{"id":1601,"date":"2023-02-19T13:34:28","date_gmt":"2023-02-19T13:34:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/?p=1601"},"modified":"2026-08-07T10:25:05","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T10:25:05","slug":"clayton-county","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/clayton-county\/","title":{"rendered":"Clayton County, Georgia"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Clayton County is a county in Georgia, United States, about 9 miles south of downtown Atlanta.<br \/>\nIt had a population of 297,595 at the 2020 census, an estimated 298,924 by 2024, and covers 142<br \/>\nsquare miles (370 km2) centred near 33\u00b032\u2032N 84\u00b022\u2032W.<\/p>\n<p>Jonesboro is the county seat; its postal code is 30236. The county holds 6 fully incorporated<br \/>\ncities, part of a seventh that crosses in from Fulton County, and several unincorporated<br \/>\ncommunities, and it runs on Eastern Time. Its FIPS code is 13063.<\/p>\n<h2>Towns &amp; Villages in Clayton County<\/h2>\n<p>Clayton County has 12 named places on record: 6 cities incorporated entirely within the<br \/>\ncounty, one city that is mostly in Fulton County but reaches across the line, and 5<br \/>\nunincorporated communities with no city government of their own. CDP stands for census<br \/>\ndesignated place; Unincorp. covers communities the Census Bureau does not track as a separate<br \/>\npopulation point.<\/p>\n<div class=\"tv-table-scroll\">\n<table>\n<thead>\n<tr>\n<th>Place<\/th>\n<th>Type<\/th>\n<th>Pop.<\/th>\n<th>ZIP<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>Forest Park<\/td>\n<td>City<\/td>\n<td>19,932<\/td>\n<td>30297<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Riverdale<\/td>\n<td>City<\/td>\n<td>15,129<\/td>\n<td>30274<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Lovejoy<\/td>\n<td>City<\/td>\n<td>10,122<\/td>\n<td>30250<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Morrow<\/td>\n<td>City<\/td>\n<td>6,569<\/td>\n<td>30260<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Jonesboro<\/td>\n<td>City &middot; seat<\/td>\n<td>4,235<\/td>\n<td>30236<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Lake City<\/td>\n<td>City<\/td>\n<td>2,952<\/td>\n<td>30260<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>College Park<\/td>\n<td>City (partial)<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>30349<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Rex<\/td>\n<td>CDP<\/td>\n<td>16,580<\/td>\n<td>30273<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Ellenwood<\/td>\n<td>CDP<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>30294<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Conley<\/td>\n<td>CDP<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>30288<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Mountain View<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Irondale<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<p>Three places on this list straddle county lines. College Park&#8217;s city limits are mostly in<br \/>\nFulton County around the airport, with only a small residential slice reaching into Clayton, so<br \/>\nits citywide population figure is not counted here. Ellenwood and Conley are both Census<br \/>\nDesignated Places that span Clayton, DeKalb and neighboring counties &mdash; the Census Bureau<br \/>\npublishes a single combined population for each CDP rather than a per-county split, so their<br \/>\npopulation cells are left blank rather than guessed.<\/p>\n<h2>ZIP Codes<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>30236 &mdash; Jonesboro (the county&#8217;s main post office ZIP)<\/li>\n<li>30238 &mdash; Jonesboro (south side)<\/li>\n<li>30297 &mdash; Forest Park<\/li>\n<li>30274 &mdash; Riverdale<\/li>\n<li>30296 &mdash; Riverdale (also serves Jonesboro addresses on the county&#8217;s west side)<\/li>\n<li>30250 &mdash; Lovejoy<\/li>\n<li>30260 &mdash; Morrow and Lake City, which share a post office<\/li>\n<li>30287 &mdash; Morrow (north side)<\/li>\n<li>30273 &mdash; Rex<\/li>\n<li>30294 &mdash; Ellenwood<\/li>\n<li>30288 &mdash; Conley<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Mountain View and Irondale have no ZIP code of their own; mail there is delivered under the<br \/>\nnearest incorporated town&#8217;s code. College Park&#8217;s Clayton County residents mostly use<br \/>\n30349, a ZIP centred on the Fulton County side of the city.<\/p>\n<h2>Geography<\/h2>\n<p>Clayton County sits in Georgia&#8217;s north-central Piedmont, immediately south of Atlanta,<br \/>\non flat to gently rolling terrain shaped by the South River and Flint River watersheds. Of its<br \/>\n144 square miles, 142 are land and 2.8 are water, about 1.9 percent &mdash; the county has no<br \/>\nlarge natural lake, and most of its surface water is Lake Jodeco and small tributary creeks<br \/>\nfeeding the South River along its northern edge. Hartsfield&#8211;Jackson Atlanta International<br \/>\nAirport, the world&#8217;s busiest airport by passenger traffic, occupies a large share of the<br \/>\ncounty&#8217;s northwestern corner and spills across the line into Fulton County.<\/p>\n<p>Fulton County lies to the north and west, DeKalb County to the north and east, Henry County<br \/>\nto the east, Spalding County to the south, and Fayette County to the west. Of these, only<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/spalding-county\/\">Spalding County<\/a> currently has its<br \/>\nown page on this site; Fulton, DeKalb, Henry and Fayette counties border Clayton directly but do<br \/>\nnot yet have a Georgia-specific page here.<\/p>\n<h2>Demographics<\/h2>\n<p>Clayton County had a population of 297,595 at the 2020 census, and the latest estimate puts<br \/>\nthe county near 298,924 residents, essentially flat over the past several years. Forest Park and<br \/>\nRex are the two largest communities by population, followed closely by Riverdale. Median<br \/>\nhousehold income runs $59,806, below Georgia&#8217;s statewide figure of $74,632. Population<br \/>\ndensity works out to roughly 2,096 people per square mile of land, among the densest counties in<br \/>\nGeorgia outside Fulton and DeKalb, reflecting Clayton&#8217;s position as a close-in Atlanta<br \/>\nsuburb built out almost entirely by the 1980s.