Clay County, West Virginia

County Distress Index: Serious · 68.1 | 7,783 people · 3rd most distressed in West Virginia

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Clay County, WV shows significant household financial distress with a score of 68.1 — 305th nationally out of 3144 counties. The primary driver is Income & Poverty, where poverty rates are high and household incomes lag well behind state and national medians. Within West Virginia, it ranks 3rd of 55 counties. It scores higher than all 5 of its neighboring counties.

The Numbers Behind the Score

The CDI measures five domains of financial distress. Clay County's primary driver is Income & Poverty at 89.5 — worse than roughly 90% of U.S. counties.

Income & Poverty Primary driver 89.5
Poverty Rate 93
Income vs. State Median 84
Child Poverty Rate 91
Employment & Wages 74.5
Unemployment Rate 95
Wage-to-Rent Ratio 34
Business Formation Rate 95
Debt & Delinquency 61.7
Debt in Collections 88
Medical Debt 84
Student Loan Delinquency 54
Auto Loan Delinquency 79
Credit Card Delinquency 48
Bankruptcy Filing Rate 17
Housing Cost Burden 57.5
Rent-Burdened (30%+) 74
Severely Rent-Burdened (50%+) 95
Mortgage-Burdened (30%+) 5
Homeownership Rate 24
Rent-to-Income Ratio 90
Community Vulnerability 57.5
Uninsured Rate 22
Disability Rate 93

Scores are percentile-based: 50 = national median, higher = more distressed. The median line is shown on each bar.

Neighbors and Peers

How Clay County compares to its 5 neighboring counties and population peers.

Neighboring Counties

County Score Zone vs. Clay County
Clay County, WV 68.1 Serious
Calhoun County, WV 60.9 Elevated -7.2
Roane County, WV 57.5 Elevated -10.7
Braxton County, WV 57.2 Elevated -10.9
Nicholas County, WV 56.4 Elevated -11.8
Kanawha County, WV 53.2 Elevated -15.0

Population Peers

County Score Zone vs. Clay County
Floyd County, TX 68.1 Serious -0.0
Clay County, GA 68.0 Serious -0.2
Dickens County, TX 68.4 Serious +0.2
Calhoun County, GA 67.8 Serious -0.3
Baker County, GA 68.5 Serious +0.3

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