In Clay County, North Carolina, benefit checks have brought in more money than paychecks since 2016
In 2024, 42 cents of every dollar of income here came from benefit checks, including Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and veterans' benefits. That was a larger share than across the country.
Less distressed than 56% of U.S. counties.
What drives Clay County's score
In Clay County, income and the safety net is the highest-scoring part, at 61.0. Collections and bankruptcy is the lowest part, at 23.4. Bankruptcy filings ran at 50.6 per 100,000 people (2025), lower than in 90% of U.S. counties.
The County Distress Index looks at five parts of household money trouble in Clay County: jobs, late payments on loans, income and the safety net, collections and bankruptcy, and housing costs. Each part is scored from 0 to 100, and a higher score means worse off than other counties.
Even so, Clay County is worse off than most counties on people without health insurance (15.9%, 2020 to 2024) and adults 25 to 54 not working (27.4%, 2020 to 2024).
A longer bar means more trouble. See how the county score works.
- 61.0 of 100
Income and safety net
Biggest factorPoverty and income, 2024; disability and insurance, 2020–24 Census survey
- People below the poverty line11.5% · 202435th percentile
- Children below the poverty line19.1% · 202460th percentile
- People with a disability17.2% · 2020 to 202460th percentile
- People without health insurance15.9% · 2020 to 202491st percentile
- Median household income (lower income, longer bar)$64,569 · 202456th percentile
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- 56.6 of 100
Jobs
Unemployment through Sep 2026; adults not working, 2020–24 Census survey
- Unemployment rate, average over the latest year3.5% · Oct 2025 to Sep 202630th percentile
- Adults 25 to 54 not working27.4% · 2020 to 202482nd percentile
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- 45.9 of 100
Housing costs
Renters, 2020–24 Census survey; HUD's fair market rents, fiscal year 2027
- Renters paying half their income or more in rent17.6% · 2020 to 202447th percentile
- Rent on a two-bedroom as a share of the median income20.2% · fiscal year 202744th percentile
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- 44.3 of 100
Late payments
Credit records, August 2025; credit scores, second quarter of 2026
- People with a credit card behind5.7% · August 202553rd percentile
- People with a car or retail loan behind5.3% · August 202552nd percentile
- People with a subprime credit score34.3% · second quarter of 202627th percentile
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- 23.4 of 100
Collections and bankruptcy
Credit records, August 2025; bankruptcy filings, 2025
- People with unpaid debt sent to a collector19.6% · August 202537th percentile
- Bankruptcy filings per 100,000 people50.6 · 20259th percentile
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Sources: Urban Institute, Debt in America; Equifax via the St. Louis Fed; Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, Table F-5A; U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey; U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Fair Market Rents and Census income; U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Local Area Unemployment Statistics; Census Bureau, Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates. County Distress Index by American Default Research, from data through Sep 2026.
Where the money in Clay County comes from
Benefit checks are Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid paid on people's behalf, veterans' benefits, and food and income support, so a high share usually means an older population, low pay, or both. In Clay County, 32.8% of residents are 65 or older (Census Bureau, 2024), against 17.2% nationally that year.
Cents of every dollar of income, 2024
Clay County
North Carolina
United States
- Pay from work
- Investments and rent
- Benefit checks
In Clay County, benefit checks brought in more than pay from work in 2024, a bigger share of income than across North Carolina
In Clay County, North Carolina, benefit checks' share of income tripled from 1969 to 2024, reaching 41.5%; pay from work is plotted alongside. Every fifth year and 2024 are shown.
- Benefit checks
- Pay from work
The share of households in Clay County getting SNAP food aid had its largest drop, from 12.8% in 2011 to 9.8% in 2012.
The share of households in Clay County getting SNAP food aid was at its highest on the chart in 2018 and has since fallen to 11.2%
Low on the chart: 8.6% in 2009. Households getting SNAP, every year; each bar is a five-year survey estimate ending that year, so neighboring bars share most of their data, Clay County, North Carolina.
How Clay County has changed
Clay County's population more than doubled to 12,042, the highest on the chart
Biggest rise: 2019 to 2024, reaching 12,042. Residents, yearly estimate, every fifth year and 2024, Clay County, North Carolina.