<\/p>\n<h2>Economy &amp; Local Life<\/h2>\n<p>Transportation and warehousing employs the most workers in the county, about 20,044 people,<br \/>\nfollowed by health care and social assistance at 18,078 and retail trade at 15,683. That<br \/>\ntransportation figure traces directly to Hartsfield&#8211;Jackson Atlanta International Airport,<br \/>\nwhose Clayton County footprint includes cargo terminals, aircraft maintenance hangars and a<br \/>\ndense cluster of logistics warehouses along Interstate 285. Clayton State University in Morrow<br \/>\nand the Georgia Archives, also in Morrow, anchor the county&#8217;s education and government<br \/>\nsector. Southern Regional Medical Center in Riverdale is the county&#8217;s main hospital<br \/>\nemployer. The county&#8217;s biggest annual event is the International Cotton and Cultural<br \/>\nFestival in Jonesboro each October, which draws visitors to the historic downtown square.<\/p>\n<h2>History<\/h2>\n<p>Georgia&#8217;s General Assembly formed Clayton County on 30 November 1858, carving it out of<br \/>\nHenry and Fayette counties. It was named for Augustin Smith Clayton, a Georgia judge and U.S.<br \/>\nRepresentative from 1832 to 1835 who, as a state court judge in 1829, ruled that Georgia law<br \/>\nextended into Cherokee territory &mdash; a decision that led to the U.S. Supreme Court case<br \/>\nCherokee Nation v. Georgia. Jonesboro, the county seat, was a key rail junction and supply depot<br \/>\nduring the Civil War; the Battle of Jonesborough in August and September 1864 cut the last<br \/>\nConfederate rail line into Atlanta and forced the city&#8217;s evacuation, an episode later<br \/>\nfictionalized as the setting for Margaret Mitchell&#8217;s Gone with the Wind.<\/p>\n<h2>Getting There<\/h2>\n<p>Interstates 75 and 85 run parallel through the county&#8217;s west side, and Interstates 285<br \/>\nand 675 cross it as well, giving Clayton County four interstates within its 142 square miles. US<br \/>\n19, US 23, US 29 and US 41 also pass through.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Atlanta &mdash; about 9 miles north<\/li>\n<li>McDonough &mdash; about 15 miles southeast<\/li>\n<li>Griffin &mdash; about 25 miles south<\/li>\n<li>Fayetteville &mdash; about 15 miles west<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Hartsfield&#8211;Jackson Atlanta International Airport sits mostly within the county&#8217;s<br \/>\nnorthwestern corner, making Clayton County home to the world&#8217;s busiest commercial airport<br \/>\nby passenger traffic. Amtrak has no station in the county; the nearest stop is Atlanta&#8217;s<br \/>\nPeachtree Station, about 12 miles north.<\/p>\n<h2>Frequently Asked Questions<\/h2>\n<p><strong>Where is Clayton County located?<\/strong><br \/>\nIt sits in Georgia&#8217;s north-central Piedmont, about 9 miles south of downtown Atlanta,<br \/>\nbordered by Fulton, DeKalb, Henry, Spalding and Fayette counties.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What is the population of Clayton County?<\/strong><br \/>\n297,595 at the 2020 census, with a 2024 estimate near 298,924.<\/p>\n<p><strong>How big is Clayton County?<\/strong><br \/>\n142 square miles (370 km2) of land, plus 2.8 square miles of water.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What is the county seat of Clayton County?<\/strong><br \/>\nJonesboro is the county seat, a rail town that became the flashpoint of the 1864 Battle of<br \/>\nJonesborough.<\/p>\n<p><strong>How many towns and cities are in Clayton County?<\/strong><br \/>\nSix cities fall entirely inside the county &mdash; Jonesboro, Forest Park, Riverdale, Morrow,<br \/>\nLake City and Lovejoy &mdash; plus a small slice of College Park and the unincorporated<br \/>\ncommunities of Rex, Ellenwood, Conley, Mountain View and Irondale.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What ZIP codes does Clayton County use?<\/strong><br \/>\n30236 and 30238 for Jonesboro, 30297 for Forest Park, 30274 and 30296 for Riverdale, 30260 and<br \/>\n30287 for Morrow and Lake City, 30250 for Lovejoy, 30273 for Rex, 30294 for Ellenwood and 30288<br \/>\nfor Conley.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What is Clayton County known for?<\/strong><br \/>\nHartsfield&#8211;Jackson Atlanta International Airport, the world&#8217;s busiest airport by<br \/>\npassenger traffic, and the 1864 Battle of Jonesborough that cut off Confederate Atlanta.<\/p>\n<p>More counties in this state: <a href=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/category\/georgia\/\">Towns and villages in Georgia<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Clayton County is a county in Georgia, United States, about 9 miles south of downtown Atlanta. It had a population of 297,595 at the 2020 census, an estimated 298,924 by 2024, and covers 142 square miles (370 km2) centred near 33\u00b032\u2032N 84\u00b022\u2032W. Jonesboro is the county seat; its postal code is 30236. The county holds [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"Towns & Villages in Clayton County, Georgia","_seopress_titles_desc":"12 towns and communities in Clayton County, Georgia - type, population and ZIP for each, plus the Atlanta airport and 1864 battle history.","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[6],"class_list":["post-1601","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-georgia","tag-towns-and-cities","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1601","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1601"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1601\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9265,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1601\/revisions\/9265"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1601"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1601"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1601"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}