Real estate · Small-town market · Kentucky
Real estate businesses in the Murray, KY area
How the Murray, KY area compares with other small-town markets and the U.S. for real estate businesses: competitors, household spending, official counts and growth.
Groundwork market score · out of 100
Score 32 out of 100: Lower middle
Ranked #491 of 536 scored small-town markets
#15 of 15 scored small-town markets based in Kentucky
- Listings
- 51
- 8 chain locations (16%)
- Official establishments
- 27
- Businesses with payroll, 2023
- Household spending a year
- $202.2M
- On rent and homeowner costs · $13,265 a household
- Housing spending per listing (U.S. = 100)
- 92
- 8% below the U.S.
- Listings per 10k households
- 33.5
- 13% below the U.S.
- Population, 2025
- 39,421
- +4.9% since 2020
See the real estate businesses around any address in the Murray area
The site report maps the real estate businesses on map listings near the address, by name and distance, and sizes the households and spending around it. Or open the report at the center of the Murray area. Signed out, you see a blurred preview; on an account, each report is one action.
Free10 actions over 3 days, no cardSurvey estimates 2020–2024 · population estimates 2025 · official business counts 2023 · map listings September 2026 · Data credits · How we measure
What this means
The Groundwork market score for real estate businesses in the Murray area is 32 (lower middle), #491 of 536 scored small-town markets and #15 of 15 scored small-town markets based in Kentucky. That puts it in the bottom quarter of small-town markets.
Household spending on rent and homeowner costs in the Murray area comes to about $202.2M a year: $13,265 per household, 20% below the U.S. average. Housing spending per office is 8% below the U.S. figure. The spending figure is all rent and homeowner costs, a measure of housing demand, not money real estate businesses take in.
The Murray area has 51 real estate businesses on map listings as of September 2026. 8 of them (16%) are chain locations, against 6% across the U.S. Per 10,000 households, that is 33.5, 13% below the U.S. rate of 38.5.
The official count of businesses with payroll classed as real estate agents, property managers, mortgage lenders and inspectors in the Murray area was 27 in 2023. That is one for every 564 households, against one for every 414 across the U.S. Since fiscal 2022, 2 SBA-backed loans worth $171K have gone to businesses classed as real estate agents, property managers, mortgage lenders and inspectors in the Murray area. Population estimates put the population change in the Murray area from 2020 to 2025 at +4.9%, faster than the U.S. (+3.1%).
How the Murray area compares
The same measures for Kentucky and the whole U.S. Housing spending per listing divides all rent and homeowner costs by the listings counted: a measure of housing demand for each business, not money any of them take in, so it is shown against the U.S. (100) only. Households per establishment divides households by the official count.
| Measure | Murray area | Kentucky | U.S. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Listings per 10k households | 33.5 | 27.4 | 38.5 |
| Housing spending per listing (U.S. = 100) | 92 | 120 | 100 |
| Households per official establishment | 564 | 683 | 414 |
| Official establishment growth, 2019–2023 | n/a | +20.5% | +15.8% |
| Population growth, 2020–2025 | +4.9% | +2.2% | +3.1% |
| Spending per household on rent and homeowner costs | $13,265 | $14,283 | $16,661 |
| Median household income | $52,706 | $63,726 | $80,734 |
| Groundwork market score | 32 | 60 |
Official counts and lending
Businesses
- Official establishments, 2019 to 2023
- 27
- Employees, 2023
- 50
- Annual payroll, 2023
- $1.9M
- One-person businesses, 2023
- 112Businesses with no payroll
- Map listings, September 2026
- 518 chain locations
- Listings at the U.S. rate for this spending
- 47The U.S. ratio of listings to household spending, applied here
SBA-backed loans since fiscal 2022
- Loans
- 2
- Amount
- $171K
SBA-backed loans to businesses classed as real estate agents, property managers, mortgage lenders and inspectors in the Murray area, through June 2026, placed by the borrower’s ZIP code. Official establishments are businesses with payroll; the official counts leave out places with fewer than 3.
Population and households in the Murray area
- Population, 2025 estimate
- 39,421+4.9% since 2020
- Households
- 15,239
- Median age
- 37.8
- Homes lived in by their owners
- 64%
- Vehicles per household
- 1.8
- Land area
- 385 sq. mi.
- People per square mile
- 99
- Median household income
- $52,706+24.7% vs. 2015–2019, before inflation
- Average household income
- $72,292
- Median home value
- $183,200
- Jobs located here
- 15,172
- Daytime population
- 39,043Residents who don’t work, plus everyone whose job is here
Looking at a specific site in the Murray area?
These figures cover the whole small-town market. A site report draws rings around one address and counts what’s inside them: households, spending, jobs, and the real estate businesses on map listings by name and distance.
Or open the report at the center of the Murray area. Signed out, you see a blurred preview; on an account, each report is one action.
