Town · Cherokee County, North Carolina

Murphy, North Carolina

Murphy is a town in Cherokee County, North Carolina. It has 1,604 residents. Murphy, North Carolina has a quality-of-life score of 44 out of 100 (moderate), ranking #8,756 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within North Carolina it ranks #208 of 458 cities and towns. It ranks best on rent-burdened households (low), access to exercise opportunities (high) and homicide rate (low). It ranks worst on median household income (low), injury deaths (high) and average weekly wage (low).

44Moderate

Quality-of-life score: #8,756 of 15,651 cities and towns
North Carolina: #208 of 458 in NC
Population: 1,604 (2020-2024)
Land area: 3 mi²
Density: 624.3 /mi²
FIPS code: 3745660

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 73 of 80 indicators, with the default “Explorer” weights.

Open in the map

Scores by category

Each category averages its indicators' percentile scores among US cities and towns.

Safety33#10,445/15,637
Economy18#12,822/15,631
Housing71#4,400/14,977
Health19#12,619/15,609
Healthcare15#13,374/15,650
Environment91#1,353/15,453
Education56#6,814/15,649
Infrastructure29#11,137/15,650
Community90#1,550/15,651
Leisure & amenities46#8,386/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Murphy, North Carolina ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Cherokee County value” are the county’s: the source publishes no figure for this city or town, and the county holding most of its residents stands in.

Strengths

Rent-burdened households · low28.9%
98/100North Carolina 48.9%United States 51.1%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25070
Access to exercise opportunities · high98.3%
94/100North Carolina 78.0%United States 84.5%2022 & 2024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteCherokee County value
Homicide rate · low0.0 /100k
94/100North Carolina 6.9 /100kUnited States 4.8 /100kMay 2025–Apr 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataCherokee County value
Restaurants and bars · high13.6 /10k
92/100North Carolina 8.8 /10kUnited States 9.0 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsCherokee County value
Hot days · low3 days
90/100North Carolina 32 daysUnited States 42 days2016-2025NOAA National Centers for Environmental InformationCherokee County value
Average commute time · low14.4 min
89/100North Carolina 25.1 minUnited States 26.4 min2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B08013

Weaknesses

Median household income · low$37,263
5/100North Carolina $74,055United States $81,6042020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B19013
Injury deaths · high141 /100k
5/100North Carolina 97 /100kUnited States 87 /100k2019-2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteCherokee County value
Average weekly wage · low$910
6/100North Carolina $1,376United States $1,5142025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsCherokee County value
Premature death · high13,768 /100k
7/100North Carolina 9,400 /100kUnited States 8,123 /100k2021-2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteCherokee County value
Public EV charging ports · low0.6 /10k
9/100North Carolina 5.2 /10kUnited States 7.6 /10kOct 2026U.S. Department of EnergyCherokee County value
Firearm deaths · high22.7 /100k
10/100North Carolina 16.2 /100kUnited States 12.1 /100kMay 2025–Apr 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionModel-based estimateProvisional dataCherokee County value

Trends

The largest changes over about five years, next to the country's over the same periods.

Rent-burdened householdsImproving
54.4% (2015-2019) → 28.9% (2020-2024)
−25 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
Rent as share of incomeImproving
34.9% (2015-2019) → 19.2% (2020-2024)
−16 pts5 yearsCensus table B25071US 29.8% → 30.6%
Child poverty rateImproving
36.5% (2015-2019) → 23.2% (2020-2024)
−13 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
Broadband subscriptionsWorsening
72.2% (2015-2019) → 61.1% (2020-2024)
−11 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Poverty rateImproving
27.5% (2015-2019) → 17.5% (2020-2024)
−10 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 12.3% → 12.1%
Home price to income ratioWorsening
5.2× (2015-2019) → 6.7× (2020-2024)
+28%5 yearsCensus table B25077US 3.5× → 4.1×

What changed in five years

How each measure moved between two periods about five years apart, read against whether more or less is better, the published margin of error and the same change in other places.

Over about five years, Murphy, North Carolina improved on 1 of 13 measures with a comparison and declined on 0. 12 moved within the margin of error and 0 barely changed.

Earlier (2015-2019)
Latest (2020-2024)
Lower standingHigher standing

Position is the place's standing among cities and towns: further right is better, whichever way the measure counts.

Improved1

Rent burden−25 points54.4% → 28.9%

Declined0

No measure declined by more than its margin of error.

All 13 measures

Change of every measure of Murphy, North Carolina between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	13.4 min2015-2019	14.4 min2020-2024	+0.9 min	Within the margin of error	37%
Bachelor's degree or higher	25.3%2015-2019	26.8%2020-2024	+1.5 points	Within the margin of error	39%
Broadband subscriptions	72.2%2015-2019	61.1%2020-2024	−11 points	Within the margin of error	0%
Child poverty rate	36.5%2015-2019	23.2%2020-2024	−13 points	Within the margin of error	87%
Effective property tax rate	0.78%2015-2019	0.65%2020-2024	−0.1 points	Within the margin of error	44%
High school diploma or higher	89.4%2015-2019	88.9%2020-2024	−0.4 points	Within the margin of error	28%
Home price to income ratio	5.2×2015-2019	6.7×2020-2024	+1.5×	Within the margin of error	10%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4982015-2019	0.4642020-2024	−0.034	Within the margin of error	77%
Median household income	$30,9622015-2019	$37,2632020-2024	+20%	Within the margin of error	34%
Poverty rate	27.5%2015-2019	17.5%2020-2024	−10 points	Within the margin of error	93%
Public transit commuters	0.0%2015-2019	0.0%2020-2024	0 points	Within the margin of error	60%
Rent-burdened households	54.4%2015-2019	28.9%2020-2024	−25 points	Improved	96%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	24.2%2015-2019	26.1%2020-2024	+1.9 points	Within the margin of error	26%

“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 14640 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.

Sources: American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates. Values are the latest and the one five years earlier of the same publisher dataset; datasets that changed publisher in between are never compared.

Survey estimates (American Community Survey) compare the two most recent 5-year windows that do not share years, so the margin of error of the difference holds. The 2015-2019 window predates the pandemic and 2020-2024 includes it.
A change counts only when it is larger than 1.645 times the square root of the two standard errors squared, summed (a 90% margin). Measures published without a margin must change by at least 5% to count.
“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 15651 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.
Standing is a percentile among the same places: 0 is the lowest value on the measure (or the worst when lower is better), 100 the best.

Cities and towns like Murphy, North Carolina five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Murphy, North Carolina in the earlier period, ranked by how many measures improved beyond the margin of error, minus how many declined. A comparison of published data, not a forecast and not advice.

For comparison, Murphy, North Carolina itself moved +4.2 points in standing on average over the same 9 measures (standings of all places average about zero).

How the ranking works

Similarity is the root-mean-square difference of standings in the earlier period over the measures most places have. Places are ranked by measures that improved beyond the margin of error minus those that declined (a count that estimation noise in small places cannot inflate), then by the mean change of standing over the measures a place has in both periods. Only places with more improvements than declines and a rise in standing are listed. Standings are relative, so a place can improve in absolute terms and still lose standing.

Who lives here

Age, race and education of residents, from the American Community Survey. Shares are of all residents (age), residents of every origin (race) or adults 25 and over (education).

Age and sex

1,604 residents (±305)

Men
Women

80 and over†
70–79†
60–69†

Income

How household income is spread, not just the middle: each bar is the share of households in that income range.

Household income

792 households (±177)

Murphy, North Carolina
North Carolina share

Under $25k29%†232
$25k–50k29%†232
$50k–75k

Homes

Who owns and who rents, what homes cost, and what the housing stock looks like.

Owners and renters

792 households (±177)

Murphy, North Carolina
North Carolina share

Own46%364
Rent54%†428

No change since 2015–2019 is larger than the margin of error.

† Wide margin of error (more than 30% of the estimate): read with care.

Table view

Getting to work

How workers travel to their job and how long it takes them.

