City · St. Louis County, Missouri

Clayton, Missouri

Clayton is a city in St. Louis County, Missouri, part of the St. Louis, MO-IL metro area. It has 17,380 residents. Clayton, Missouri has a quality-of-life score of 80 out of 100 (high), ranking #3,153 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Missouri it ranks #35 of 375 cities and towns. It ranks best on bachelor's degree or higher (high), pharmacies (high) and average commute time (low). It ranks worst on income inequality (Gini index) (high), homicide rate (high) and home price to income ratio (high).

80High

Quality-of-life score: #3,153 of 15,651 cities and towns
Missouri: #35 of 375 in MO
Population: 17,380 (2020-2024)
Land area: 3 mi²
Density: 6,927.8 /mi²
FIPS code: 2914572

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 76 of 80 indicators, with the default “Explorer” weights.

Open in the map

Scores by category

Each category averages its indicators' percentile scores among US cities and towns.

Safety9#14,147/15,637
Economy82#2,873/15,631
Housing65#5,196/14,977
Health72#4,301/15,609
Healthcare92#1,215/15,650
Environment13#13,428/15,453
Education87#2,047/15,649
Infrastructure100#20/15,650
Community87#2,099/15,651
Leisure & amenities67#5,055/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Clayton, Missouri ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “St. Louis County value” are the county’s: the source publishes no figure for this city or town, and the county holding most of its residents stands in.

Strengths

Bachelor's degree or higher · high84.9%
100/100Missouri 32.4%United States 35.7%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B15003
Pharmacies · high3.0 /10k
96/100Missouri 2.1 /10kUnited States 1.8 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsSt. Louis County value
Average commute time · low16.6 min
95/100Missouri 23.5 minUnited States 26.4 min2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B08013
Food insecurity · low7.6%
94/100Missouri 14.3%United States 15.6%2023Centers for Disease Control and PreventionModel-based estimate
Primary care physicians · high124 /100k
94/100Missouri 72 /100kUnited States 76 /100k2022University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteSt. Louis County value
Flu vaccinations · high55.0%
93/100Missouri 44.0%United States 44.0%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteSt. Louis County value

Weaknesses

Income inequality (Gini index) · high0.548
2/100Missouri 0.465United States 0.4832020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B19083
Homicide rate · high13.3 /100k
4/100Missouri 7.7 /100kUnited States 4.8 /100kMay 2025–Apr 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataSt. Louis County value
Home price to income ratio · high6.8×
8/100Missouri 3.3×United States 4.1×2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25077
Firearm deaths · high21.7 /100k
11/100Missouri 20.1 /100kUnited States 12.1 /100kMay 2025–Apr 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataSt. Louis County value
Time spent in the emergency room · high219 min
13/100Missouri 161 minUnited States 170 minOct 2024–Sep 2025Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesSt. Louis County value
Comfortable days · low23.7%
17/100Missouri 24.9%United States 26.8%2016-2025NOAA National Centers for Environmental InformationSt. Louis County value

Trends

The largest changes over about five years, next to the country's over the same periods.

New homes permittedImproving
0.2 /1k (2021) → 0.6 /1k (Sep 2025–Aug 2026)
+143%5 yearsUS 5.2 /1k → 4.2 /1k
Bachelor's degree or higherImproving
77.7% (2015-2019) → 84.9% (2020-2024)
+7.3 pts5 yearsCensus table B15003US 32.1% → 35.7%
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
91.8% (2015-2019) → 96.0% (2020-2024)
+4.2 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Home price to income ratioWorsening
5.9× (2015-2019) → 6.7× (2020-2024)
+15%5 yearsCensus table B25077US 3.5× → 4.1×
Median household incomeImproving
$107,596 (2015-2019) → $123,000 (2020-2024)
+14%5 yearsCensus table B19013US $65,712 → $81,604
Public transit commutersWorsening
3.8% (2015-2019) → 1.5% (2020-2024)
−2.3 pts5 yearsCensus table B08301US 5.0% → 3.2%

What changed in five years

How each measure moved between two periods about five years apart, read against whether more or less is better, the published margin of error and the same change in other places.

