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Clay County, Minnesota
Map of Minnesota highlighting Clay County
Location in the state of Minnesota
Map of the U.S
Minnesota's location in the U.S.
Founded March 8, 1862 [1]
Named for Henry Clay
Seat Moorhead
Largest city Moorhead
Area
 - Total
 - Land
 - Water

1,052.74 sq mi (2,727 km²)
1,045.24 sq mi (2,707 km²)
7.49 sq mi (19 km²), 0.71%
Population
 - (2020)
 - Density

65,318
49/sq mi (19/km²)
Time zone Central: UTC-6/-5
Website www.co.clay.mn.us

Clay County is a county located in the U.S. state of Minnesota. As of 2020, the population was 65,318.[1] Its name is in honor of American statesman Henry Clay, member of the United States Senate from Kentucky and United States Secretary of State in the 19th century. Its county seat is Moorhead.[2] It was originally called Breckenridge County, but changed to its current name in 1862.

Clay County is part of the Fargo, ND–MN Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Geography[]

According to the 2000 census, the county has a total area of 1,052.74 square miles (2,726.6 km2), of which 1,045.24 square miles (2,707.2 km2) (or 99.29%) is land and 7.49 square miles (19.4 km2) (or 0.71%) is water.[3]

Major highways[]

  • I-94 Interstate 94
  • US 10 U.S. Highway 10
  • US 52 U.S. Highway 52
  • US 75 U.S. Highway 75
  • MN-9 Minnesota State Highway 9
  • MN-32 Minnesota State Highway 32
  • MN-34 Minnesota State Highway 34
  • MN-336 Minnesota State Highway 336

Adjacent counties[]

Law and government[]

Clay County is governed by a board of five commissioners.

  • Wayne Ingersol (Moorhead) 1st District
  • Jerry Waller (Dilworth) 2nd District
  • Jon Evert (Comstock) 3rd District (chair)
  • Kevin Campbell (Moorhead) 4th District
  • Mike McCarthy (Moorhead) 5th District

Demographics[]

Historical populations
Census Pop.
1860 72
1870 92 27.8%
1880 5,887 6,298.9%
1890 11,517 95.6%
1900 17,942 55.8%
1910 19,640 9.5%
1920 21,780 10.9%
1930 23,120 6.2%
1940 25,337 9.6%
1950 30,363 19.8%
1960 39,080 28.7%
1970 46,585 19.2%
1980 49,327 5.9%
1990 50,422 2.2%
2000 51,229 1.6%
2010 58,999 15.2%
U.S. Decennial Census

As of the census[4] of 2000, there were 51,229 people, 18,670 households, and 12,340 families residing in the county. The population density was 49 people per square mile (19/km²). There were 19,746 housing units at an average density of 19 per square mile (7/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 93.99% White, 0.52% Black or African American, 1.44% Native American, 0.88% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 1.67% from other races, and 1.47% from two or more races. 3.65% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 40.4% were of Norwegian and 26.8% German ancestry according to Census 2000.

USA Clay County, Minnesota age pyramid

Age pyramid of county residents based on 2000 U.S. census data.

There were 18,670 households out of which 33.80% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 53.90% were married couples 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 per capita income for the county was $17,557. About 7.40% of families and 13.20% of the population were below the poverty line, including 13.30% of those under age 18 and 7.50% of those age 65 or over.

Government and Politics[]

In national elections, Clay County has been a swing district for several decades. From 1992 to 2020, it has voted for the winner of the presidential election.

United States presidential election results for Clay County, Minnesota[5]
Year Republican Democratic Third party
No.  % No.  % No.  %
2020 15,043 46.66% 16,357 50.74% 839 2.60%
2016 13,543 46.07% 12,971 44.12% 2,884 9.81%
2012 12,920 44.73% 15,208 52.65% 758 2.62%
2008 11,978 40.94% 16,666 56.96% 615 2.10%
2004 14,365 51.79% 12,989 46.83% 383 1.38%
2000 11,712 50.14% 10,128 43.36% 1,518 6.50%
1996 8,764 41.11% 10,476 49.14% 2,079 9.75%
1992 9,666 41.17% 9,845 41.93% 3,967 16.90%
1988 10,380 47.82% 11,186 51.54% 139 0.64%
1984 11,565 52.62% 10,294 46.84% 119 0.54%
1980 10,447 46.41% 8,940 39.72% 3,121 13.87%
1976 10,317 47.53% 10,876 50.10% 515 2.37%
1972 11,089 54.36% 9,076 44.49% 235 1.15%
1968 7,910 47.77% 7,987 48.23% 663 4.00%
1964 6,085 37.37% 10,161 62.39% 39 0.24%
1960 8,278 53.26% 7,241 46.58% 25 0.16%
1956 6,783 52.77% 6,057 47.12% 15 0.12%
1952 7,178 58.67% 5,036 41.16% 20 0.16%
1948 4,302 38.60% 6,624 59.43% 219 1.97%
1944 4,392 45.40% 5,230 54.06% 52 0.54%
1940 4,450 41.23% 6,295 58.32% 48 0.44%
1936 2,880 29.93% 6,282 65.29% 459 4.77%
1932 2,556 29.16% 5,938 67.75% 270 3.08%
1928 5,057 61.13% 3,128 37.81% 87 1.05%
1924 3,081 44.55% 439 6.35% 3,396 49.10%
1920 4,943 73.00% 1,335 19.72% 493 7.28%
1916 1,549 44.79% 1,716 49.62% 193 5.58%
1912 549 17.99% 942 30.87% 1,561 51.15%
1908 1,857 58.69% 1,125 35.56% 182 5.75%
1904 2,185 78.15% 388 13.88% 223 7.98%
1900 1,903 59.45% 1,165 36.39% 133 4.15%
1896 1,594 44.38% 1,908 53.12% 90 2.51%
1892 959 40.19% 594 24.90% 833 34.91%



Cities and towns[]

Cities Townships CDP Other communities
  • Barnesville
  • Comstock
  • Dilworth
  • Felton
  • Georgetown
  • Glyndon
  • Hawley
  • Hitterdal
  • Moorhead
  • Sabin
  • Ulen
  • Alliance Township
  • Barnesville Township
  • Cromwell Township
  • Eglon Township
  • Elkton Township
  • Elmwood Township
  • Felton Township
  • Flowing Township
  • Georgetown Township
  • Glyndon Township
  • Goose Prairie Township
  • Hagen Township
  • Hawley Township
  • Highland Grove Township
  • Holy Cross Township
  • Humboldt Township
  • Keene Township
  • Kragnes Township
  • Kurtz Township
  • Moland Township
  • Moorhead Township
  • Morken Township
  • Oakport Township
  • Parke Township
  • Riverton Township
  • Skree Township
  • Spring Prairie Township
  • Tansem Township
  • Ulen Township
  • Viding Township
  • Oakport
  • Baker
  • Dale
  • Downer
  • Kragnes
  • Muskoda
  • Rollag
  • Rustad
  • Winnipeg Junction

See also[]

  • National Register of Historic Places listings in Clay County, Minnesota

References[]

External links[]


Coordinates: 46°54′N 96°29′W / 46.90, -96.49


This page uses content from the English language Wikipedia. The original content was at Clay County, Minnesota. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with this Familypedia wiki, the content of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons License.
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