David A. Barnes House · Photo: United States Governemtn · Public domainHouseholds in Murfreesboro earn less than those in 96% of U.S. towns
2% of workers work from home; North Carolina has 16%. Below the poverty line: 39.5% of residents, where North Carolina as a whole has 13.0%. For jobs and income Murfreesboro is better than 2% of U.S. towns (D−); for walkability it is more walkable than 68% of U.S. towns (B+).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Murfreesboro
Many jobs in Murfreesboro pay little
37% of the jobs based in Murfreesboro pay $1,250 a month or less, under $15,000 a year. Young workers hold many of them: 31% of all the jobs here go to people 29 or younger. The jobs ↓
A big share show a job far from home
36% 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 ↓
Few Murfreesboro workers work from home
Only 2% of workers work from home, against 16% across North Carolina. Almost everyone here travels to a job. Time on the road ↓
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 901 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Murfreesboro
Unemployment holds Murfreesboro’s grade up (6.6%, U.S. 5.2%); the poverty rate pulls it down.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Murfreesboro could be anywhere from D− to C−.
What the 967 jobs in Murfreesboro are
967 jobs are based in Murfreesboro.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Murfreesboro, 2013 → 2023: 866 → 967. 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 Murfreesboro’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How far it is to work from Murfreesboro
About 36% 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.
Commuting from Murfreesboro: about 25 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Murfreesboro workers work from home, vs 16% across North Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,066 commuters (the 2% who work from home are left out). Across North Carolina: 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.
Murfreesboro on a workday afternoon
On a workday 763 residents head out to work, 138 work right here, and 829 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 (1.07 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.
9% of working residents work in Ahoskie
Where Murfreesboro clocks in
4% 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.
The commute in Murfreesboro is mostly behind the wheel
How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 13.1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 2.9% across North Carolina, on an EPA index of 5.8.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,084 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). 5.1% of Murfreesboro households have no vehicle (North Carolina 5.3%, U.S. 8.4%). 6% of Murfreesboro’s commuters take a bus or train.
Murfreesboro and other U.S. towns of 1,600 to 3,000
| # | 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 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 52 | Governors Club NC | 1,787 | $236K | 0.0% | 8.6% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 100 | Avery Creek NC | 2,887 | $113K | 1.4% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 148 | Wrightsville Beach NC | 2,397 | $152K | 4.0% | 0.4% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,916 | Carrabelle FL | 2,572 | $50K | 21.6% | 8.2% | 12% | D− |
| 4,917 | Homerville GA | 2,339 | $36K | 31.3% | 1.1% | 27% | D− |
| 4,918 | Murfreesboro NC | 2,242 | $40K | 39.5% | 6.6% | 15% | D− |
| 4,919 | Mangum OK | 2,683 | $49K | 21.8% | 11.9% | 29% | D− |
| 4,920 | McCormick SC | 2,010 | $41K | 26.6% | 1.7% | 5% | D− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,102 | 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.
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Murfreesboro, the top three, the last and three more from North Carolina.
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 Murfreesboro: questions
What is the median household income in Murfreesboro?
$39,914 (±$7,247) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,388 across North Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Murfreesboro?
39.5%, against 13.0% across North Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Murfreesboro?
25 minutes each way on average, against 25 across North Carolina and 26 nationally. 2% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Murfreesboro work?
15% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Ahoskie (9%, 12 mi), Greenville (4%, 60 mi), Severn (4%, 7 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Murfreesboro walkable?
Murfreesboro is more walkable than 68% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 5.8 out of 20, and 13% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Murfreesboro without a car?
6% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Murfreesboro, from the people who make the trip.
More of Murfreesboro
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.