26,424 people (2024 Census estimate, −0.0% since 2020)
358 square miles of land · 74 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.
7 active community water systems list Clay County in the area they serve, reporting 16,983 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| BRAZIL CITY WATER WORKS groundwater · local government · IN5211001 | 12,000 served |
| KNIGHTSVILLE WATER WORKS buys groundwater · local government · IN5211006 | 1,523 served |
| CLAY CITY WATER WORKS groundwater · local government · IN5211004 | 1,152 served |
| CARBON WATER CORPORATION buys groundwater · local government · IN5211002 | 1,088 served |
| CENTER POINT WATER WORKS buys groundwater · local government · IN5211003 | 625 served |
| STAUNTON MUNICIPAL WATER groundwater · local government · IN5211007 | 550 served |
| HICKORY LAKE WATER MANAGEMENT ORG buys groundwater · private · IN5211009 | 45 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 149 people were held in Clay County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2024), or 913 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2019 it was about 184.
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 $61.6 million — $51.2 million to run schools, about $12,663 per student, plus $9.3 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $11.6 million local (mostly property tax), $39.1 million state, $8.8 million federal. Long-term debt: $24.4 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 $10.6 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Relatively High; social vulnerability: Very Low.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
185 bridges in Clay County: 64 in good condition, 102 fair, and 19 poor (10.3%). “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.
| MURPHY Rd over OTTER Creek · built 1975 | 357 vehicles a day |
| CR 750S over Branch of Conneley Ditch · built 1992 | 191 vehicles a day |
| CR 400E over CROYS Creek · built 1935 | 179 vehicles a day |
| Lankford St over BR CONNELEY DITCH · built 1916 | 158 vehicles a day |
| CR 300E over VAN BUREN CREEK · built 1930 | 150 vehicles a day |
| CR 350E over CROYS CREEK · built 1930 | 150 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $8.6 million of work in Clay County in fiscal 2025, about $324 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 Indiana 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 Indiana: the state government and every county in Indiana.
Nearby counties: Vigo County (15 mi) · Owen County (16 mi) · Putnam County (23 mi) · Greene County (25 mi) · Sullivan County (26 mi) · Parke County (27 mi).