Clay is a somewhat small city located in the state of Alabama. With a population of 10,290 people and two associated neighborhoods, Clay is the 65th largest community in Alabama.

Telecommuters are a relatively large percentage of the workforce: 7.88% of people work from home. While this number may seem small overall, as a fraction of the total workforce it is high relative to the nation. 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.

In Clay, however, the average commute to work is quite long. On average, people spend 32.09 minutes each day getting to work, which is significantly higher than the national average.

Being a small city, Clay does not have a public transit system used by locals to get to and from work.

The education level of Clay citizens, measured as those with bachelor's degrees or advanced degrees, is similar to the national average for all American cities and towns. 20.64% of adults 25 and older in Clay have a college degree.

The per capita income in Clay in 2022 was $31,453, which is upper middle income relative to Alabama, and middle income relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $125,812 for a family of four. However, Clay contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.

Clay is an extremely ethnically-diverse city. The people who call Clay home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Clay residents report their race to be White, followed by Black or African-American. Important ancestries of people in Clay include English, African, Irish, German, and Italian.

The most common language spoken in Clay is English. Other important languages spoken here include Italian and Vietnamese.