Over about five years, Clayton, Missouri improved on 1 of 14 measures with a comparison and declined on 1. 12 moved within the margin of error and 0 barely changed.

Earlier (2015-2019)
Latest (2020-2024)
Lower standingHigher standing

Position is the place's standing among cities and towns: further right is better, whichever way the measure counts.

Improved1

Broadband+4.2 points91.8% → 96.0%

Declined1

Transit use−2.3 points3.8% → 1.5%

All 14 measures

Change of every measure of Clayton, Missouri between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	16.3 min2015-2019	16.6 min2020-2024	+0.3 min	Within the margin of error	44%
Bachelor's degree or higher	77.7%2015-2019	84.9%2020-2024	+7.3 points	Within the margin of error	81%
Broadband subscriptions	91.8%2015-2019	96.0%2020-2024	+4.2 points	Improved	27%
Effective property tax rate	1.18%2015-2019	1.10%2020-2024	−0.1 points	Within the margin of error	30%
High school diploma or higher	96.8%2015-2019	97.0%2020-2024	+0.1 points	Within the margin of error	35%
Home price to income ratio	5.9×2015-2019	6.7×2020-2024	+0.9×	Within the margin of error	28%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.5582015-2019	0.5482020-2024	−0.011	Within the margin of error	60%
Median household income	$107,5962015-2019	$123,0002020-2024	+14%	Within the margin of error	23%
Poverty rate	8.3%2015-2019	8.0%2020-2024	−0.4 points	Within the margin of error	47%
Public transit commuters	3.8%2015-2019	1.5%2020-2024	−2.3 points	Declined	12%
Rent as share of income	24.8%2015-2019	24.3%2020-2024	−0.5 points	Within the margin of error	59%
Rent-burdened households	41.3%2015-2019	39.0%2020-2024	−2.3 points	Within the margin of error	64%
Unemployment rate	2.2%2015-2019	3.6%2020-2024	+1.3 points	Within the margin of error	24%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	2.8%2015-2019	3.6%2020-2024	+0.8 points	Within the margin of error	37%

“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 14640 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.

Sources: American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates. Values are the latest and the one five years earlier of the same publisher dataset; datasets that changed publisher in between are never compared.

Survey estimates (American Community Survey) compare the two most recent 5-year windows that do not share years, so the margin of error of the difference holds. The 2015-2019 window predates the pandemic and 2020-2024 includes it.
A change counts only when it is larger than 1.645 times the square root of the two standard errors squared, summed (a 90% margin). Measures published without a margin must change by at least 5% to count.
“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 15651 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.
Standing is a percentile among the same places: 0 is the lowest value on the measure (or the worst when lower is better), 100 the best.

Cities and towns like Clayton, Missouri five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Clayton, Missouri in the earlier period, ranked by how many measures improved beyond the margin of error, minus how many declined. A comparison of published data, not a forecast and not advice.

For comparison, Clayton, Missouri itself moved −0.3 points in standing on average over the same 10 measures (standings of all places average about zero).

How the ranking works

Similarity is the root-mean-square difference of standings in the earlier period over the measures most places have. Places are ranked by measures that improved beyond the margin of error minus those that declined (a count that estimation noise in small places cannot inflate), then by the mean change of standing over the measures a place has in both periods. Only places with more improvements than declines and a rise in standing are listed. Standings are relative, so a place can improve in absolute terms and still lose standing.

Who lives here

Age, race and education of residents, from the American Community Survey. Shares are of all residents (age), residents of every origin (race) or adults 25 and over (education).

Age and sex

17,380 residents (±44)

Men
Women

80 and over†
70–79
60–69

Income

How household income is spread, not just the middle: each bar is the share of households in that income range.

Household income

6,222 households (±270)

Clayton, Missouri
Missouri share

Under $25k11%†655
$25k–50k8.2%†512
$50k–75k15%

Homes

Who owns and who rents, what homes cost, and what the housing stock looks like.

Owners and renters

6,222 households (±270)

Clayton, Missouri
Missouri share

Own55%3,413
Rent45%2,809

No change since 2015–2019 is larger than the margin of error.

