Living in Clay, NY
Small city in New York
Clay is a small city in New York, home to about 60,000 people, with 371,000 living within 31 mi. Day to day, a car is essential. Life moves at a slow, calm pace, and homes are mostly houses.
Is Clay a good place to live? Pros and cons
👍 Pros
- Affordable housing: a typical 3-bedroom home is about $222k and rents for $1,690 a month
- Mild summers: highs around 79°F
- Great outdoors: hills or mountains nearby
- Dog-friendly: 3 dog parks within 9 mi
👎 Cons
- Cloudier than most places
- Higher taxes: about $3,080 state income tax per resident, 2.62% property tax
- Smaller job market: about 371,000 people live within 31 mi
- Quieter on culture: few museums and attractions nearby
Whether it's a good place for you depends on what you value. Take the quiz to see how Clay ranks against your own priorities.
Key facts
Living in Clay: common questions
What is the cost of living in Clay?
A typical 3-bedroom home is worth about $222k, and a 3-bedroom rents for about $1,690 a month including utilities. Overall living costs are below the US average (index 96, where the US is 100).
What are taxes like in Clay?
New York collects about $3,080 in state income tax per resident, and homeowners here pay about 2.62% of their home's value in property tax each year.
Is Clay safe?
Clay isn't in the FBI's 2019 city crime table, so Best Life Fit Me counts its safety as average.
How are the schools in Clay?
Public schools in Clay test above the US average in math and reading (2018–19 state tests, put on one national scale with NAEP), with about 14 students per teacher.
What is the weather like in Clay?
Clay has long, snowy winters: winter days average around 34°F and summer days around 79°F, with roughly 128″ of snow a year.
Does Clay get natural disasters?
Natural disaster risk is low, mainly from flooding: 7 federally declared disasters have hit the county since 2000, and FEMA expects about 0.22 deaths or injuries per 100,000 residents a year.
What is the nearest major airport to Clay?
The nearest major airport is SYR, about 6 mi away.
How Clay scores
Each bar compares Clay with the other 1,990 places in Best Life Fit Me. A dot shows where it sits between two ends, such as major metro and small town; neither end is better. Coloured bars run from poor (red) to excellent (green).
Places like Clay
These places have the most similar overall profile across all 24 aspects.
The circle is each place's all-round score out of 100: the average of its 15 quality scores, from red (poor) to green (excellent).
Nearby
See all the best places to live in New York.
Is Clay right for you?
Answer 27 quick questions and see how it ranks against your priorities.