14,239 people (2024 Census estimate, +0.2% since 2020)
604 square miles of land · 24 people per square mile
“Highest” and “lowest” are just order, not grades: a high rank for poverty or hazard losses means more of it. Each figure's source is in its section below.
5 active community water systems list Clay County in the area they serve, reporting 11,940 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| LINEVILLE WATER WORKS BOARD buys surface water · local government · AL0000268 | 3,447 served |
| ASHLAND WATER & SEWER BOARD buys surface water · local government · AL0000264 | 2,925 served |
| CLAY COUNTY WATER AUTHORITY surface water · local government · AL0000266 | 2,751 served |
| MILLERVILLE WATER & FIRE PRO AUTHORITY buys surface water · local government · AL0000270 | 1,545 served |
| HOLLINS WATER AUTHORITY buys surface water · local government · AL0000245 | 1,272 served |
Source: U.S. EPA Safe Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS), active community systems, . Look up any system's violations and test results with EPA's search using its ID.
About 51 people were held in Clay County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2021), or 580 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2016 it was about 50.
Source: Vera Institute of Justice, Incarceration Trends (built from federal Bureau of Justice Statistics jail surveys). Counties without their own jail, or that share one, may show no figure.
1 school district has its office in Clay County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $24.8 million — $21.1 million to run schools, about $11,802 per student, plus $3.2 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $3.9 million local (mostly property tax), $18.5 million state, $5.8 million federal. Long-term debt: $6.2 million.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2023 Annual Survey of School System Finances. Districts are listed by the county of their main office; some serve neighboring counties too.
Source: County Health Rankings & Roadmaps 2025 (University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute), which gathers federal data (CDC, Census, and others); measures cover different recent years. Blank lines aren't reported for small counties.
Overall risk: Very Low compared with other U.S. counties. FEMA estimates natural hazards cost Clay County about $5.9 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Relatively Moderate; social vulnerability: Very High.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
128 bridges in Clay County: 32 in good condition, 88 fair, and 8 poor (6.3%). “Poor” means a main part — the deck, the beams, or the supports — is rated 4 or lower on the federal 0–9 scale. It doesn't mean unsafe to drive; unsafe bridges are closed.
| SR 77 over WESOBULGA CREEK · built 1950 | 1,159 vehicles a day |
| BLUFF VALLEY RD over STREET CREEK · built 1963 | 233 vehicles a day |
| OLD MILL RD over CROOKED CREEK · built 1964 | 173 vehicles a day |
| REC. AREA ROAD over DRY CREEK - CHEAHA LAKE · built 1958 | 161 vehicles a day |
| PINE HOLE ROAD over CSX RAILROAD · built 1965 | 45 vehicles a day |
| MISTY LANE over HATCHETT CREEK · built 1985 | 30 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $3 million of work in Clay County in fiscal 2025, about $214 per resident — to the county, cities, schools, hospitals, nonprofits and others.
Source: USAspending.gov, grants by place of performance, fiscal 2025 (Oct. 2024 to Sept. 2025). Search it by county to see each award.
From Grants.gov: posted grants listing county governments as eligible, soonest deadline first; research-only and overseas programs left out; list updated 2026-10-13, refreshed weekly. 62 are open in all. Cities, towns, school districts and nonprofits have their own lists there.
Registration deadlines, early voting and polling places for Alabama are on the federal site vote.gov, which links to the state's official election office.
The budget, property tax rates, audits, local officials and offices for Clay County come from the county's own records, which we haven't gathered — not gathered, never hidden. See what a full county site looks like, or ask to have Clay County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of Alabama: the state government and every county in Alabama.
Nearby counties: Talladega County (19 mi) · Randolph County (23 mi) · Tallapoosa County (28 mi) · Coosa County (32 mi) · Cleburne County (34 mi) · Calhoun County (35 mi).