Clay, PA

Clay is a Lancaster County census-designated place and unincorporated community in Clay Township, strung along U.S. 322 between Brickerville and Ephrata. The 2020 census counted 1,869 residents. It lies 14 miles north of Lancaster, with Ephrata five miles southeast and Hopeland to the west and northwest. Middle Creek runs along the community's west side, giving this highway settlement a clear edge of water and fields. Clay Township handles local government, U.S. 322 carries the through traffic, and the creek drains toward Cocalico Creek, the Conestoga River, and the Susquehanna watershed.

The creek is the visible break in the road-and-farm setting, and the highway is the community's main organizing line. Clay has no separate borough government; the township is the civic address. The nearby towns do the larger service-center work, while Clay's own map stays tied to the road, stream corridor, and farm country around it. Clay's local scoop is a Lancaster County crossroads whose character comes from a highway, a creek, and a very short hop to Ephrata.