263,370 people (2024 Census estimate, +3.6% since 2020)
398 square miles of land · 662 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.
22 active community water systems list Clay County in the area they serve, reporting 678,521 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| KANSAS CITY PWS surface water · local government · MO1010415 | 553,295 served |
| LIBERTY PWS groundwater · local government · MO1010466 | 30,800 served |
| GLADSTONE PWS groundwater · local government · MO1010307 | 27,000 served |
| KEARNEY PWS buys surface water · local government · MO1010416 | 11,500 served |
| EXCELSIOR SPRINGS PWS groundwater · local government · MO1010261 | 11,084 served |
| SMITHVILLE PWS surface water · local government · MO1010748 | 10,885 served |
| RAY COUNTY CONS PWSD 2 groundwater · local government · MO1024511 | 9,360 served |
| CLAY COUNTY PWSD 6 buys surface water · local government · MO1024146 | 4,912 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 180 people were held in Clay County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2023), or 106 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2018 it was about 355.
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.
6 school districts have their office in Clay County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $393.7 million — $290.7 million to run schools, about $14,140 per student, plus $81.8 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $228.4 million local (mostly property tax), $122.9 million state, $28.6 million federal. Long-term debt: $345.7 million.
Spent $176 million — $164.3 million to run schools, about $13,288 per student, plus $3.9 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $116.8 million local (mostly property tax), $86.7 million state, $11 million federal. Long-term debt: $107.3 million.
Spent $51.5 million — $44.7 million to run schools, about $12,558 per student, plus $3.2 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $33.9 million local (mostly property tax), $21 million state, $2.1 million federal. Long-term debt: $28.5 million.
Spent $41.3 million — $34.3 million to run schools, about $12,753 per student, plus $4.6 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $19.5 million local (mostly property tax), $17.3 million state, $6.4 million federal. Long-term debt: $34.5 million.
Spent $38.5 million — $31.2 million to run schools, about $12,068 per student, plus $5 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $21.5 million local (mostly property tax), $16.8 million state, $2 million federal. Long-term debt: $42.3 million.
Spent $792,000 — $671,000 to run schools, about $35,316 per student, plus $8,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $424,000 local (mostly property tax), $324,000 state, $48,000 federal.
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: Relatively Moderate compared with other U.S. counties. FEMA estimates natural hazards cost Clay County about $112.6 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Very High; social vulnerability: Very Low.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
444 bridges in Clay County: 156 in good condition, 256 fair, and 32 poor (7.2%). “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.
| IS 29 N over RP US169S TO IS29S US 1 · built 1957 | 57,469 vehicles a day |
| IS 435 S over FK OF WILKERSON CR · built 1983 | 24,752 vehicles a day |
| US 169 N over BNSF RR · built 1956 | 21,563 vehicles a day |
| RP IS35S TO IS435S over IS 35 · built 1969 | 16,197 vehicles a day |
| MO 33 S over CR · built 1927 | 6,459 vehicles a day |
| ANTIOCH RD over ROCK CR · built 1920 | 3,371 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $-13,165,801 of work in Clay County in fiscal 2025, about $-52 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 Missouri 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 Missouri: the state government and every county in Missouri.
Nearby counties: Platte County (19 mi) · Clinton County (20 mi) · Jackson County (22 mi) · Ray County (23 mi) · Wyandotte County, KS (23 mi) · Buchanan County (31 mi).