Clayton is a medium-sized town located in the state of North Carolina. With a population of 29,445 people and 14 associated neighborhoods, Clayton is the 42nd largest community in North Carolina. Clayton has seen a significant amount of newer housing growth in recent years. Quite often, new home construction is the result of new residents moving in who are middle class or wealthier, attracted by jobs, a healthy local economy, or other amenities as they leave nearby or far away areas for greener pastures. This seems to be the case in Clayton, where the median household income is $71,698.00.

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.

Telecommuters are a relatively large percentage of the workforce: 13.08% 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 Clayton, however, the average commute to work is quite long. On average, people spend 31.99 minutes each day getting to work, which is significantly higher than the national average.

The overall education level of Clayton citizens is substantially higher than the typical US community, as 32.36% of adults in Clayton have at least a bachelor's degree, and the average American community has 21.84%.

The per capita income in Clayton in 2022 was $34,453, which is upper middle income relative to North Carolina, and middle income relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $137,812 for a family of four. However, Clayton contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.

Clayton is an extremely ethnically-diverse town. 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 Black or African-American. Clayton also has a sizeable Hispanic population (people of Hispanic origin can be of any race). People of Hispanic or Latino origin account for 13.81% of the town’s residents. Important ancestries of people in Clayton include English, Irish, German, Italian, and European.

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