Clay County, Minnesota

Clay County is a located in the  of. As of 2000, the population was 51,229. Its name is in honor of, famous American statesman, member of the from  and  in the 19th century. Its is. It was originally called Breckenridge County, but changed to its current name in.

Geography
According to the, the county has a total area of 2,727 (1,053 ). 2,707 km² (1,045 sq mi) of it is land and 19 km² (7 sq mi) of it (0.71%) is water.

Adjacent counties

 * (north)
 * (east)
 * (southeast)
 * (south)
 * (southwest)
 * (west)

Law and government
Clay County is governed by a board of five commissioners.
 * 1st District
 * 2nd District
 * 3rd District
 * 4th District
 * 5th District

Demographics
As of the of 2000, there were 51,229 people, 18,670 households, and 12,340 families residing in the county. The was 19/km² (49/sq mi). There were 19,746 housing units at an average density of 7/km² (19/sq mi). The racial makeup of the county was 93.99%, 0.52% or , 1.44% , 0.88% , 0.03% , 1.67% from , and 1.47% from two or more races. 3.65% of the population were or  of any race. 40.4% were of and 26.8%  ancestry according to. There were 18,670 households out of which 33.80% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 53.90% were living together, 8.80% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.90% were non-families. 26.10% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.60% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.53 and the average family size was 3.07.

In the county the population was spread out with 25.00% under the age of 18, 17.10% from 18 to 24, 25.70% from 25 to 44, 19.30% from 45 to 64, and 12.90% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 32 years. For every 100 females there were 93.70 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.10 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $37,889, and the median income for a family was $49,192. Males had a median income of $34,176 versus $23,149 for females. The for the county was $17,557. About 7.40% of families and 13.20% of the population were below the, including 13.30% of those under age 18 and 7.50% of those age 65 or over.