Clay County, Tennessee

2024 results by precinct

7 precincts · 3,760 votes cast

Trump · R+67

Harris +50

Trump +50

Real precinct boundaries. Hover for vote totals.

38 presidential elections

Year	Won	Margin	Democratic	Republican	Total
2024	R	−66.6%	614	3,117	3,760
2020	R	−57.0%	735	2,733	3,506
2016	R	−49.1%	707	2,141	2,920
2012	R	−25.2%	1,037	1,747	2,820
2008	R	−14.3%	1,248	1,676	2,994
2004	D	+0.7%	1,675	1,650	3,357
2000	D	+13.5%	1,931	1,468	3,442
1996	D	+15.0%	1,559	1,108	3,006
1992	D	+26.3%	1,922	1,072	3,226
1988	R	−4.3%	1,183	1,291	2,493
1984	R	−2.2%	1,281	1,338	2,634
1980	D	+1.2%	1,376	1,344	2,765
1976	D	+25.7%	1,671	982	2,678
1972	R	−20.1%	648	982	1,664
1968	R	−7.6%	667	814	1,932
1964	D	+31.6%	1,196	622	1,818
1960	R	−5.8%	976	1,098	2,106
1956	D	+2.5%	948	902	1,867
1952	D	+6.9%	968	842	1,821
1948	D	+23.3%	1,146	703	1,901
1944	D	+7.4%	754	650	1,404
1940	D	+41.2%	1,288	537	1,825
1936	D	+26.7%	661	378	1,059
1932	D	+38.3%	819	361	1,196
1928	D	+1.8%	576	556	1,135
1924	D	+15.4%	668	488	1,171
1920	R	−14.9%	772	1,044	1,827
1916	D	+8.6%	689	578	1,285
1912	D	+22.2%	718	440	1,253
1908	D	+9.2%	764	634	1,413
1904	D	+3.9%	544	501	1,097
1900	D	+24.5%	830	498	1,355
1896	D	+20.5%	836	548	1,407
1892	D	+27.9%	743	391	1,262
1888	—	No data	—	—	—
1884	—	No data	—	—	—
1880	—	No data	—	—	—
1876	—	No data	—	—	—

Demographics

Race, ethnicity, and ancestry

Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.

American

100.0%

African American

2.6%

Multiple ancestry combinations reported; no single grouping above 1%.

Sample size too small to break out by ancestry reliably.

American Indian, Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander combined.

Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release. Ancestry is a self-reported, multiple-response item; ancestry percentages do not sum to the parent race percentage.

Age distribution by sex

Median age: 48.5 in this county, 39.1 nationally

Male

Age

Female

1.3%

85+

1.0%

3.5%

75–84

4.9%

6.5%

65–74

7.8%

55–64

7.8%

7.2%

45–54

6.2%

6.8%

35–44

7.0%

3.3%

25–34

3.3%

3.2%

18–24

3.7%

7.3%

5–17

7.3%

1.8%

2.4%

Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.

Median household income

2024 inflation-adjusted dollars

$39,972

Clay County ranks in the bottom 5% of US counties.

Clay County$39,972

Tennessee$69,595

United States$80,734

Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.

Poverty rate

All persons below federal poverty line

24.2%

Children face moderate poverty.

Children under 1818.0%

Working age (18–64)100.0%

Seniors (65+)18.0%

Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.

Language at home

Population aged 5 and older

0.0%

speak English only

Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.

Religious adherents

Adherents per capita by tradition

Other Christian

27.7%

Baptist

11.5%

Methodist

3.8%

Pentecostal & Holiness

1.3%

Catholic & Orthodox

1.0%

Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 54.7% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.

Clay County's small, predominantly white rural population on the Kentucky border has delivered Republican presidential margins above 60 points in each of the last several cycles, making it among the most reliably one-sided counties in the state.

The Democratic margin in Clay County peaked at forty-one points in 1940. By 2008 the county had flipped, voting Republican for the first time in many years. The 2024 margin was sixty-seven points, the most Republican-leaning result in the county's modern history.

The economic context is the key. Clay County's median household income of $39,972 sits well below state and national norms, and 24% of residents live below the federal poverty line. The shift here is part of a broader realignment of working-class places across the country. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Marion County and Warren County.

Most similar counties

Clay County was solidly one party for decades. In the last twenty years, it flipped.