Photo: Jakobemerson · CC BY-SA 4.0Murphys has 0.8 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
Jobs & income C: better than 28% of U.S. towns on income, poverty and job access.
Walkability B−: more walkable than 48% of U.S. towns.
Household incomes here are lower than in 53% of U.S. towns. Working residents average 17 minutes each way (California 29, U.S. 26). About one in ten work in Murphys; the top destination outside it is Angels (7%, 7 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work and commuting in Murphys, in brief
A big share show a job far from home
46% of working residents have a main job more than 50 miles away. Part of that is employers that report every worker at one head office, so not all of those trips happen daily. How far ↓
Commutes from Murphys are quick
The average trip to work takes 17 minutes, against 29 across California. That’s about 92 hours a year less on the road than the typical California worker. Time on the road ↓
The better-paid jobs are outside Murphys
54% of Murphys residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 33% of the jobs based in Murphys pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 88% leave town for their job. The jobs ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey; with 807 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
What’s behind Murphys’ Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty and job access, Murphys is better than 28% of U.S. towns. The poverty rate holds Murphys’ grade up (10.0%, U.S. 12.5%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 7% of U.S. towns).
Unemployment (2.1%) is left out: Murphys’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Murphys could be anywhere from D− to B.
Half of Murphys commutes less than 47 miles
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
About 46% show a job over 50 miles away. Some of that is real, and some is employers that report every worker at a head office, so a few long commutes are on paper only.
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.
About 17 minutes each way, quicker than most of California
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Murphys workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 663 commuters (the 14% who work from home are left out). Across California: 79% drive alone, 3% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
Murphys makes things: 29% of its jobs are in goods
631 jobs are based in Murphys. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Murphys’s own residents hold wherever they work.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Murphys, 2013 → 2023: 504 → 631. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.
Primary jobs covered by unemployment insurance (not the self-employed). Pay is monthly earnings. LEHD 2023.
Who leaves, who stays, who comes in
On a workday 712 residents head out to work, 95 work right here, and 536 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (0.78 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
7% of working residents work in Angels
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Where Murphys clocks in
7% of workers
4% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
Most trips from Murphys start in a car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Murphys is more walkable than 48% of U.S. towns. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 7.1% across California.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 775 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). Nearly all residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 2.0 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 68% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 6.7% of Murphys households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Murphys’ commuters take a bus or train.
Murphys is 3,344th of 5,234 U.S. towns of 1,400 to 2,600 on jobs and income
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Murphys, the top three, the last and three more from California.
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Plandome NY | 1,482 | $250K | 0.9% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 16 | Baywood Park CA | 1,580 | $217K | 2.8% | 1.6% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 30 | Harmony Grove CA | 2,585 | $227K | 4.6% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 63 | Irwindale CA | 1,439 | $114K | 4.3% | 6.5% | 14% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,342 | Girard Township IL | 2,100 | $52K | 26.5% | 1.9% | 9% | C |
| 3,343 | Fremont Township MI | 1,511 | $75K | 13.2% | 4.3% | 5% | C |
| 3,344 | Murphys CA | 1,951 | $74K | 10.0% | 2.1% | 12% | C |
| 3,345 | Delcambre LA | 1,766 | $59K | 18.5% | 7.0% | 3% | C |
| 3,346 | Sodus NY | 1,692 | $55K | 13.5% | 2.5% | 6% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 5,234 | Lame Deer MT | 1,872 | $24K | 55.8% | 42.2% | 60% | D− |
Census ACS 2020–24 (income, poverty, unemployment), Census LEHD (work in town), TownRatings Jobs & income grades. Each town links to its Work & commute page.
Murphys and the towns next door
Darker towns draw more of Murphys’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Murphys workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Murphys | – | C | B− | 17 min | $73,571 |
| Douglas Flat | under 2% | — | — | — | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Douglas Flat: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Two sources, two years. Trips, distances and jobs based here: Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs, where the employer reports them. Income, poverty, unemployment, commute time and how people travel: Census ACS 2020–24 averages.
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Murphys: questions
What is the median household income in Murphys?
$73,571 (±$25,479) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Murphys?
10.0%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Murphys?
17 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 14% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Murphys work?
12% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Angels (7%, 7 mi), Arnold (5%, 9 mi), San Andreas (4%, 13 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Murphys walkable?
Murphys is more walkable than 48% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 11.5 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Murphys without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 7% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Murphys, from the people who make the trip.
More of Murphys
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Distances are straight lines between home and work; real drives run longer. Walkability index, job access and transit service: U.S. EPA Smart Location Database. The two grades are our own summaries of these figures, not official ratings.