Photo: ERobson at English Wikipedia · CC BY 3.0Household incomes in Fairfax top those of 94% of U.S. towns
Transit is limited for a town this walkable: about 4.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident at the evening peak, against 37.5 in San Francisco. Below the poverty line: 12.1% of residents, next to 12.0% across California. For jobs and income Fairfax is better than 47% of U.S. towns (B−); for walkability it is more walkable than 95% of U.S. towns (A+).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Fairfax and work: the main findings
Where Fairfax’s Jobs & income grade comes from
Household income holds Fairfax’s grade up ($141,653, U.S. $80,734); unemployment pulls it down (10.2%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on job access by car.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Fairfax could be anywhere from C+ to A−.
Fairfax’s commute takes about 29 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Fairfax workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,428 commuters (the 38% who work from home are left out). Across California: 79% drive alone, 3% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Fairfax by day and by night
On a workday 2,907 residents head out to work, 261 work right here, and 1,126 people come in from elsewhere.
About 5,600 people are in Fairfax on a workday afternoon, 24% fewer than live here.
0.44 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
22% of working residents work in San Francisco
Where Fairfax clocks in
12% of workers
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 kinds of work in Fairfax
1,387 jobs are based in Fairfax.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Fairfax, 2013 → 2023: 1,338 → 1,387. 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 Fairfax’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Near or far: the trip to work from Fairfax
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.
Fairfax is easy on foot, hard by bus
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 3,942 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 53% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 12% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 4.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 81% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 1.1% of Fairfax households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 5% of Fairfax’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Fairfax is 1,857th among 3,083 U.S. towns of 5,200 to 10,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 65 | Las Flores CA | 5,513 | $212K | 4.8% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 72 | Gold River CA | 7,924 | $175K | 2.9% | 2.4% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 118 | La Habra Heights CA | 5,327 | $180K | 4.9% | 2.8% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,855 | Livonia NY | 7,470 | $89K | 7.7% | 11.0% | 13% | B− |
| 1,856 | Hamilton NY | 6,348 | $75K | 7.4% | 4.2% | 37% | B− |
| 1,857 | Fairfax CA | 7,417 | $142K | 12.1% | 10.2% | 8% | B− |
| 1,858 | Westville IN | 5,387 | $61K | 11.4% | 3.7% | 4% | B− |
| 1,859 | Orchard Homes MT | 5,588 | $65K | 8.7% | 4.7% | 4% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,083 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | 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 Fairfax, the top three, the last and three more from California.
The towns around Fairfax
The biggest share goes to San Anselmo (4%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Fairfax workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fairfax | – | B− | A+ | 29 min | $141,653 |
| Sleepy Hollow | under 2% | B+ | A− | 47 min | $250,000+ |
| San Anselmo | 4% | B+ | A+ | 30 min | $173,641 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Fairfax’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
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 Fairfax: questions
What is the median household income in Fairfax?
$141,653 (±$19,700) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Fairfax?
12.1%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Fairfax?
29 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 38% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Fairfax work?
8% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are San Francisco (22%, 18 mi), San Rafael (12%, 5 mi), San Anselmo (4%, 1 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Fairfax walkable?
Fairfax is more walkable than 95% of U.S. towns (Walkability A+): an EPA walkability index of 10.4 out of 20, and 19% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Fairfax without a car?
5% of commuters take transit and 1% of households have no car. 12% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Fairfax, from the people who make the trip.
More of Fairfax
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.