Best PlacesClay County, AR Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Clay County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages are not the whole story, and the strongest areas score well above them. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Clay County ranks 2,758th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and low incomes rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Clay County
BestNeighborhood is the only ranking that scores 40 measures of daily life neighborhood by neighborhood and lets you re-weight every one of them yourself.
The best areas in Clay County
The parts of Clay County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Corning
Prices have run up less, more residents vote, and streets are more walkable.
Piggott
Rector
Fewer homes sit empty, though fewer households have young kids.
Scores across Clay County run from about the 8th to the 28th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Clay County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Clay County ranks high
- Cheap childcare$481 a month, better than 93% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than 87% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than 85% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than 82% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 74% of counties
Where Clay County ranks low
- Household income$51,856 median, better than only 11% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 13% of counties
- Health outlookBetter than only 14% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than only 17% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 69 pleasant days a year, better than only 19% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Clay County
A household needs to earn about $24,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Clay County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $51,856, so a typical household can afford the median home outright.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment, a 6.6% 30-year fixed rate, and a 28% share of income going to the payment. The rate is the 2026-07-23 30-year fixed average, series MORTGAGE30US from the St. Louis Fed, which publishes Freddie Mac's weekly survey. Against the median home value, property tax uses Clay County's effective rate of 0.46%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 4 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Clay County
Clay County runs older than the country, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Clay County.
Who works in Clay County, and how
Work in Clay County centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 90%
- Work from home 7%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Clay County
Clay County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 87% of counties and more parkland per resident than 77% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Clay County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Clay County growing, and who is moving in?
Clay County has lost about 8% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Reynolds County, MO.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Clay County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Clay County, month by month
Clay County sees roughly 69 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 92 degrees. January highs sit near 47, with lows near 32. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 47° | 39° | 32° |
| April | 73° | 61° | 52° |
| July | 92° | 82° | 73° |
| October | 76° | 63° | 53° |
Flying in and out of Clay County
The nearest airport, Cape Girardeau Regional, is about 74 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Memphis International, about 94 miles away.
The best schools in and around Clay County
Schools across Clay County average a C, better than 31% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Park Elementary SchoolB · 47% proficient
- Piggott Elementary SchoolC · 34% proficient
- Rector Elementary SchoolC− · 28% proficient
Top middle schools
- Corning Middle SchoolC+ · 35% proficient
Top high schools
- Neelyville HighC+ · 40% proficient
- Naylor High SchoolC · 33% proficient
- Campbell HighC · 32% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Clay County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Clay County measure by measure
Cards are ordered by how much each measure matters to you, so the ones you weighted highest come first. Expand to see every measure. Percentages compare Clay County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Clay County
Is Clay County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Clay County ranks 2,758th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on affordable childcare, clean air, and low property taxes, and lowest on low incomes and disaster risk. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Clay County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $97,139. The overall cost of living runs about 23% below the national average. Set against a $51,856 median income, cost of living beats 20% of counties.
Is Clay County safe?
Clay County is safer than 45% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $511 per resident a year.
Compare Clay County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Clay County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Clay County represents the same real quantity as a 60 anywhere else, and the ranking is a weighted average of those absolutes. The map colors come from a national scale calibrated against a population weighted random sample of 5,000 neighborhoods. That absolute scoring is what no other places-to-live ranking does: it puts a single neighborhood, a town, a metro, and a state on one scale, so the same 40 measures answer both which metro to move to and which street inside it to buy on. Read the full methodology.
Clay County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Clay County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Clay County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Clay County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Clay County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Clay County detail on related sites:
- CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
- ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
- CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.
Federal and public data:
- U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey: income, home value, rent, vacancy, commute time and mode, educational attainment, home age, age structure, household type, industry, and race.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
- FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
- FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
- U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
- FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
- CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
- National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
- FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
- Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.
Your priorities
Move a slider to say how much a measure matters. Zero turns it off.