Clifton is located at . According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of, of which is land and, or 1.46%, is water. Clifton has a hot semi-arid climate that closely borders on both the hot desert climate and the cool semi-arid climate. There is a large degree of diurnal temperature variation. Summers are very hot and sometimes humid, with most rainfall coming from the monsoon between July and October. The wettest year was 2004 with including in August, whilst the driest year with a full record was 1924 with only including a mere between July and October. Winters are mild and dry, with snow only recorded in fourteen years since 1892.
Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there were 2,596 people, 919 households, and 685 families residing in the town. The population density was 174.8 people per square mile. There were 1,087 housing units at an average density of 73.2 per square mile. The racial makeup of the town was 67.10% White, 0.96% Black or African American, 2.27% Native American, 0.04% Asian, 26.73% from other races, and 2.89% from two or more races. 55.86% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. There were 919 households, out of which 41.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.3% were married couplesliving together, 10.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 25.4% were non-families. 22.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 8.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.80 and the average family size was 3.27. In the town, the population was spread out, with 32.3% under the age of 18, 7.7% from 18 to 24, 29.8% from 25 to 44, 19.3% from 45 to 64, and 10.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 32 years. For every 100 females, there were 109.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 105.0 males. The median income for a household in the town was $39,786, and the median income for a family was $41,820. Males had a median income of $39,813 versus $19,485 for females. The per capita income for the town was $15,313. About 8.1% of families and 11.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 12.4% of those under age 18 and 10.3% of those age 65 or over.
Government
The town of Clifton operates under a council-manager form of government with seven elected council members, including a mayor and vice-mayor, and a town manager appointed by the council. Each council member is elected to a four-year term. As of 2015, the Mayor was Felix Callicotte and the Town Manager was Ian McGaughey.