Free10 actions over 3 days, no cardReal estate across Kentucky
Every Kentucky market ranked →The highest-scoring small-town markets in Kentucky for real estate businesses, numbered among those based in Kentucky, with the Murray area marked.
Top small-town markets in Kentucky
| Market | Score | Listings | Per 10k households | Housing spending per listing (U.S. = 100) | Population growth | U.S. rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1Mount Sterling, KY | 66 | 28 | 15.4 | 200 | +3.1% | #79 of 536 |
| 2Mayfield, KY | 65 | 17 | 12.0 | 256 | +1.4% | #84 of 536 |
| 3Glasgow, KY | 65 | 39 | 17.6 | 172 | +2.6% | #89 of 536 |
| 4Pikeville, KY | 58 | 33 | 8.5 | 340 | −5.4% | #148 of 536 |
| 5Henderson, KY | 58 | 35 | 14.9 | 211 | −0.9% | #149 of 536 |
| 6Franklin, KY | 58 | 18 | 22.4 | 142 | +5.9% | #157 of 536 |
| 7Corbin, KY | 57 | 90 | 15.9 | 183 | +0.1% | #164 of 536 |
| 8Danville, KY | 57 | 47 | 21.6 | 144 | +3.6% | #171 of 536 |
| 9Frankfort, KY | 55 | 76 | 23.5 | 142 | +3.1% | #198 of 536 |
| 10Middlesborough, KY | 54 | 11 | 11.1 | 241 | −4.8% | #206 of 536 |
| 15Murray, KY | 32 | 51 | 33.5 | 92 | +4.9% | #491 of 536 |
Other business types in the Murray area
Each with its Groundwork market score here, out of 100, where it has one.
Food and drink
Groceries and convenience
Auto
Beauty and personal care
Fitness and classes
Health care
Child care
Clothing and laundry
Home services
Real estate
Funeral services
Questions
How many real estate businesses are in the Murray, KY area?
Map listings as of September 2026 show 51 real estate businesses in the Murray area. 8 of them (16%) are chain locations. The listings count real estate agents and brokers, property managers, mortgage brokers and lenders, and home inspectors. Official counts show 27 businesses with payroll classed as real estate agents, property managers, mortgage lenders and inspectors in 2023. Official counts also show 112 one-person businesses without payroll.
How much do households in the Murray, KY area spend on rent and homeowner costs?
About $202.2M a year, or $13,265 per household. That is 20% below the U.S. average (an index of 80, where 100 is the U.S. average). For the 51 real estate businesses on map listings, housing spending per office is 8% below the U.S. figure. That figure is all rent and homeowner costs, used as a measure of housing demand; it is not money real estate businesses take in. It is estimated from the incomes of the 15,239 households in the Murray area and national spending patterns by income.
How does the Murray, KY area compare with the U.S. for real estate businesses?
The Murray area has 33.5 real estate businesses per 10,000 households, 13% below the U.S. rate of 38.5. The index of housing spending per office is 92, where 100 is the U.S. At the U.S. ratio of real estate businesses to household spending, the Murray area would have about 47, against 51 on map listings. There is one business with payroll in the industry for every 564 households, against one for every 414 across the U.S.
How fast is the Murray, KY area growing?
Population estimates put the Murray area at 39,421 people in 2025, up 4.9% since 2020, faster than the U.S. (+3.1%). It has 15,239 households. Median household income in the Murray area is $52,706, 35% below the U.S. median of $80,734. Against the 2015–2019 survey, the median rose 24.7%, before inflation.
What is the Groundwork market score?
The Groundwork market score runs from 0 to 100 and compares a market with others of its kind for one business type: states with states, metro areas with metro areas, small-town markets and counties with their own. A small-town market is a town of 10,000 to 50,000 people and the county or counties tied to it by commuting. It weighs household spending per competitor (35%), households per business with payroll (25%), population growth (20%) and spending power (20%), each ranked against those peers. A higher score means that, taken together, the market has more household spending and more households for each business already there, faster population growth and more spending per household than similar markets. It describes a market, not any one site or deal. The Murray area scores 32 for real estate businesses (lower middle), #491 of 536 scored small-town markets.
How can I see the market around a specific site?
Run a Groundwork site report on an address in the Murray area. It maps the real estate businesses on map listings near the site and sizes the households and spending within the distance you choose. New accounts get 10 actions over 3 days, no card.
How the score works · Top markets for real estate businesses · All 56 business types in the Murray area
Screening a site or an acquisition in the Murray area?
A site report maps the competitors on map listings near an address and sizes the households and spending around it.
The button opens the report at the center of the Murray area. Signed out, you see a blurred preview; on an account, each report is one action.
This product uses the Census Bureau Data API but is not endorsed or certified by the Census Bureau.
Figures are estimates for research only. Not investment or real estate advice.