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Traffic heat map of Clay County, Kentucky: 136 miles of roads shaded from blue (light) to red (heavy traffic), busiest on Richmond Road and US 421

Clay County, Kentucky Traffic Counts

How busy are the roads of Clay County, Kentucky? We measure 136 road miles, divided into 942 segments, with multi-sourced, cross-verified mobile and sensor data. Its busiest road, Richmond Road, carries 13,292 vehicles a day, 5.6 times the average road. The breakdown below covers volume, trucks, congestion and driver profiles for retailers, logistics planners and engineers.
Data sourced from TrafficZoom's proprietary analytics platform.
Data current as of:
Q3 2026
Updated:
September 29, 2026
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Total Traffic Volume & Performance in Clay County, Kentucky

Traffic

The average number of vehicles that travel each day over any road in the road network.

vehicles per day2,354
Trucks

The percentage of the total traffic volume composed of heavy vehicles.

11.2%
Average travel time

The average time of travel averaged among all vehicles traveling on the road network.

28.6 min
Congestion ratio

The rate at which the actual travel time exceeds free-flow travel time, averaged among all roads in the network.

7.9%
Drivers’ average age

Average age of residents in the geographic areas where the vehicle trips originated.

45.8 yrs
Drivers’ average income

Average income of residents in the geographic areas where the vehicle trips originated.

$47,519

Our data shows 2,354 vehicles per day on the average road in Clay County, Kentucky, and 317,553 vehicle-miles traveled per day (≈116 million per year) across its 136 miles of monitored roads. Trucks are 11.2% of traffic, close to the 12.1% across Kentucky.

Shorter trips than 84% of counties in Kentucky

At 2,354 vehicles per day, the average monitored road in Clay carries 50% less traffic than the state average of 4,696, suggesting less demand on each road - lighter roads for freight, but less passing trade for roadside retail. In total volume terms, its road network carries about 0.3% of Kentucky's statewide total of vehicle-miles. 54% of counties in Kentucky see more traffic than Clay's 2,354 vehicles per day.

The average trip takes 28.6 minutes, 10% lower than the state level. On travel time, Clay runs shorter than 84% of counties in Kentucky.

At 46% lower than the state level, the 7.9% congestion ratio signals smoother traffic flow - travel times are easy to plan around for scheduled deliveries.

Highway vs. Non-Highway Traffic Analysis

highway traffic icon

Highway Traffic in Clay County, Kentucky

Trafficvehicles per day4,669
Trucks14.4%
Average travel time43.5 min
Congestion ratio10.8%
Drivers’ average age45.2 yrs
Drivers’ average income$48,455

Highways carry about half of all travel in Clay County, Kentucky, 53% of vehicle-miles. The average highway carries 4,669 vehicles per day, 112% more than the average non-highway road in the same area, which carries 2,202 vehicles per day.

With 22% of the road miles (30 miles in 58 segments), highways punch above their length, carrying 168,652 vehicle-miles traveled per day (≈61.6 million per year).

A typical mix of freight and passenger traffic

Highway truck concentration here runs 9% lower than the state average, at 14.4%. The highway traffic mix is typical for Kentucky: neither freight- nor commuter-dominated.

Clay's highway truck share (14.4%) is higher than 57% of counties in Kentucky. By raw truck volume, Clay carries fewer highway trucks than 54% of counties in Kentucky.

non-highway traffic icon

Non-highway Traffic in Clay County, Kentucky

Trafficvehicles per day2,202
Trucks7.6%
Average travel time27.6 min
Congestion ratio7.7%
Drivers’ average age45.9 yrs
Drivers’ average income$46,859

Local roads carry about half of all travel in Clay County, Kentucky, 47% of vehicle-miles. The average non-highway road carries 2,202 vehicles per day.

Local roads make up 78% of the monitored road miles (106 miles in 884 segments) but carry less than their share of travel: 148,901 vehicle-miles traveled per day (≈54.3 million per year). About 1 in 13 vehicles on non-highway roads is a truck (7.6%).

Younger drivers than 87% of counties in Kentucky

The concentration of trucks on non-highway roads is 47% lower than on highways.

At 45% lower than the state level, the non-highway congestion ratio of 7.7% signals easier movement on local roads.

Trip origins here have lower average income than 84% of counties in Kentucky. Clay's median driver age is lower than 87% of counties in Kentucky.

Time-of-Day & Seasonal Patterns

Data Finding: Hourly & Seasonal Patterns

In Clay County, Kentucky, the peak hour concentrates about 7% of the day's traffic.

Clay County vs. Kentucky Traffic Comparison

Clay County's biggest difference from the Kentucky average is its average daily traffic per road, 50% below it.

MetricClay CountyKentucky averageDifference
Traffic2,3544,696-49.9%
Truck % (Total Traffic)11.2%12.1%-7.0%
Truck % (Highway)14.4%15.9%-9.3%
Avg. Travel Time28.6 min31.7 min-9.7%

How Clay County compares

Clay County against nearby counties

Compared with its 4 closest neighbours, Clay County moves 37.3% of the total daily travel; it has the third busiest roads of the five. The same kind of road, just less of it: traffic per road matches the areas around it while the network itself is smaller.

