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Clay County, North Carolina
Clay County is a small mountain county in North Carolina's far southwestern corner along the Georgia line, built around Hayesville, its only incorporated town, and the shoreline of Lake Chatuge. Second-home and retiree buyers drive the market around the lake, and steep mountain topography combined with a limited supply of buildable, lake-adjacent parcels make waterfront lots the scarcest and most contested category of land.
Open the live Clay County map →
Clay County at a glance
- 12,000Population (2025)
- HayesvilleCounty seat
- 215 sq miLand area
- 56 / sq miDensity
- $57,000Median household income
- $280,000Median home value
What the live Clay County map shows
Free in your browser, nothing to download:
- City Boundaries: 1
- School Boundaries - Elementary: 2
- School Boundaries - Middle: 1
- School Boundaries - High: 1
- Congressional Districts: 1
- Soils: 119
- State House Districts: 1
- State Senate Districts: 1
Cities and towns in Clay County
Hayesville.