Clayton is a medium-sized city located in the state of Missouri. With a population of 17,130 people and four associated neighborhoods, Clayton is the 43rd largest community in Missouri. Much of the housing stock in Clayton was built prior to World War II, making it one of the older and more historic cities in the country. Clayton home prices are not only among the most expensive in Missouri, but Clayton real estate also consistently ranks among the most expensive in America.Clayton is a decidedly white-collar city, with fully 97.80% of the workforce employed in white-collar jobs, well above the national average. Overall, Clayton is a city of professionals, managers, and sales and office workers. There are especially a lot of people living in Clayton who work in management occupations (19.28%), healthcare (11.67%), and business and financial occupations (11.65%). Also of interest is that Clayton has more people living here who work in computers and math than 95% of the places in the US. One interesting thing about the economy is that relatively large numbers of people worked from their home: 18.38% of the workforce. While this number may seem small overall, as a fraction of the total workforce this is high compared to the rest of the county. These workers are often telecommuters who work in knowledge-based, white-collar professions. For example, Silicon Valley has large numbers of people who telecommute. Other at-home workers may be self-employed people who operate small businesses out of their homes. Clayton is a small town with a large college student population. Because of this, there is a real youthful, hip vibe to the place, and much of the life in the town is centered on the college. This has helped Clayton to buck the trend of other small towns that have suffered declining populations over the past 20 to 30 years. Spending by students, and faculty and staff jobs, are a big part of the local economy. One of the benefits of Clayton is that there is very little traffic. The average commute to work is 18.58 minutes, which is substantially less than the national average. Not only does this mean that the drive to work is less aggravating, but noise and pollution levels are lower as a result.Do you have a 4-year college degree or graduate degree? If so, you may feel right at home in Clayton. 80.54% of adults here have a 4-year degree or graduate degree, whereas the national average for all cities and towns is just 21.84%. The per capita income in Clayton in 2022 was $70,772, which is wealthy relative to Missouri and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $283,088 for a family of four. Clayton is a very ethnically-diverse city. The people who call Clayton home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Clayton residents report their race to be White, followed by Asian. Important ancestries of people in Clayton include German, Irish, English, Italian, and Eastern European. The most common language spoken in Clayton is English. Other important languages spoken here include Chinese and Arabic.
