Clayton County is a

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

located in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the ...

. As of the 2020 census, the population was 17,043. Its

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US st ...

is Elkader. The county was established in 1837 and was named in honor of John M. Clayton,

United States Senator The United States Senate is the Upper house, upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States House of Representatives, House of Representatives being the Lower house, lower chamber. Together they compose the national Bica ...

from

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacent Del ...

and later Secretary of State under President

Zachary Taylor Zachary Taylor (November 24, 1784 – July 9, 1850) was an American military leader who served as the 12th president of the United States from 1849 until his death in 1850. Taylor was a career officer in the United States Army, rising to th ...

Geography

According to the

U.S. Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of the ...

, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (1.8%) is water. It is the fifth-largest county in Iowa by area.

Adjacent counties

Allamakee County Allamakee County () is the northeasternmost county in the U.S. state of Iowa. As of the 2020 census, the population was 14,061. Its county seat is Waukon. History Allamakee County was formed on February 20, 1847. The derivation of the name is ...

(north) *

Crawford County Crawford County is the name of eleven counties in the United States: * Crawford County, Arkansas * Crawford County, Georgia * Crawford County, Illinois * Crawford County, Indiana * Crawford County, Iowa * Crawford County, Kansas * Crawford County, ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

(northeast) *

Grant County Grant County may refer to: Places ;Australia * County of Grant, Victoria ;United States *Grant County, Arkansas *Grant County, Indiana * Grant County, Kansas *Grant County, Kentucky *Grant County, Minnesota *Grant County, Nebraska *Grant C ...

(east) * Dubuque County (southeast) * Delaware County (south) * Buchanan County (southwest) * Fayette County (west) * Winneshiek County (northwest)

Major highways

U.S. Highway 18 * US 52

U.S. Highway 52 * Circle sign 3

Iowa Highway 3 Iowa Highway 3 (Iowa 3) is a state highway that runs from east to west across the state of Iowa. It is the longest state highway in Iowa, at long. Iowa 3 begins at the South Dakota state line where it continues as South Dakota Highwa ...

Iowa Highway 13 Iowa Highway 13 (Iowa 13) is a north–south highway in eastern Iowa. It has a length of . The southern terminus of Iowa Highway 13 is at U.S. Highway 30 (US 30) south of Bertram and southeast of Cedar Rapids. The northern terminus is ...

Iowa Highway 56 Iowa Highway 56 (Iowa 56) is a state highway that runs from west to east in northeastern Iowa. It begins at Iowa Highway 150 in West Union and ends at Iowa Highway 13 south of Elkader. As a largely rural route, Iowa 56 passes throug ...

Iowa Highway 76 Iowa Highway 76 (Iowa 76) is a state highway located in northeastern Iowa, most of which is in Allamakee County. The highway connects McGregor to Eitzen, Minnesota via Waukon. It begins in McGregor at an intersection with U.S. Highway 18; th ...

Iowa Highway 128

National protected areas

Driftless Area National Wildlife Refuge Driftless Area National Wildlife Refuge is a United States National Wildlife Refuge in northeastern Iowa, southwestern Wisconsin and northwestern Illinois. It is a non-contiguous collection of parcels in the vicinity of the Upper Mississippi Ri ...

(part) *

Effigy Mounds National Monument Effigy Mounds National Monument preserves more than 200 prehistoric mounds built by pre-Columbian Mound Builder cultures, mostly in the first millennium CE, during the later part of the Woodland period of pre-Columbian North America. Numerous ...

(part) *

Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge The Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge is a ,Driftless Area The Driftless Area, a topographical and cultural region in the American Midwest, comprises southwestern Wisconsin, southeastern Minnesota, northeastern Iowa, and the extreme northwestern corner of Illinois. Never covered by ice during the last ...

, a region that completely missed being ice-covered during the last

ice age An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages and gree ...

. Streams have deeply carved valleys, while the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it f ...

has spectacular bluffs.

Demographics

2020 census

The 2020 census recorded a population of 17,043 in the county, with a population density of . 97.51% of the population reported being of one race. 93.21% were non-Hispanic White, 0.93% were Black, 2.01% were Hispanic, 0.25% were Native American, 0.28% were Asian, 0.04% were Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander and 3.29% were some other race or more than one race. There were 8,758 housing units, of which 7,315 were occupied.

2010 census

The 2010 census recorded a population of 18,130 in the county, with a population density of . There were 8,999 housing units, of which 7,599 were occupied.

2000 census

As of the

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses incl ...

of 2000, there were 18,678 people, about 7,500 households, and 1 family residing in the county. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical term.Matt RosenberPopul ...

was 24 people per square mile (9/km²). There were 8,620 housing units at an average density of 11 per square mile (4/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 98.93%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...

, 0.14% Black or African American, 0.22% Native American, 0.11% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 0.19% from other races, and 0.41% from two or more races. 0.76% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. There were 7,375 households, out of which 30.90% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 59.70% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between t ...

living together, 6.10% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.40% were non-families. 26.30% of all households were made up of individuals, and 13.30% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.47 and the average family size was 2.98. In the county, the population was spread out, with 25.40% under the age of 18, 6.50% from 18 to 24, 26.00% from 25 to 44, 23.60% from 45 to 64, and 18.50% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females, there were 97.60 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.50 males. The median income for a household in the county was $34,068, and the median income for a family was $40,199. Males had a median income of $27,165 versus $19,644 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population. Per capita i ...

for the county was $16,930. About 5.70% of families and 8.60% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for t ...

, including 9.60% of those under age 18 and 9.40% of those age 65 or over.

