Clay County, Iowa

• White (non-Hispanic) 14,994 91.1%
• Hispanic or Latino (any race) 781 4.7%
• Black or African American (non-Hispanic) 45 0.3%
• Asian (non-Hispanic) 124 0.8%
• Two or more races (non-Hispanic) 476 2.9%
• American Indian / Alaska Native (non-Hispanic) 24 0.1%
• Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander (non-Hispanic) 0 0.0%
• Some other race (non-Hispanic) 17 0.1%

• Under 18 3,841 23.3%
• 18–24 1,168 7.1%
• 25–44 3,724 22.6%
• 45–64 4,042 24.6%
• 65 and over 3,686 22.4%

Median household income

$61,530

90% interval $54,948–$68,112

−$14,093 vs IA · 94th of 99

Below poverty line

11.3%

90% interval 9.2%–13.4%

+0.1 pp vs IA · 40th of 99

Unemployment (12-mo)

2.9%

−0.47 pp vs. state

County GDP

$1.5B

0.58% of state

Avg. annual pay

$54,799

Establishments

714

• Trade, transportation & utilities 2,455 28.8%
• Education & health services 2,194 25.7%
• Professional & business services 860 10.1%
• Leisure & hospitality 636 7.5%
• Manufacturing 557 6.5%
• Construction 466 5.5%
• Public administration 392 4.6%
• Financial activities 290 3.4%
• Natural resources & mining 253 3.0%
• Other services 188 2.2%
• Information 147 1.7%

The sectors listed cover 98.9% of covered employment; BLS withholds the rest to avoid disclosing individual employers.

Home ownership

73.3%

+1.6 pp vs IA · 72nd of 99

Median gross rent

$811

−$161 vs IA · 53rd of 99

Owner-occupied

5,340

Renter-occupied

1,942

• Moderately concentrated

  Top three sectors employ 65% of the county workforce. Substantial intra-sector overlap among panelists is likely; confirm employer relationships before sector-specific framing.

• Moderate wage spread

  Highest-paid sector (Financial activities, $65,076/yr) pays 2.9× the lowest (Leisure & hospitality, $22,204/yr). Expect meaningful income variation across the panel.

• Mixed business scale

  Average establishment employs 12 workers, a mix of institutional employers and small businesses. Both employed-by-large-institution and small-business-owner perspectives are likely on the panel.

• Republican 6,047 71.0%
• Democratic 2,367 27.8%
• Other / third-party 100 1.2%

• Spanish 366 2.3%
• German or other West Germanic 42 0.3%

Households

7,282

Family households

4,048

55.6% of households

Married couples w/ children

1,130

27.9% of families

Single-mother families

353

8.7% of families

Veterans

951

7.5% of civilians 18+

• Mainline Protestant 5,019 30.6%
• Evangelical Protestant 2,774 16.9%
• Catholic 2,282 13.9%
• Other (non-Christian + minor traditions) 498 3.0%

Health insured

94.5%

±1.5 pp

Uninsured

5.5%

±1.5 pp

38th of 99

With a disability

14.8%

±2 pp

31st of 99

Bachelor's or higher

27.5%

±3.3 pp

−3.9 pp vs IA · 19th of 99

Uninsured, under 65 (2024)

6.2%

90% interval 5.4%–7.0% · Census SAHIE

The under-65 uninsured rate is not comparable to the ACS insurance figures, which cover all ages.

Trial court

3rd Judicial District Court

Judges

11 (District Court judges per Judicial Election District (general civil + felony criminal jurisdiction). District Associate, Associate Juvenile, and Magistrate judges (limited jurisdiction) are separately allocated and not counted here. Vintage 2026 iowacourts.gov directory; counts cross-checked against Iowa Code § 602.6201.)

Court seats

Algona, Cherokee, Denison, Emmetsburg, Estherville, Ida Grove, Le Mars, Onawa, Orange City, Primghar, Rock Rapids, Sibley, Sioux City, Spencer, Spirit Lake, Storm Lake

This judicial district spans multiple counties.

Traffic fatalities

2

15.85 per 100k adults (18+)

Fatal crashes

2