Murphy, Idaho.
. Boise City, ID metro.
to buy the typical home at today's mortgage rate — +$1,421 (+131%) since Jan 2020.
Monthly payment to buy the typical home
Home value × that month's 30-year mortgage rate, 20% down, principal and interest. This is the line households feel: prices and rates compound each other.
- Idaho$2,502
- United States$1,922
Living in Murphy, Owyhee County, Idaho
Murphy, in Owyhee County, had 96 people in the 2020 census. Unemployment in Owyhee County was 3.1% in August 2026, and the county had 3.4% fewer jobs in 2025 than the year before. The most people in Owyhee County work in construction, then farming.
Written by AI Claude Haiku 5.5 wrote this on 22 October 2026 from the figures here, a list of nearby places and what it knows. It can be wrong or out of date.
What it’s like
The place. Murphy is the county seat of Owyhee County, in southwestern Idaho, and it is a small community where people tend to know one another. Winters are cold, with the coldest weather in January, and summers are hot, peaking in July. Rain and melted snow are light for the year, so the town has a dry, high-desert feel for much of the year.
Work. Many residents work in the building trades, in farming, forestry and mining, or in local shops. Others work in schools, hospitals and social care, which are among the main employers that serve the wider area. Work is closely tied to the rhythms of the surrounding countryside and to the needs of the people who live nearby.
Things to do. Celebration Park, an archaeological site, is a short drive away and offers a look at the area's long human history. The Morley Nelson Snake River Birds of Prey National Conservation Area, a protected area, is a longer drive away and is a good place to see wildlife along the river. The Warhawk Air Museum, also a longer drive away, displays aircraft and aviation history.
Report a mistake
What people in Owyhee County work in
Employed residents by industry, from the Census survey. Owyhee County had 3,425 jobs in 2025, 3.4% fewer than the year before (Bureau of Labor Statistics).
Weather through the year
Coldest in January, with highs near 42° and lows near 26°; warmest in July, with highs near 95° and lows near 65°. About 8 inches of rain and melted snow a year.
Average daily high and low, 1991–2020, at the Swan Falls Ph weather station, 9 miles away (NOAA).
Largest workplaces in Owyhee County
- Marsing Agricultural Labor Sponsorship CommitteeFarm labor contractors471
- JR Simplot CoBeef cattle ranching & farming, including feedlots350
- Reynolds Creek Calf RanchBeef cattle feedlots160
- Homedale Joint DistrictSchool district134FTE
- Marsing Joint DistrictSchool district107FTE
- Owyhee Health & RehabSkilled nursing facilities100
- AlbertsonsSupermarkets and other grocery stores75
- Boise Cascade CoEngineered wood member except truss manufacturing74
Staff on average in 2025, as each workplace reported it to OSHA with its injury records: 12 workplaces with 20 or more staff, 1,465 people in all across the county; Murphy has one of its own. School districts come from the Common Core of Data (NCES, 2023–24); FTE marks full-time equivalent staff. Not listed: many offices and banks, which need not report to OSHA; military bases, whose staff OPM withholds; and, in about half the states, city and county governments.
Natural hazards
- WildfireVery high
- Inland floodingVery high
- Winter weatherVery high
- Heat wavesRelatively high
- LandslidesRelatively moderate
- HailRelatively moderate
FEMA’s National Risk Index (December 2025) rates the risk each natural hazard poses to the people, buildings and farms in Murphy’s census tracts, against the rest of the country; all of them together, very high. It is meant for planning, not a substitute for a local risk assessment or a flood map: FEMA’s index.
From the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2020 census and its American Community Survey (2020–2024 five-year estimates), and the Bureau of Labor Statistics. A survey, so each figure has a margin of error, and figures it is not sure of are left out. More on Owyhee County and the Boise City, ID metro.
Murphy home values
Zillow measures a city over its municipal boundary. Against the state and national figures, mid-tier homes, smoothed and seasonally adjusted.
Not enough data to draw this yet.
Zip codes with a Murphy address
A different geography, not a breakdown. The figure above covers the municipality; these zips cover everywhere the Post Office calls Murphy — often including townships beyond the city limits. Both come straight from Zillow, and they are not expected to average out.