Clay County is a county located in the U.S. state of Illinois, and determined by the U.S. Census Bureau to include the mean center of U.S. population in 1950. As of 2000, the population was 14,560. The county seat is Louisville.

History

Clay County was formed in 1824 out of portions of Wayne, Crawford, and Fayette Counties. Its name is in honor of Henry Clay, famous American statesman, member of the United States Senate from Kentucky and United States Secretary of State in the 19th century. Its county seat is Louisville .

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 470 square miles (1,217 km²), of which 469 square miles (1,215 km²) is land and 1 square mile (2 km²) (0.13%) is water.

Townships

Bible Grove, Blair, Clay City, Harter, Hoosier, Larkinsburg, Louisville, Oskaloosa, Songer, Stanford, Xenia

Adjacent counties

• Jasper County - northeast
• Richland County - east
• Wayne County - south
• Marion County - west
• Fayette County - northwest
• Effingham County - northwest

Settlements

Cities

• Flora

Villages

• Clay City
• Iola
• Louisville
• Sailor Springs
• Xenia

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 14,560 people, 5,839 households, and 4,005 families residing in the county. The population density was 31 people per square mile (12/km²). There were 6,394 housing units at an average density of 14 per square mile (5/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 98.52% White, 0.11% Black or African American, 0.23% Native American, 0.52% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 0.21% from other races, and 0.40% from two or more races. 0.60% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 38.5% were of American, 23.0% German, 10.5% English and 9.5% Irish ancestry according to Census 2000. 98.8% spoke English and 1.0% Spanish as their first language.

There were 5,839 households out of which 30.60% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.40% were married couples living together, 8.60% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.40% were non-families. 27.90% of all households were made up of individuals and 14.80% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.41 and the average family size was 2.94.

In the county the population was spread out with 23.90% under the age of 18, 8.00% from 18 to 24, 25.90% from 25 to 44, 23.00% from 45 to 64, and 19.20% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 92.30 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.10 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $30,599, and the median income for a family was $36,675. Males had a median income of $27,813 versus $20,616 for females. The per capita income for the county was $15,771. About 9.00% of families and 11.80% of the population were below the poverty line, including 12.90% of those under age 18 and 12.30% of those age 65 or over.

Education

North Clay High School

References