Photo: John Phelan · CC BY 4.0Unemployment in Fairplay (1.2%) is lower than in 93% of U.S. towns
Household incomes here are higher than in 88% of U.S. towns. Fairplay grades A+ for jobs and income and C− for walkability. For 8% of workers, the job is at home, against 16% across Georgia.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Fairplay apart on work
Fairplay is a place people come home to
There are 154 jobs based in Fairplay, about three for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. Day and night ↓
Fairplay workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 33 minutes each way, against 28 across Georgia. Over a year that’s about 253 hours of commuting, 38 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; with 601 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
The four measures behind Fairplay’s grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Fairplay is better than 97% of U.S. towns. The poverty rate is its strongest input (1.6%, U.S. 12.5%); job access by car ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (ahead of 68% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income and unemployment and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Fairplay could be anywhere from A to A+.
Who commutes out of Fairplay, and who commutes in
On a workday 599 residents head out to work, 2 work right here, and 152 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,400 people are in Fairplay on a workday afternoon, 24% fewer than live here.
0.26 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.
The trip to work from Fairplay: about 33 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Fairplay workers work from home, vs 16% across Georgia. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,168 commuters (the 8% who work from home are left out). Across Georgia: 84% drive alone, 1% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
11% of working residents work in Douglasville
Where Fairplay clocks in
11% of workers
11% of workers
6% 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.
Mostly services: health care, schools and offices
154 jobs are based in Fairplay.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Fairplay, 2013 → 2023: 121 → 154. 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 Fairplay’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How far it is to work from Fairplay
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.
Most trips from Fairplay start in a car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Fairplay is more walkable than 17% of U.S. towns.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,266 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% 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). 4.9% of Fairplay households have no vehicle (Georgia 5.9%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Fairplay’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Fairplay is 123rd among 5,656 U.S. towns of 1,300 to 2,500
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Plandome NY | 1,482 | $250K | 0.9% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 18 | Berkeley Lake GA | 2,034 | $166K | 1.6% | 1.6% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 121 | Vienna WI | 1,597 | $140K | 2.9% | 2.2% | 4% | A+ |
| 122 | Rancho Santa Fe CA | 2,260 | $176K | 4.9% | 9.8% | 3% | A+ |
| 123 | Fairplay GA | 1,881 | $120K | 1.6% | 1.2% | <1% | A+ |
| 124 | Gates Mills OH | 2,236 | $231K | 6.1% | 3.1% | 3% | A+ |
| 125 | San Pasqual CA | 1,918 | $123K | 7.4% | 1.0% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 199 | Isle of Hope GA | 2,053 | $105K | 1.4% | 1.3% | 5% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 452 | Cataula GA | 1,522 | $124K | 0.0% | 0.0% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 5,656 | Paraje NM | 1,333 | $33K | 61.7% | 0.0% | 0% | 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 Fairplay, the top three, the last and three more from Georgia.
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 Fairplay: questions
What is the median household income in Fairplay?
$119,667 (±$16,820) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,353 across Georgia and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Fairplay?
1.6%, against 13.4% across Georgia and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Fairplay?
33 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Georgia and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Fairplay work?
<1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Douglasville (11%, 16 mi), Atlanta (11%, 27 mi), Carrollton (6%, 13 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Fairplay walkable?
Fairplay is more walkable than 17% of U.S. towns (Walkability C−): an EPA walkability index of 4.6 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Fairplay without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Fairplay, from the people who make the trip.
More of Fairplay
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.