Clay County, Iowa

Clay County is a located in the  of. As of, the population is 17,372. Its name is in honor of a colonel who died in action in the, and son of , famous American statesman. Its is. It also holds the annual.

Geography
According to the, the county has a total area of 1,483 (573 ). 1,473 km² (569 sq mi) of it is land and 9 km² (4 sq mi) of it (0.63%) is water.

Major Highways

 * [[Image:US 18.svg|20px]]
 * [[Image:US 71.svg|20px]]
 * [[Image:Iowa 10.svg|20px]]

Adjacent counties

 * (north)
 * (east)
 * (south)
 * (west)

Demographics
As of the of 2000, there were 17,372 people, 7,259 households, and 4,776 families residing in the county. The was 12/km² (30/sq mi). There were 7,828 housing units at an average density of 5/km² (14/sq mi). The racial makeup of the county was 98.08%, 0.17% or , 0.10% , 0.82% , 0.03% , 0.25% from , and 0.55% from two or more races. 1.13% of the population were or  of any race.

There were 7,259 households out of which 30.70% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.60% were living together, 6.80% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.20% were non-families. 29.80% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.70% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.35 and the average family size was 2.92.

In the county the population was spread out with 24.70% under the age of 18, 8.00% from 18 to 24, 26.90% from 25 to 44, 22.50% from 45 to 64, and 18.00% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 93.30 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.90 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $35,799, and the median income for a family was $42,769. Males had a median income of $30,163 versus $21,068 for females. The for the county was $19,451. About 6.30% of families and 8.20% of the population were below the, including 11.10% of those under age 18 and 8.10% of those age 65 or over.