The jobs count covers work located in the county; the population count covers residents.
The number of jobs located in Clay County doubled to 2,233, the highest on the chart
Biggest rise: 1990 to 1995, reaching 1,538. Yearly average of jobs covered by unemployment insurance, every fifth year and 2025, Clay County, North Carolina.
| Measure | Then | Now |
|---|---|---|
| Unemployment rateBLS LAUS | 1990 5.7% | 2025 3.7% |
| People below the poverty lineCensus SAIPE | 1989 16.0% | 2024 11.5% |
| Median household incomeCensus SAIPE | 1989 $18,430 | 2024 $64,569 |
The table uses 3.7% for 2025; the score uses 3.5% for the latest year (Oct 2025 to Sep 2026), both from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Figures are as each agency published them, not adjusted for prices.
Dated events in Clay County's history
1930
Gold mining 1930s. Wikipedia
1940
Chatuge Dam built by TVA early 1940s. Wikipedia
2020
The county's largest recorded population was the 2020 Census count of 11,089, which is also its most recent census. Census Bureau
2024
A thunderstorm in May 2024 killed one person. NOAA Storm Events Database
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Since 1973
13 federal disaster and emergency declarations have covered Clay County, 2 of them for flooding. FEMA
Clay County beside its neighbors
Of the five counties that border Clay County, in North Carolina and Georgia, two score higher. For the share of income from benefit checks, Clay County ranks 2nd of the six; Cherokee County is highest, at 45.0%.
| County | Score | Poverty | Benefit checks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Towns County, GA | 50 | 11.1% | 39.2% |
| Cherokee County, NC | 49 | 15.4% | 45.0% |
| Clay County, NC | 43 | 11.5% | 41.5% |
| Macon County, NC | 39 | 12.2% | 32.6% |
| Rabun County, GA | 37 | 11.7% | 29.9% |
| Union County, GA | 33 | 11.4% | 38.1% |
Distress score: American Default Research, County Distress Index, data through Sep 2026; each county scored against all 3,144. Poverty rate: Census Bureau, Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates, 2024. Benefit checks: Bureau of Economic Analysis, 2024. Neighbors share a border, from Census county maps.
Is Clay County the poorest county in North Carolina?
No, Clay County's poverty rate was 11.5% in 2024, 80th highest of 100 in North Carolina (U.S. Census Bureau, Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates). By that measure the poorest county in the state is Robeson County, at 23.7%. On our distress index, which counts more than poverty, Clay County ranks 74th of 100 in the state.
If you're behind on your mortgage in Clay County
Housing counselors approved by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development work at nonprofit agencies. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau describes free foreclosure-avoidance counseling, including help with mortgage-company conversations and available options Source CFPB.
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Legal Aid of North Carolina
Legal aid
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HUD-approved housing counselors
Our help directory lists 1,010 agencies approved for foreclosure counseling, by state.
The score, its 14 measures and their sources, in one file. Free to use with credit to American Default Research.
Sources and method
- American Default Research · County Distress Index Data through Sep 2026, built from Urban Institute, Debt in America; Equifax via the St. Louis Fed; U.S. Courts, Table F-5A; Census Bureau, American Community Survey; HUD Fair Market Rents and Census income; Bureau of Labor Statistics, Local Area Unemployment Statistics; Census Bureau, Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates. The County Distress Index is American Default Research's own calculation; the Urban Institute does not produce or endorse it. Our methodology
- Urban Institute · Debt in America Breno Braga, Signe-Mary McKernan, Samantha Atherton, and Kassandra Martinchek, "Debt in America," last updated November 20, 2025, https://datacatalog.urban.org/dataset/debt-america-2025. Licensed under ODC-By 1.0.
- Rent on a two-bedroom and household income The rent share compares HUD fair market rent for fiscal year 2027 with Census Bureau median household income for 2024. The page calls this the typical household's income.
- U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Economic Accounts (CAINC4) · income shares Where the money in Clay County comes from, 2024.
- History The agencies named in each row and the linked records above.