Counties / Arkansas / Clay County

Clay County, AR

FIPS 05021 · population 14,280 · outside every metro area

$124k
Zillow home value · 2026-06
The numbers

What this county costs and earns

Everything here joins on the county FIPS code, so each figure comes from the agency that publishes it with no name matching in between.

Zillow home value
$124k
▲ 2.8% year over year
Zillow ZHVI · direct
ACS median gross rent
$707
occupied-unit survey; not current asking rent
Census ACS · surveyed
Gross yield
n/a
gross yield cannot be computed without measured market rent
requires both measured price and measured rent
HUD 2-bed standard
$880
the Section 8 payment standard
HUD Fair Market Rent · direct
Independent price check

Do two methods point the same way?

Zillow estimates a current home value. FHFA tracks repeat mortgage transactions. Their growth rates should be read side by side, not averaged.

Both annual signals move in the same direction
FHFA five-year cumulative+65.2%not annualized · through 2025
0%ZILLOW ZHVI2026-06+2.8%FHFA HPI2025+9.7%
Annual changes use different methods and may use different periods. The comparison checks direction and magnitude; it does not create a blended estimate. Zillow county ZHVI pulled 2026-07-26; FHFA annual county HPI pulled 2026-07-28.
Owner-reported value$95k
Surveyed gross rent$707
Rent burden 30%+39.8%
Median year built1973
Housing composition

Who occupies the stock—and what it is

ACS 2024 5-year
19.6%vacant
7,492estimated housing units
Occupied tenure25.3% renter
owner 74.7%renter 25.3%
Structure mix81.9% single-family
Single-family 81.9%20+ units 0.5%Mobile home 12.0%Other 5.5%
ACS estimates describe the standing housing stock and occupied tenure. They do not measure current listings, transaction prices or asking rents.

Survey source: Census ACS 5-year — county housing value, tenure and stock · ACS 2024 5-year · pulled 2026-07-30. These values describe different housing universes and are not combined into gross yield.

Annual average covered jobs3,022▼ 3.1% from the prior annual release
Covered establishments359annual average reporting locations
Average weekly wage$824▲ 1.7% from the prior annual release
Largest private supersectorTrade, transportation, and utilities35.1% of disclosed private covered jobs
Local labor base

Jobs, pay and private-sector concentration

2025
0%COVERED JOBS−3.1%WEEKLY WAGE+1.7%Trade, transportation, and utilities35.1%
Annual QCEW counts cover jobs located at reporting establishments. The industry share uses disclosed private covered employment; it is not a resident-employment measure or a forecast.

Workplace source: BLS QCEW — county employment and wages · annual county employment and wages 2025 vs 2024 · pulled 2026-07-31. QCEW counts covered jobs located in the county, not employed residents or the metro score’s CES/LAUS series.

County brief

What the local evidence says

01Decision frame

Clay County’s tension is a low reported entry value versus an income case that cannot yet be underwritten. Zillow’s 2026-06 median home value is $124,426, but county market rent is not published. Income-property buyers should verify actual leases and operating costs; risk-sensitive buyers should be cautious about earthquake exposure. Zillow’s value measure rose 2.75% year over year, while FHFA’s separate 2025 repeat-transaction HPI rose 9.68%. Those observations point in the same direction, but use different vintages and methods: FHFA is an appreciation index, not a home value, and the rates cannot be merged.

02Housing economics

Without market rent, gross yield cannot be computed. HUD’s $880 monthly two-bedroom FMR is a payment standard, not an asking-rent estimate, so it cannot fill that gap. Against the reported median home value, the effective property-tax rate is 0.50%, and median annual property tax is $470. These are carrying-cost inputs rather than a tax bill for every property; parcel assessment, exemptions, insurance, repairs, and financing terms are not published. The price measure therefore does not establish net income or affordability.

03Demand & competition

The annual QCEW record shows covered workplace employment down 3.14%, while average weekly covered wages increased 1.73%. Trade, transportation, and utilities is the largest disclosed private supersector, with 35.08% of private covered jobs; it does not describe the whole economy. Net migration was 9 tax-return households, but incoming movers’ average AGI was $1,438 below outgoing movers’. The reported investor share was 20.83% across 120 purchases. That signals buyer participation, not bid intensity, ownership concentration, or renter demand.

04Risk & next checks

Modeled climate loss equals 0.29% of building value expected each year and must be assessed alongside earthquake as the stated dominant hazard; it is neither an event forecast nor a parcel loss estimate. No Realtor.com MLS listing price, active-listing count, days on market, or price-reduction share is published, preventing a read on visible supply, marketing time, or seller concessions. Obtain current market asking rents and rent rolls, property-level taxes and insurance or earthquake terms, condition, and MLS or closed-sale comparables before setting income, exit-price, or hazard-cost assumptions.

Cities & communities

Where people live within Clay County

Census-recognized incorporated places and CDPs that intersect this county. The list does not pretend to include every neighborhood or informal community.

Population scale

Largest Census places

ACS 2024 5-year
Piggott city3.6KCorning city3.1KRector city1.8KGreenway city261St. Francis city177Knobel city158Pollard city143McDougal town116
Bars use total place population, not a county-share estimate. An asterisk marks a place that crosses a county line.
Official directory

12 Census places

Population
  1. 01
    Piggott cityIncorporated place
    3,555
  2. 02
    Corning cityIncorporated place
    3,134
  3. 03
    Rector cityIncorporated place
    1,750
  4. 04
    Greenway cityIncorporated place
    261
  5. 05
    St. Francis cityIncorporated place
    177
  6. 06
    Knobel cityIncorporated place
    158
  7. 07
    Pollard cityIncorporated place
    143
  8. 08
    McDougal townIncorporated place
    116
  9. 09
    Success townIncorporated place
    92
  10. 10
    Peach Orchard cityIncorporated place
    86
  11. 11
    Datto townIncorporated place
    67
  12. 12
    Nimmons townIncorporated place
    22

Population is the total place-wide ACS estimate, not an allocated county share. A place crossing a county line is labelled explicitly. Source: Census ACS 5-year — cities and communities · ACS 2024 5-year · pulled 2026-07-30.

Risk, demand and competition

The three things a price does not tell you

01
Risk & carrying costFEMA NRI + Census ACS
Dominant hazardearthquake

0.292% of building value expected lost per year

Effective property tax0.50%

$470 median annual bill

02
DemandIRS SOI household flows
Net migration+9

330 in · 321 out

Arriving vs leaving income−$1,438

$39,412 arriving · $40,850 leaving

03
CompetitionHMDA financed purchases
Purchases by investors20.8%

25 of 120 mortgages

investorother financed
No rent index is published for this county.Zillow’s county rent series does not cover every county, and estimating one from a neighbouring county would be a guess wearing a number’s clothes. Everything above is measured here; no wider market is mapped for it either.
Bear case

What can break the county thesis

  1. Unpublished market rent and lease evidence could reveal income insufficient to cover carrying costs.
  2. Earthquake exposure and property-specific insurance terms could raise expenses or constrain financing.
  3. Employment contraction, lower incoming-mover income, and absent listing-market evidence could weaken tenant or resale assumptions.
Underwriting questions

Before pricing a property

Can gross yield be calculated from this record?

No. County market rent is not published, and HUD Fair Market Rent cannot be substituted for market asking rent.

Does the reported price evidence establish closed-sale pricing?

No. It is a Zillow median home value; Realtor.com MLS listing figures and closed-sale evidence are not published.

What does the local employment measure represent?

QCEW measures annual covered employment at workplaces in the county, not resident employment, unemployment, or a forecast.