Photo: Pi.1415926535 · CC BY-SA 4.0Households in Murray have lower incomes than those in 93% of U.S. towns
About two in five stay in Murray for work; outside it, Paducah is the main destination (6%, 36 miles). The poverty rate is 24.1%; Kentucky has 16.1%. For jobs and income Murray is better than 12% of U.S. towns (D); for walkability it is more walkable than 87% of U.S. towns (A).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Murray, in a few figures
Commutes from Murray are quick
The average trip to work takes 12 minutes, against 24 across Kentucky. That’s about 92 hours a year less on the road than the typical Kentucky worker. Time on the road ↓
Murray is where the jobs are
Murray has 9,509 jobs, 1.6 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
Murray draws workers from far and wide
The 9,509 jobs in Murray are filled from a wide area. Murray’s own residents hold 26% and the ten next-biggest home towns 9%; the other 65% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
A young workforce
30% of Murray’s working residents are 29 or younger. 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.
The four measures behind Murray’s grade
Job access by car holds Murray’s grade up (ahead of 43% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($44,091, U.S. $80,734).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Murray could be anywhere from D to C.
A commute of about 12 minutes in Murray
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 3.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Murray workers work from home, vs 10% across Kentucky. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 7,603 commuters (the 7% who work from home are left out). Across Kentucky: 85% drive alone, 1% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Murray fills up on a workday
On a workday 3,554 residents head out to work, 2,498 work right here, and 7,011 people come in from elsewhere.
About 22,000 people are in Murray on a workday afternoon, 18% more than live here.
1.6 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Where Murray’s workers come from
Where Murray clocks in
6% of workers
3% of workers
2% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Jobs in Murray: what the 9,509 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Murray, 2013 → 2023: 9,416 → 9,509. 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.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Murray’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How far it is to work from Murray
About 19% 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.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Murray is more walkable than most U.S. towns, with limited transit
How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 13.5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 3.1% across Kentucky, on an EPA index of 8.0.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 8,144 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service: no data. EPA’s transit file has no stops for most of this county (its agencies had not published schedules in the format EPA used in 2020). That is missing data, not a finding that there is no bus or train.
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 7.0% of Murray households have no vehicle (Kentucky 6.8%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Murray’s commuters take a bus or train.
Where Murray sits among U.S. towns of 13,000 to 26,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Plain Township OH | 13,257 | $219K | 2.1% | 0.8% | 10% | A+ |
| 2 | Rogers MN | 15,606 | $159K | 1.9% | 1.2% | 10% | A+ |
| 3 | Trophy Club TX | 13,695 | $201K | 2.1% | 2.0% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 309 | Burlington KY | 18,008 | $109K | 5.5% | 2.5% | 4% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 464 | Fort Thomas KY | 17,142 | $104K | 6.1% | 3.5% | 8% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 739 | Mount Washington KY | 18,989 | $96K | 5.3% | 4.6% | 5% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,934 | Carbondale IL | 21,811 | $32K | 37.4% | 10.4% | 40% | D |
| 1,935 | Madisonville KY | 19,428 | $54K | 23.3% | 6.9% | 43% | D |
| 1,936 | Murray KY | 18,964 | $44K | 24.1% | 5.8% | 41% | D |
| 1,937 | Zanesville OH | 25,138 | $43K | 24.1% | 7.4% | 31% | D |
| 1,938 | Johnstown PA | 17,654 | $38K | 31.9% | 6.2% | 24% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 2,023 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 29% | 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.
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Murray, the top three, the last and three more from Kentucky.
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 Murray: questions
What is the median household income in Murray?
$44,091 (±$4,637) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $63,726 across Kentucky and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Murray?
24.1%, against 16.1% across Kentucky and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Murray?
12 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Kentucky and 26 nationally. 7% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Murray work?
41% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Paducah (6%, 36 mi), Mayfield (3%, 20 mi), Benton (2%, 16 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Murray walkable?
Murray is more walkable than 87% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 8.0 out of 20, and 13% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Murray without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 7% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Murray, from the people who make the trip.
More of Murray
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.