Clay County and the 4 nearest county-level areas by centroid distance, with the Kentucky average for scale.
AreaAverage daily trafficTruck shareDaily vehicle-milesAverage travel timeCongestion ratio
Clay County2,35411.2%317,55328.6 min7.9%
Owsley County, Kentucky1,28310.1%61,17536.5 min5.6%
Knox County, Kentucky3,0698.7%669,18529.9 min8.1%
Laurel County, Kentucky4,52514.8%2,471,17428.7 min12.8%
Leslie County, Kentucky1,60612.4%208,04832.6 min5.1%
Kentucky average4,69612.1%N/A31.7 min14.7%

Clay County ranked within Kentucky

Average driver age places Clay County #104 of 120 in Kentucky - the bottom quarter of the state.

Clay County ranked among 120 county-level areas in Kentucky (1 = highest); measures without data in every county rank a smaller field, down to 115.
MeasureClay CountyKentucky rank
Traffic volume (AADT)2,354#65 of 120
Highway vehicle-miles per day168,652#85 of 115
Truck share on highways14.4%#50 of 115
Highway trucks per day672#63 of 115
Average travel time28.6 min#101 of 120
Average driver income$47,519#101 of 120
Average driver age45.8 yrs#104 of 120

Busiest roads in Clay County, Kentucky

Traffic concentrates on a few corridors: the three busiest roads average 10,455 vehicles a day, against 2,354 on the average road in Clay County.

Richmond Road leads with 13,292 vehicles a day, 724 of them trucks (5.5%). Hal Rogers Parkway carries the most trucks, 801 a day (14.4% of its traffic), although it ranks #3 for all traffic.

Trips using Hal Rogers Parkway are long: a median of 43.5 minutes against 28.6 county-wide, the mark of a through route.

Few trucks use US 421: 5.4% of its traffic, under half the county's 11.2%.

Ranked by daily traffic (AADT)

Cars and light vehiclesTrucks
1Richmond RoadPrimary road · 13,292vehicles724trucks · 5.5%
Road class
Primary road
Congestion ratio
27.6%
Median trip time
27.1 min
Drivers’ median age
46.4 yrs
Drivers’ average income
$48,480

Travel on Richmond Road's busiest stretch runs 28% over free-flow time, against 8% across the county, so expect slower peak hours.

2US 421Primary road · 12,507vehicles679trucks · 5.4%
Road class
Primary road
Congestion ratio
18.8%
Median trip time
28.3 min
Drivers’ median age
46.5 yrs
Drivers’ average income
$46,131

US 421 is one of the more congested roads here: trips take 19% longer than at free-flow speed, against 8% county-wide.

3Hal Rogers ParkwayTrunk road · 5,566vehicles801trucks · 14.4%
Road class
Trunk road
Congestion ratio
10.8%
Median trip time
43.5 min
Drivers’ median age
45.2 yrs
Drivers’ average income
$48,455

Hal Rogers Parkway carries 2.4 times the county average on its busiest stretch, where the median trip lasts 43.5 minutes.

4KY 3480Tertiary road · 5,342vehicles208trucks · 3.9%
Road class
Tertiary road
Congestion ratio
12.6%
Median trip time
28.6 min
Drivers’ median age
45.6 yrs
Drivers’ average income
$41,806

At 2.3 times the county average, KY 3480 draws drivers from neighborhoods averaging $41,806 in household income.

5Muddy Gap RoadPrimary road · 4,967vehicles277trucks · 5.6%
Road class
Primary road
Median trip time
28.1 min
Drivers’ median age
45.4 yrs
Drivers’ average income
$40,081

The busiest stretch of Muddy Gap Road carries 2.1 times the county average; trucks are 5.6% of it, below the county-wide 11.2%.

Ranked by trucks per day

Cars and light vehiclesTrucks
1Hal Rogers ParkwayTrunk road · #3 by traffic5,566vehicles801trucks · 14.4%
2Richmond RoadPrimary road · #1 by traffic13,292vehicles724trucks · 5.5%
3US 421Primary road · #2 by traffic12,507vehicles679trucks · 5.4%
4Muddy Gap RoadPrimary road · #5 by traffic4,967vehicles277trucks · 5.6%
5KY 3480Tertiary road · #4 by traffic5,342vehicles208trucks · 3.9%
How to read these road counts
  • The first number is AADT, annual average daily traffic: the vehicles passing a point on an average day, both directions combined and trucks included. On a divided highway both carriageways are added together.
  • Traffic changes along a road, with more near interchanges and towns and less in open country. Every figure for a road describes its busiest stretch in the county, so the two rankings show the same numbers for the same road.
  • The second number is the trucks on that stretch, a part of its AADT. The bar splits the AADT into cars and light vehicles (blue) and trucks (amber).
  • See segment-level AADT for any road on TrafficZoom.

Data Sources & Methodology

The data presented on this page is derived from TrafficZoom's proprietary analytics platform, which aggregates and normalizes information from multiple sources, including:

Mobile device location data (anonymized and aggregated)

Road sensor networks and traffic counters

Historical traffic pattern databases

Public traffic count programs published by the

ClayDepartment of Transportation

Demographic Baseline for O-D Modeling

U.S. Census Bureau
All metrics represent estimates based on statistical modeling and are intended for strategic planning purposes.
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Data current as of:
Q3 2026

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Counties near Clay County

The same traffic breakdown for the areas closest to Clay County, Kentucky.

Need segment-level traffic data?

Identify traffic patterns street by street and analyze the exact corridors that matter to your project.