Table view

Getting to work

How workers travel to their job and how long it takes them.

How people get to work

7,561 workers (±448)

Clayton, Missouri
Missouri share

Drive alone57%4,338
Carpool5.6%†420
Public transit1.5%†112

Jobs and pay

What the largest occupations here pay, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes pay by metro area, not by county or city. The metro area page lists its largest occupations and lets you look up any job.

Pay in the St. Louis, MO-IL

Local businesses

Employer businesses and sole proprietors by industry, per resident and against the state and the nation. Counts of businesses next to counts of people, not a measure of demand.

The Census Bureau publishes business counts by county, not by city, so these are the figures of St. Louis County, the county holding most of Clayton's residents.

St. Louis County has 29,717 employer establishments, 300 for every 10,000 residents (1.21× the US rate of 248; 1.23× Missouri's), with 629,036 paid employees at an average annual pay of $73,734. The Census Bureau also counts 89,735 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 29,717; 89,735 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 300; US 248 · Missouri 244
Paid employees: 629,036
Average annual pay: $73,734; US $68,342

Employer establishments, employees, average pay and nonemployers of St. Louis County by industry, with the density per resident against the nation

Ambulatory health care services	3,224	32.6	1.56×More than typical	36,628	$76,890	4,848
Restaurants and other eating places	1,798	18.2	0.99×About typical	38,574	$24,153	326
Lessors of real estate	1,289	13	1.06×About typical	10,383	$70,273	9,990
Individual and family services	1,262	12.7	4.55×More than typical	10,320	$30,221	576
Specialty trade contractors	1,246	12.6	0.81×About typical	24,229	$84,529	3,357
Offices of physicians	1,081	10.9	1.69×More than typical	12,502	$129,601	1,184
Limited-service restaurants	876	8.8	1.10×About typical	16,579	$21,268	142
Offices of other health practitioners	831	8.4	1.38×More than typical	6,237	$50,380	2,049
Insurance agencies and brokerages	770	7.8	1.77×More than typical	7,505	$99,795	1,620
Services to buildings and dwellings	744	7.5	1.11×About typical	11,136	$38,364	4,008
Legal services	718	7.3	1.35×More than typical	4,215	$105,242	1,204
Full-service restaurants	708	7.2	0.93×About typical	19,137	$27,322	124

Rank places for an industry Open St. Louis County

County Business Patterns (2023); Nonemployer Statistics (2024)

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 989,977 residents here, 336,755,052 in the United States. County Business Patterns counts establishments in 2023; the Nonemployer Statistics count businesses in 2024.
“More than typical” is a density at least 1.25 times the nation's per resident, “fewer” at most 0.8 times, with at least 10 establishments. It compares counts of businesses with counts of people: it says nothing about demand, incomes, size, quality or profit, and visitors and commuters are not residents.
The Census Bureau adds noise to employment and payroll to protect confidentiality, and withholds some figures: an industry with few establishments can show employees or pay as unavailable.
Industries overlap: a narrower industry (full-service restaurants) is part of a broader one (restaurants), so the rows do not add up.
Industries follow the North American Industry Classification System; the two surveys use different editions (NAICS 2017 and 2022), which this page matches industry by industry.

Federal contracts performed here

In FY2026, an estimated $18.6M of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Clayton, Missouri: $1,069 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: $18.6M; −27% vs FY2025
Per resident: $1,069; US $1,994
Sole-source: 0.0%; US 30%
Single offer: 1.3%; US 8.8%

A signal is a reason to look closer, not evidence of wrongdoing: most sole-source awards are lawful and justified.

