Photo: Farragutful · CC BY-SA 4.0Most of Fairmount Heights commutes out: there are 0.1 jobs for every working resident
There are 38 jobs in Fairmount Heights; 617 of its residents have a job. For jobs and income Fairmount Heights is better than 56% of U.S. towns (B); for walkability it is among the most walkable U.S. towns (A+). Hardly any work in Fairmount Heights itself; outside it, Washington draws the most (35%, 5 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Fairmount Heights, in brief
Fairmount Heights is a place people come home to
There are 38 jobs based in Fairmount Heights, about one for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Fairmount Heights has about 950 people in it, 38% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Many Fairmount Heights workers cross into Washington, D.C.
53% of Fairmount Heights workers work outside Maryland, most of them in Washington, D.C., the Census survey finds. The commute map ↓
One in three of Fairmount Heights works in Washington
216 working residents, 35%, have their main job in Washington, DC, 5.4 miles away. That’s far more as work in Fairmount Heights itself. The commute map ↓
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 617 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Why Fairmount Heights gets the Jobs & income grade it does
Job access by car holds Fairmount Heights’ grade up (ahead of 98% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down (24.4%, U.S. 12.5%). It also does well on household income.
Unemployment (5.2%) is left out: Fairmount Heights’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Fairmount Heights could be anywhere from C to A−.
Fairmount Heights by day and by night
On a workday 614 residents head out to work, 3 work right here, and 35 people come in from elsewhere.
About 950 people are in Fairmount Heights on a workday afternoon, 38% fewer than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Where Fairmount Heights’ working residents head each day
Where Fairmount Heights clocks in
35% of workers
2% 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.
Health, schools and offices: most of the jobs in Fairmount Heights
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Fairmount Heights, 2013 → 2023: 47 → 38. 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 Fairmount Heights’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The trip to work from Fairmount Heights: about 33 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Fairmount Heights workers work from home, vs 19% across Maryland. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 567 commuters (the 15% who work from home are left out). Across Maryland: 80% drive alone, 5% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
How many miles Fairmount Heights commutes
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.
Fairmount Heights is among the most walkable U.S. towns
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Fairmount Heights is among the most walkable U.S. towns. Both inputs place Fairmount Heights 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 670 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). Nearly all residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 100% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 30.4 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, among the most 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). 4.1% of Fairmount Heights households have no vehicle (Maryland 8.8%, U.S. 8.4%). 19% of Fairmount Heights’ commuters take a bus or train.
How Fairmount Heights ranks: 1,787th of 5,794 U.S. towns of 1,100 to 2,100
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 19 | Colmar Manor MD | 1,590 | $123K | 2.3% | 4.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,785 | Owls Head ME | 1,494 | $87K | 5.7% | 3.9% | 5% | B |
| 1,786 | Fair Haven Township MN | 1,587 | $89K | 10.4% | 4.8% | 1% | B |
| 1,787 | Fairmount Heights MD | 1,528 | $79K | 24.4% | 5.2% | <1% | B |
| 1,788 | Cottonwood MN | 1,138 | $98K | 7.1% | 1.3% | 12% | B |
| 1,789 | Coalville UT | 1,529 | $96K | 12.1% | 0.9% | 9% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 5,794 | 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 Fairmount Heights, the top three, the last and three more from Maryland.
Around Fairmount Heights: the bordering towns
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Fairmount Heights workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fairmount Heights | – | B | A+ | 33 min | $78,516 |
| Seat Pleasant | under 1% | C | A+ | 37 min | $57,018 |
| Cedar Heights | under 1% | B+ | A+ | 33 min | $76,696 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Fairmount Heights’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 Fairmount Heights: questions
What is the median household income in Fairmount Heights?
$78,516 (±$35,838) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $103,678 across Maryland and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Fairmount Heights?
24.4%, against 9.4% across Maryland and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Fairmount Heights?
33 minutes each way on average, against 31 across Maryland and 26 nationally. 15% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Fairmount Heights work?
<1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Washington (35%, 5 mi), Arlington (3%, 10 mi), Baltimore (2%, 32 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Fairmount Heights walkable?
Fairmount Heights is among the most walkable U.S. towns (Walkability A+): an EPA walkability index of 16.5 out of 20, and 19% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Fairmount Heights without a car?
19% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. 100% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Fairmount Heights, from the people who make the trip.
More of Fairmount Heights
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.