st of 3,144
Median household income$40,900106th of 1203,058th 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
Population19,465Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
Population in 202020,308Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
2020 estimates base?20,336Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
Land area469.3 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Water area1.8 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Total area471.1 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Population density?41.5 per sq miComputed: Vintage 2025 estimates divided by 2025 Gazetteer land area
Median household income$40,900American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median home value$90,700American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median age40.2American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Households7,288American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Housing units8,664American 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
-97
212 births, 309 deaths
Net migration
+5
More people moved in than moved out.

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

The 7 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
Knox CountyKentucky27 mi29,532
Leslie CountyKentucky27 mi9,627
Owsley CountyKentucky23 mi3,932
Laurel CountyKentucky23 mi63,746
Jackson CountyKentucky16 mi13,325
Bell CountyKentucky4.7 mi22,829
Perry CountyKentucky2.6 mi26,555

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

All 120 counties of Kentucky

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

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