How the town is built
Clayton's property mix is dominated by the master-planned community model more than any other Johnston County town we serve. Flowers Plantation — spanning thousands of acres on the west side of town — is one of the largest master-planned communities in central NC and carries much of the residential volume. Portofino and the other newer master-planned sections off NC-42 add to the picture. The historic blocks around downtown Clayton Main Street carry older 1900s-1930s homes on narrow lots where 16- and 20-yard dumpsters fit. On the commercial side, Novo Nordisk's manufacturing campus and Grifols' biologics operation anchor the biotech side on the north edge of town, and the US-70 commercial strip handles the retail and small-shop volume.