Communities

Cities

* Clayton *

Edgewood Edgewood may refer to: Places Canada *Edgewood, British Columbia South Africa *Edgewood, a University of KwaZulu-Natal campus in Pinetown, South Africa United States Cities and towns *Edgewood, California *Edgewood, Florida *Edgewood, Illinois, a ...

* Elkader * Elkport * Farmersburg * Garber * Garnavillo * Guttenberg * Luana * Marquette *

McGregor McGregor may refer to: People * McGregor (surname) * Clan MacGregor, a Scottish highland clan * McGregor W. Scott (born 1962), U.S. attorney Characters * Mr. McGregor, a fictional character from Peter Rabbit Places in Canada: * McGregor Lake ...

* Monona * North Buena Vista * Osterdock *

Postville Postville is a village in Allamakee and Clayton counties in the U.S. state of Iowa. It lies near the junction of four counties and at the intersection of U.S. Routes 18 and 52 and Iowa Highway 51, with airport facilities in the neighboring co ...

* St. Olaf * Strawberry Point *

Volga The Volga (; russian: Во́лга, a=Ru-Волга.ogg, p=ˈvoɫɡə) is the List of rivers of Europe#Rivers of Europe by length, longest river in Europe. Situated in Russia, it flows through Central Russia to Southern Russia and into the Cas ...

Unincorporated communities

* Beulah *

Ceres Ceres most commonly refers to: * Ceres (dwarf planet), the largest asteroid * Ceres (mythology), the Roman goddess of agriculture Ceres may also refer to: Places Brazil * Ceres, Goiás, Brazil * Ceres Microregion, in north-central Goiás ...

* Clayton Center *

Communia COMMUNIA is a thematic project funded by the European Commission within the eContentplus framework addressing theoretical analysis and strategic policy discussion of existing and emerging issues concerning the public domain in the digital environme ...

* Eckards * Fairview * Froelich * Giard *

Gunder Gunder is both a given name and a surname. Notable people with the name include: Given name: *Andre Gunder Frank (1929–2005), German-American economic historian and sociologist *Gunder Anton Johannesen Jahren (1858–1933), the Norwegian Minister ...

* Hardin *

Highland Highlands or uplands are areas of high elevation such as a mountainous region, elevated mountainous plateau or high hills. Generally speaking, upland (or uplands) refers to ranges of hills, typically from up to while highland (or highlands) is ...

* Littleport * McGregor Heights * Mederville * Millville *

Motor An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one or more forms of energy into mechanical energy. Available energy sources include potential energy (e.g. energy of the Earth's gravitational field as exploited in hydroelectric power g ...

Osborne Osborne may refer to: * Osborne (name) Places Australia * Osborne, South Australia (disambiguation), places associated with the suburb in the Adelaide metropolitan area * Osborne, New South Wales, a rural community in the Riverina region Can ...

* Saint Sebald * Thomasville * Turkey River * Updegraff * Watson *

Wood Wood is a porous and fibrous structural tissue found in the stems and roots of trees and other woody plants. It is an organic materiala natural composite of cellulose fibers that are strong in tension and embedded in a matrix of lignin th ...

Townships

Clayton County is divided into these

townships A township is a kind of human settlement or administrative subdivision, with its meaning varying in different countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, that tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Ca ...

: * Boardman *

Buena Vista Buena Vista, meaning "good view" in Spanish, may refer to: Places Canada *Bonavista, Newfoundland and Labrador, with the name being originally derived from “Buena Vista” *Buena Vista, Saskatchewan *Buena Vista, Saskatoon, a neighborhood in ...

Cass Cass may refer to: People and fictional characters * Cass (surname), a list of people * Cass (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Big Cass, ring name of wrestler William Morrissey * Cass, in British band Skunk Anansie * Cass, ...

* Clayton * Cox Creek *

Elk The elk (''Cervus canadensis''), also known as the wapiti, is one of the largest species within the deer family, Cervidae, and one of the largest terrestrial mammals in its native range of North America and Central and East Asia. The common ...

* Farmersburg * Garnavillo * Giard * Grand Meadow *

Jefferson Jefferson may refer to: Names * Jefferson (surname) * Jefferson (given name) People * Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826), third president of the United States * Jefferson (footballer, born 1970), full name Jefferson Tomaz de Souza, Brazilian foo ...

* Lodomillo *

Mallory Mallory is an Irish surname derived from the Gaelic ''Ó Mallairígh''. Spelling variants include Mallary, Mallery, Malorie, Mallorie, Mallerie and Mallorey. Mallory and Mallerie are also given names derived from the surname. Surname * Arenia ...

Marion Marion may refer to: People *Marion (given name) *Marion (surname) *Marion Silva Fernandes, Brazilian footballer known simply as "Marion" *Marion (singer), Filipino singer-songwriter and pianist Marion Aunor (born 1992) Places Antarctica * Mario ...

* Mendon * Millville * Monona *

Read Read Read may refer to: * Reading, human cognitive process of decoding symbols in order to construct or derive meaning * Read (automobile), an American car manufactured from 1913 to 1915 * Read (biology), an inferred sequence of base pairs of ...

Sperry Sperry may refer to: Places In the United States: *Sperry, Iowa, community in Des Moines County *Sperry, Missouri *Sperry, Oklahoma, town in Tulsa County *Sperry Chalet, historic backcountry chalet, Glacier National Park, Montana *Sperry Glacier, ...

Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most op ...

Population ranking

The population ranking of the following table is based on the 2020 census of Clayton County. † ''county seat''

Politics

References

External links

*
Clayton County Development Corporation's websiteClayton County Health and Demographic Data
{{authority control 1837 establishments in Wisconsin Territory Populated places established in 1837 Driftless Area Iowa counties on the Mississippi River