Clay County, Illinois facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Clay County
U.S. county
Clay County Courthouse in Louisville
Location within the U.S. state of Illinois
Illinois's location within the U.S.
Country	United States
State	Illinois
Founded	23 December 1824 (created) 8 March 1825 (organized)
Named for	Henry Clay
Seat	Louisville
Largest city	Flora
Area
• Total	469.59 sq mi (1,216.2 km2)
• Land	468.32 sq mi (1,212.9 km2)
• Water	1.28 sq mi (3.3 km2)  0.3%
Population  (2010)
• Total	13,815
• Estimate  (2019)	13,184
• Density	28.3/sq mi (10.9/km2)
Time zone	UTC−6 (Central)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−5 (CDT)
Congressional district	15th

Clay County is a county in the U.S. state of Illinois. As of the 2010 United States Census, the population was 13,815. Since 1842, its county seat has been Louisville, in the center of the county's area.

In 1950, the U.S. Census Bureau placed the mean center of U.S. population in Clay County.

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. Clay was an unsuccessful candidate for President in the year the County was named.

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  Clay County from the time of its creation to 1831

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  Clay County between 1831 and 1841

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  Clay County was reduced to its current size in 1841 by the creation of Richland County.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 470 square miles (1,200 km²), of which 468 square miles (1,210 km²) is land and 1.3 square miles (3.4 km²) (0.3%) is water.

Adjacent counties

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

Major highways

• I-57
• US 45
• US 50
• IL 37

Climate and weather

In recent years, average temperatures in the county seat of Louisville have ranged from a low of 21 °F (−6 °C) in January to a high of 89 °F (32 °C) in July, although a record low of −25 °F (−32 °C) was recorded in January 1904 and a record high of 111 °F (44 °C) was recorded in July 1936. Average monthly precipitation ranged from 2.49 inches (63 mm) in February to 4.34 inches (110 mm) in June.

Demographics

2000 census age pyramid for Clay County

2010 census

As of the 2010 United States Census, there were 13,815 people, 5,697 households, and 3,790 families in the county. The population density was 29.5 inhabitants per square mile (11.4/km²). There were 6,404 housing units at an average density of 13.7 per square mile (5.3/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 97.7% white, 0.5% Asian, 0.3% black or African American, 0.2% American Indian, 0.5% from other races, and 0.8% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 1.1% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 21.7% were German, 14.6% were American, 12.6% were Irish, and 8.6% were English.

Of the 5,697 households, 29.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.1% were married couples living together, 9.4% had a female householder with no husband present, 33.5% were non-families, and 28.9% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.37 and the average family size was 2.89. The median age was 42.2 years.

The median income for a household in the county was $38,016 and the median income for a family was $48,659. Males had a median income of $38,191 versus $27,347 for females. The per capita income for the county was $20,802. About 11.2% of families and 16.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 21.4% of those under age 18 and 14.7% of those age 65 or over.

Communities

Cities

• Flora

Villages

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

Townships

Clay County is divided into these twelve townships:

Education

See also

In Spanish: Condado de Clay (Illinois) para niños