Photo: Aab254 · CC BY-SA 4.0Households in Fairfield earn more than those in 97% of U.S. towns
Fairfield grades A− for jobs and income and A for walkability. The poverty rate is 4.7%; Connecticut has 10.0%. For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 2.5 trips an hour at the evening peak near the typical resident, next to 31.8 in Stamford.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Fairfield, in brief
Fairfield trades workers with the towns around it
Fairfield has about as many jobs (24,737) as working residents (23,784), but they are mostly different people: 19,413 residents leave for work each day while 20,366 people come in. Only 18% of the jobs in Fairfield are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
A lot of Fairfield works from home
28% of Fairfield workers work from home, against 16% across Connecticut. Time on the road ↓
Fairfield workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 33 minutes each way, against 27 across Connecticut. Over a year that’s about 253 hours of commuting, 46 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Fairfield
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Fairfield is better than 85% of U.S. towns, #63 of 155 in Connecticut. Household income holds Fairfield’s grade up ($172,432, U.S. $80,734); unemployment pulls it down (5.9%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on the poverty rate and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Fairfield could be anywhere from A− to A.
The daily commute in and out of Fairfield
On a workday 19,413 residents head out to work, 4,371 work right here, and 20,366 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.04 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
About 33 minutes to work from Fairfield
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Fairfield workers work from home, vs 16% across Connecticut. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 21,166 commuters (the 28% who work from home are left out). Across Connecticut: 82% drive alone, 4% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
10% of working residents work in Stamford
Where Fairfield clocks in
10% of workers
7% of workers
7% 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.
What Fairfield’s employers do
24,737 jobs are based in Fairfield.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Fairfield, 2013 → 2023: 22,380 → 24,737. 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 Fairfield’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How far Fairfield’s workers travel
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.
Fairfield is more walkable than most U.S. towns, with limited transit
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Fairfield is more walkable than 94% of U.S. towns, #11 of 155 in Connecticut. Both inputs place Fairfield near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 29,580 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 54% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 9% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 2.5 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 72% 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). 2.8% of Fairfield households have no vehicle (Connecticut 8.8%, U.S. 8.4%). 11% of Fairfield’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Fairfield is 162nd of 669 U.S. towns of 46,000 to 89,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | McLean VA | 49,627 | $250K | 2.9% | 2.3% | 6% | A+ |
| 2 | Lakeville MN | 79,270 | $139K | 2.9% | 2.0% | 11% | A+ |
| 3 | Fulshear TX | 64,630 | $187K | 1.6% | 2.8% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 108 | West Hartford CT | 64,242 | $130K | 6.3% | 4.1% | 14% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 151 | Milford CT | 53,606 | $111K | 5.1% | 4.4% | 20% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 160 | Grapevine TX | 50,714 | $111K | 6.7% | 4.7% | 14% | A− |
| 161 | Spanish Fork UT | 48,837 | $105K | 6.6% | 2.3% | 15% | A− |
| 162 | Fairfield CT | 66,262 | $172K | 4.7% | 5.9% | 18% | A− |
| 163 | Delaware OH | 46,636 | $100K | 7.8% | 2.6% | 16% | A− |
| 164 | Middletown Township NJ | 67,135 | $142K | 4.2% | 5.8% | 12% | A− |
| 165 | Greenwich CT | 64,801 | $206K | 6.1% | 6.0% | 27% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 669 | Pahrump NV | 47,347 | $62K | 13.7% | 8.5% | 28% | 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 Fairfield, the top three, the last and three more from Connecticut.
Next door is work for 11% of Fairfield
The biggest share goes to Bridgeport (6%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Fairfield workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fairfield | – | A− | A | 33 min | $172,432 |
| Bridgeport | 6% | C | A+ | 31 min | $58,685 |
| Westport | 5% | A | A | 41 min | $250,000+ |
| Easton | under 3% | A− | B | 33 min | $222,604 |
| Staples | under 3% | — | — | 43 min | — |
| Weston | under 3% | A | B | 47 min | $250,000+ |
| Greens Farms | under 3% | — | — | 49 min | — |
| Coleytown | under 3% | — | — | 38 min | — |
| Trumbull | under 3% | A− | A− | 33 min | $163,073 |
| Plattsville | under 3% | — | — | 39 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Staples, Greens Farms, Coleytown and Plattsville: Census-designated places inside larger towns, graded as part of them. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Fairfield’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 Fairfield: questions
What is the median household income in Fairfield?
$172,432 (±$8,394) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $95,781 across Connecticut and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Fairfield?
4.7%, against 10.0% across Connecticut and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Fairfield?
33 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Connecticut and 26 nationally. 28% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Fairfield work?
18% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Stamford (10%, 16 mi), New York City (7%, 50 mi), Norwalk (7%, 10 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Fairfield walkable?
Fairfield is more walkable than 94% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 10.2 out of 20, and 14% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Fairfield without a car?
11% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. 9% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Fairfield, from the people who make the trip.
More of Fairfield
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.