Top buying agencies

Forest Service$8.1M44%
Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation$6.6M35%
Bureau of Indian Affairs and Bureau of Indian Education$2.9M16%
Agricultural Research Service$350.1K1.9%
Department of the Army$272.8K1.5%
Federal Bureau of Investigation$208.2K1.1%
Department of Veterans Affairs$43.6K0.2%
National Institutes of Health$20.2K0.1%

Top recipients

EAN HOLDINGS, LLC$8.5M46%
NISA INVESTMENT ADVISORS LLC$6.6M35%
PERIMETER SOLUTIONS LP$2.8M15%
GRAYBAR ELECTRIC COMPANY, INC.$390.7K2.1%
ENERGIZER HOLDINGS, INC.$272.8K1.5%

Spending by fiscal year

2.1MFY2017
6.9MFY2018
10.5MFY2019
6.5MFY2020
50MFY2021
49.1MFY2022
34MFY2023
23.5M

Top industries (NAICS)

Automotive equipment rental and leasing · 5321$8.5M46%
Securities and commodity contracts intermediation and brokerage · 5231$6.6M35%
Other chemical product and preparation manufacturing · 3259$2.8M15%
Communications equipment manufacturing · 3342$375.4K2.0%
Other electrical equipment and component manufacturing · 3359$272.8K1.5%
Advertising, public relations, and related services · 5418

Largest awards whose ZIP code lies mostly in Clayton, Missouri

LDI FIXED INCOME INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT SERVICES$83.9M
NISA INVESTMENT ADVISORS LLC· St. Louis County, MO· Professional services· Dec 19, 2017 – Jul 21, 2026· 16PBGC18C0006
RETARDANT ON-DEMAND BPA PERIMETER FY23$14.6M
PERIMETER SOLUTIONS LP· St. Louis County, MO· Other equipment & supplies· Jan 1, 2023 – Jun 29, 2026· 1202SC23K2600
NATIONAL RETARDANT ON DEMAND (ROD) FOR NIFC$2M
PERIMETER SOLUTIONS LP· St. Louis County, MO· Other equipment & supplies· May 21, 2026 – Sep 22, 2026· 140A1626F0026
RETARDANT SERVICES ON DEMAND AT VARIOUS BIA LOCATIONS NATIONALLY - BIA NIFC

Source: Federal contract transactions (Federal Procurement Data System) (U.S. Department of the Treasury, USAspending.gov), data current to Oct 3, 2026, loaded Oct 3, 2026.

How this is estimated

Agencies report each contract action's place of performance as a county and a ZIP code. A ZIP code's money is split among the cities it covers by the share of its land inside each (Census 2020 ZIP code tabulation areas); the part outside city limits stays with the county.

The place of performance is what the contracting agency reports, often the contractor's office rather than where the work happens.
Shares are of land, not of people or businesses: a ZIP code that is mostly rural land but has its offices in town gives the town less than it should.
ZIP codes that are not mapped areas (post office boxes, the unique ZIP codes of large federal sites and companies) stay with their county, unless one city covers nearly all of it.
Counts of actions and awards include those only partly in Clayton, Missouri, so they do not add up across cities.

Clayton, Missouri's figures are part of those of St. Louis County, MO ($7.3B in FY2026), never added to them: 0.3% of that total.

Grants and other federal assistance are counted by county here, not split among cities: Clayton is mostly in St. Louis County.

See federal money in St. Louis County

Representation in Congress

Members serving today, with their record in the current Congress (party-unity votes cast with their caucus, roll calls missed). Not a grade.

Clayton, Missouri is split between congressional districts: each representative is shown with the share of its residents in their district (current boundaries).

House

Senate

County

A city can lie in several counties. Some indicators are published for counties only: the page marks them.

St. Louis County71100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

St. Louis, MO-IL72

Other cities and towns in St. Louis County

Largest first.

Similar cities and towns

Closest indicator profiles across the country (no model: score distances).

Data and sources

Latest published value of each indicator; periods differ by source. Values flagged by their publisher are marked.

PLACES: Local Data for Better HealthCenters for Disease Control and Prevention · release 2025
Local Area Unemployment StatisticsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · release 2025
American Community Survey 5-Year EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2017-2024
Building Permits SurveyU.S. Census Bureau · release 2026-08
Population Estimates ProgramU.S. Census Bureau · release 2025
Small Area Health Insurance EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
Small Area Income and Poverty EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
County Health Rankings & RoadmapsUniversity of Wisconsin Population Health Institute · release 2022-2025+2026-03-supplement

JSON · /api/v1/places/2914572

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends