Murphys, CA population, income and ZIP codes

Murphys CDP is a small town in California, with 1,821 residents counted in the Census American Community Survey 2019-2023 ACS 5-year estimates, which places it #920 of 1,618 ranked by population — larger than 43% of them. The median age here is 62.8 years against 39.1 nationally, a markedly older profile that usually tracks retirees staying put and younger households leaving for work. At this population the ACS sample is small, so the margin of error around every dollar figure below is wide — treat the numbers as a band, not a point, and expect them to move between annual releases without the place itself changing.

Households in Murphys CDP earn a median of $54,875 a year, 30.1% below the national figure of $78,538 and 40% below the $91,111 median for the 1,050 California cities we cover. Median household income counts every pre-tax dollar arriving at an address — wages, self-employment, Social Security, pensions, interest and public assistance — for everyone living there, so multi-earner households pull the figure up even where individual pay is modest. Poverty reaches 12.2% of residents here, below the 12.4% national rate.

The typical owner-occupied home in Murphys CDP is valued at $506,300, 66.9% above the national figure and 14% below the $589,600 peer median, while median gross rent runs $1,581 a month, 12.4% above the national figure, or roughly $18,972 across a full year. A household on the local median income would put about 34.6% of gross pay toward that rent against the federal 30% cost-burden threshold, so renting here is a stretch on median earnings. The home-price-to-income ratio works out to 9.2×, against roughly 3.9× nationally, so buying is out of reach on local earnings alone and the ownership market leans on outside income, equity or dual high earners. 67.3% of occupied homes are owner-occupied versus 65% nationally, so the market leans toward owners. Rent is reported gross — contract rent plus tenant-paid utilities — which is why it runs above the advertised price on a listing for the same unit.

Home values sit at 9.2× median household income, far past the 3.9× national mark, so ownership costs here are set by something other than local wages — second homes, retirees with equity, or commuters earning elsewhere. A median age of 62.8 puts Murphys CDP well into retirement-weighted territory, which pulls median household income down even where household wealth is high, because retirement draws are counted differently from wages.

No figure on this page is estimated by us; each one comes straight from the published ACS tables for this area. Small-area estimates still carry wider margins of error than state or national figures, so check the linked ACS tables before relying on them for lending, appraisal or legal work.