How people get to work

670 workers (±208)

Murphy, North Carolina
North Carolina share

Drive alone68%455
Carpool9.1%†61
Public transit0.0%0

Local businesses

Employer businesses and sole proprietors by industry, per resident and against the state and the nation. Counts of businesses next to counts of people, not a measure of demand.

The Census Bureau publishes business counts by county, not by city, so these are the figures of Cherokee County, the county holding most of Murphy's residents.

Cherokee County has 649 employer establishments, 216 for every 10,000 residents (0.87× the US rate of 248; 0.91× North Carolina's), with 7,678 paid employees at an average annual pay of $39,458. The Census Bureau also counts 2,682 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 649; 2,682 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 216; US 248 · North Carolina 237
Paid employees: 7,678
Average annual pay: $39,458; US $68,342

Employer establishments, employees, average pay and nonemployers of Cherokee County by industry, with the density per resident against the nation

Restaurants and other eating places	57	19	1.03×About typical	854	$20,850	7
Ambulatory health care services	53	17.6	0.85×About typical	381	$48,617	100
Specialty trade contractors	47	15.6	1.01×About typical	255	$53,616	328
Lessors of real estate	33	11	0.89×About typical	76	$32,053	219
Construction of buildings	32	10.7	1.41×More than typical	74	$44,486	223
Full-service restaurants	32	10.7	1.39×More than typical	387	$22,680	—
Religious organizations	32	10.7	1.92×More than typical	90	$22,267	—
Building equipment contractors	26	8.7	1.44×More than typical	167	$52,611	57
Offices of other health practitioners	22	7.3	1.21×About typical	77	$53,026	47
Real estate agents and brokers	20	6.7	1.37×More than typical	47	$34,702	73
Automotive repair and maintenance	19	6.3	1.26×More than typical	27	$30,074	78
Limited-service restaurants	19	6.3	0.79×Fewer than typical	391	$20,578	5

Rank places for an industry Open Cherokee County

County Business Patterns (2023); Nonemployer Statistics (2024)

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 30,035 residents here, 336,755,052 in the United States. County Business Patterns counts establishments in 2023; the Nonemployer Statistics count businesses in 2024.
“More than typical” is a density at least 1.25 times the nation's per resident, “fewer” at most 0.8 times, with at least 10 establishments. It compares counts of businesses with counts of people: it says nothing about demand, incomes, size, quality or profit, and visitors and commuters are not residents.
The Census Bureau adds noise to employment and payroll to protect confidentiality, and withholds some figures: an industry with few establishments can show employees or pay as unavailable.
Industries overlap: a narrower industry (full-service restaurants) is part of a broader one (restaurants), so the rows do not add up.
Industries follow the North American Industry Classification System; the two surveys use different editions (NAICS 2017 and 2022), which this page matches industry by industry.

Federal contracts performed here

No federal contract obligations recorded here in FY2026.

Grants and other federal assistance are counted by county here, not split among cities: Murphy is mostly in Cherokee County.

See federal money in Cherokee County

Representation in Congress

Members serving today, with their record in the current Congress (party-unity votes cast with their caucus, roll calls missed). Not a grade.

Murphy, North Carolina is represented in the 119th Congress by these members.

House

Chuck EdwardsR-NC-11 · 100% of residentsWith party 96%Missed 1.6%

Senate

Explore Congress The 2026 races

County

A city can lie in several counties. Some indicators are published for counties only: the page marks them.

Cherokee County47100% of residents

Other cities and towns in Cherokee County

Largest first.

Similar cities and towns

Closest indicator profiles across the country (no model: score distances).

Data and sources

Latest published value of each indicator; periods differ by source. Values flagged by their publisher are marked.

PLACES: Local Data for Better HealthCenters for Disease Control and Prevention · release 2025
Local Area Unemployment StatisticsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · release 2025
American Community Survey 5-Year EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2017-2024
Population Estimates ProgramU.S. Census Bureau · release 2025
Small Area Health Insurance EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
Small Area Income and Poverty EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
County Health Rankings & RoadmapsUniversity of Wisconsin Population Health Institute · release 2022-2025+2026-03-supplement

JSON · /api/v1/places/3745660

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends