 In July 2010 the "Washington Post" named Clay County the unhealthiest county in Kentucky, and one of the unhealthiest in the nation.Clay County also featured prominently in a June 2014 "NY Times" article about the difficulty of living in poverty in eastern Kentucky, ranking last in overall ratings for counties in the United States.The factors which accounted for Clay county's low ranking were unemployment, prevalence of disabilities, obesity, income, and education.