Add/remove class with jquery based on vertical scroll?

$(window).scroll(function() {    
    var scroll = $(window).scrollTop();

     //>=, not <=
    if (scroll >= 500) {
        //clearHeader, not clearheader - caps H
        $(".clearHeader").addClass("darkHeader");
    }
}); //missing );

Fiddle

Also, by removing the clearHeader class, you’re removing the position:fixed; from the element as well as the ability of re-selecting it through the $(".clearHeader") selector. I’d suggest not removing that class and adding a new CSS class on top of it for styling purposes.

And if you want to “reset” the class addition when the users scrolls back up:

$(window).scroll(function() {    
    var scroll = $(window).scrollTop();

    if (scroll >= 500) {
        $(".clearHeader").addClass("darkHeader");
    } else {
        $(".clearHeader").removeClass("darkHeader");
    }
});

Fiddle

edit: Here’s version caching the header selector – better performance as it won’t query the DOM every time you scroll and you can safely remove/add any class to the header element without losing the reference:

$(function() {
    //caches a jQuery object containing the header element
    var header = $(".clearHeader");
    $(window).scroll(function() {
        var scroll = $(window).scrollTop();

        if (scroll >= 500) {
            header.removeClass('clearHeader').addClass("darkHeader");
        } else {
            header.removeClass("darkHeader").addClass('clearHeader');
        }
    });
});

Fiddle