Jobs and earnings in Murphy, and the trip to work
Commuters spend 25 minutes getting to work on average; the Missouri average is 24, the U.S. 26. Murphy grades B for jobs and income and B for walkability. Only 5% work in Murphy; the top destination outside it is St. Louis (12%, 16 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Murphy at work: what stands out
Murphy trades workers with the towns around it
Murphy has about as many jobs (3,728) as working residents (3,876), but they are mostly different people: 3,683 residents leave for work each day while 3,535 people come in. Only 5% of the jobs in Murphy are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Murphy makes and builds things
41% of the jobs based in Murphy are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Murphy residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 20%. 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.
What’s behind Murphy’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Murphy is better than 60% of U.S. towns, #85 of 247 in Missouri. Job access by car holds Murphy’s grade up (ahead of 87% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down (4.6%, U.S. 5.2%).
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Murphy could be anywhere from C+ to A.
Who commutes out of Murphy, and who commutes in
On a workday 3,683 residents head out to work, 193 work right here, and 3,535 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 (0.96 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.
Murphy works in goods: 41% of its jobs
3,728 jobs are based in Murphy.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Murphy, 2013 → 2023: 3,238 → 3,728. 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 Murphy’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Out of Murphy to work: where people go
Where Murphy clocks in
12% of workers
6% 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.
From Murphy, about 25 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Murphy workers work from home, vs 13% across Missouri. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 3,649 commuters (the 13% who work from home are left out). Across Missouri: 86% 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.
Murphy’s commute, mile by mile
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.
In Murphy, most people drive to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Murphy is more walkable than 56% of U.S. towns, #149 of 247 in Missouri. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 3.2% across Missouri.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 4,204 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 21% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 21% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 0.4 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 49% 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). 2.2% of Murphy households have no vehicle (Missouri 6.6%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Murphy’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Murphy is 1,477th among 3,012 U.S. towns of 5,800 to 11,200
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 8 | Ladue MO | 8,934 | $250K | 1.1% | 1.7% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,475 | Rindge NH | 6,502 | $103K | 9.6% | 3.4% | 15% | B |
| 1,476 | Ligonier Township PA | 5,952 | $77K | 9.8% | 2.3% | 14% | B |
| 1,477 | Murphy MO | 8,285 | $72K | 10.2% | 4.6% | 5% | B |
| 1,478 | Amherst Township OH | 6,870 | $83K | 6.5% | 6.9% | 2% | B |
| 1,479 | North East Township PA | 6,424 | $80K | 9.8% | 2.3% | 15% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 3,012 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | 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 Murphy, the top three, the last and three more from Missouri.
The towns around Murphy
The biggest share goes to Fenton (6%).
Jobs & commute next door
Darker towns draw more of Murphy’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
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 Murphy: questions
What is the median household income in Murphy?
$72,233 (±$10,680) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $70,702 across Missouri and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Murphy?
10.2%, against 12.6% across Missouri and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Murphy?
25 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Missouri and 26 nationally. 13% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Murphy work?
5% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are St. Louis (12%, 16 mi), Fenton (6%, 3 mi), Maryland Heights (4%, 16 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Murphy walkable?
Murphy is more walkable than 56% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 9.0 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Murphy without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. 21% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Murphy, from the people who make the trip.
More of Murphy
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.