Clayton is a medium-sized city located in the state of Missouri. With a population of 17,461 people and four associated neighborhoods, Clayton is the 43rd largest community in Missouri. Clayton has a large stock of pre-World War II architecture, 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.

And if you like science, one thing you'll find is that Clayton has lots of scientists living in town - whether they be life scientists, physical scientists (like astronomers), or social scientists (like geographers!). So, if you're scientific-minded, you might like it here too.

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: 19.18% 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 where college students really create the town feel and character. So many small towns have lost population over the last 20-30 years that having the local college presence in the Clayton area, with all of the energy of the students filling area dorms and apartments each fall, really helps Clayton maintain a good economy.

Clayton, while not large, also appears to be attractive to some younger, educated professionals, who help shape the character of the city.

One of the benefits of Clayton is that there is very little traffic. The average commute to work is 18.96 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 like to read, write and learn? If you move to Clayton, you'll likely find that many of your neighbors like to as well. Clayton is one of the more educated communities in America, with a full 83.81% of its adults having a college degree or even advanced degree, compared to a national average across all communities of 21.84%.

The per capita income in Clayton in 2022 was $75,049, which is wealthy relative to Missouri and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $300,196 for a family of four. However, Clayton contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.

Clayton is an extremely 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 Polish.

The most common language spoken in Clayton is English. Other important languages spoken here include Chinese and Spanish.