Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Clay Center gives you more for your money than most places: homes are within reach, about $166K for a typical one, or 2.5 years of the county’s $66K median household income. It grades C+ overall, 99th among Kansas's 150 graded towns. 47% of working residents work locally in Clay Center, where Kansas’ towns sit at 15% and U.S. towns at 8%. Clay Center's civic life (library use, community groups, volunteering) is stronger than in 90% of U.S. towns. Clay Center has 3 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Clay County Courthouse and Clay Center Carnegie Library.
Where Clay Center beats most towns.
Alwyn Howard GentryEach subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Kansas), ordered by how far Clay Center is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 1,753 in 1880, 4,199 in 2020. The archive holds 9 old photos and papers going back to 1880 and 2 maps from 1891 on.
3 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Clay Center, and how to reach them.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Nov 18, 2024.
Ordered by what stands out in Clay Center.
Clay Center fares better on crime within Kansas than nationally and is healthier than towns with similar incomes, but it has many renters stretched by housing costs.
57.4% of renter households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, against 43.5% across Kansas.
Homes in Clay Center are typically worth about $166,000, up 8.1% in a year, 33% below the Kansas typical home. Clay Center: 66% of households are owner-occupiers. For Clay Center, the going rate for rent is $983 a month.
| Clay Center | Kansas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 66% | 72% | 73% |
| Median rent | $983 a month | $975 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Public schools: the Clay County school district. The largest public high school is Clay Center Community High, with 326 students. Two of its 4 schools are below, each with the reason it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lincoln ElemLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–3 | Grades PK–3 | 341 | A |
| Clay Center Community HighLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 326 | B− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within KS on state tests and graduation
Against the 9,550 U.S. towns with household incomes like Clay Center’s, it is less healthy than 52%, so its C isn’t only a matter of income.
17% of adults smoke cigarettes in Clay Center. This Kansas town does better than the Kansas average on 1 of 32 CDC measures and worse on 9.
| Clay Center | Kansas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 41% | 34% | 35% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 15% | 14% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 26% | 25% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 13% | 11% | 12% |
| What stands out | Clay Center | KS |
|---|---|---|
| More adults treating high blood pressure | 81.8% | 77.6% |
| More adults with COPD | 9.4% | 6.7% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
The peak summer temperature for Clay Center comes to 91°F.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
The share of residents in Clay Center who live below the poverty line: 13%. Since 2013, Clay Center has lost 387 jobs, to 1,993 in 2023. Half commute less than 2 miles. The top destinations are Manhattan (7%), Topeka (4%) and Salina (3%).
| Clay Center | Kansas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 13% | 9.1% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $63,000 | $73,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 20 minutes | 20 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
At 22.1 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports less crime than 59% of Kansas’s graded towns.
Clay Center’s violent crime rate is 2.5 per 1,000 residents. The property offense rate in the town is 9.7 per 1,000 residents.
| Clay Center | Kansas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 2.5 per 1,000 residents | 2.5 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 9.7 per 1,000 residents | 11.1 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
FEMA puts 45% of the town’s expected hazard losses down to inland flooding, and 21% to tornadoes. Clay Center’s FEMA hazard score stands at 56 of 100. Federal aid has come to Clay Center households in 7 declared disasters; the latest was in 2021.
FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
The biggest park or preserve is Fairgrounds Ball Park, at 26 acres. Count the trails in 5 parks and preserves and they come to 0.8 miles. Parks and preserves in Clay Center: 5, covering 71 acres.
| Clay Center | Kansas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 3.3% | 2% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.3 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Utility Park | 0.6 mi | 22 |
| 2. Fairgrounds Ball Park | — | 26 |
| 3. Huntress Park | — | 14 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
None within 15 miles of Clay Center; the nearest are
About 5 of every 100 Clay Center residents are enrolled in college, against 7 across Kansas.
16 notable people were born in Clay Center.
City in Clay County, Kansas
Clay Center is a city in and the county seat of Clay County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 4,199.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Clay Center grades C+ overall, better than 36% of U.S. towns and #99 of 150 in Kansas. It grades C for health, C+ for safety and B for schools.
Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades B.
16 notable people were born here, including Alwyn Howard Gentry and Tenney Frank.
