Photo: Greg Hume · CC BY-SA 4.0There are 3.8 jobs in Fairfax for every working resident, and 3,784 people commute in
For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 4.4 trips an hour at the evening peak near the typical resident, next to 15.3 in Cincinnati. There are 3,851 jobs in Fairfax, and 1,012 of its residents work somewhere. Fairfax grades A for jobs and income and A for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Fairfax
Fairfax fills up on a workday
Fairfax has 3,851 jobs, 3.8 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 4,600 people are in town, more than double the 1,800 who live here. Day and night ↓
Most Fairfax residents work close to home
68% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home, about two in three. Only 8% work more than 50 miles away. How far ↓
Fairfax and Cincinnati trade workers both ways
Cincinnati is the top workplace for Fairfax residents (31%) and also where the most people who work in Fairfax come from (14% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Fairfax makes and builds things
41% of the jobs based in Fairfax are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Fairfax residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 12%. The jobs ↓
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.
What drives the Jobs & income grade in Fairfax
On income, poverty and job access, Fairfax is better than 85% of U.S. towns. Job access by car holds Fairfax’s grade up (ahead of 86% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($75,000, U.S. $80,734). It also does well on the poverty rate.
Unemployment (3.3%) is left out: Fairfax’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Fairfax could be anywhere from B+ to A.
Fairfax’s population more than doubles on a workday
On a workday 945 residents head out to work and 67 work right here.
About 4,600 people are in Fairfax on a workday afternoon, 161% more than live here.
3.8 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than 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.
Close to home or a long way: work trips 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.
Commuting in to Fairfax: where workers come from
Where Fairfax clocks in
31% of workers
6% of workers
3% 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.
Making and building: 41% of jobs based in Fairfax
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Fairfax, 2013 → 2023: 3,447 → 3,851. 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.
Each way, about 21 minutes from Fairfax
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Fairfax workers work from home, vs 13% across Ohio. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 787 commuters (the 13% who work from home are left out). Across Ohio: 86% 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.
Fairfax is easy on foot, hard by bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Fairfax is more walkable than 86% of U.S. towns. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 3.3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 3.7% across Ohio.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 908 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, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 4.4 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 82% 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). 3.9% of Fairfax households have no vehicle (Ohio 7.5%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Fairfax’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Fairfax ranks: 511th of 6,085 U.S. towns of 1,200 to 2,400
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Plandome NY | 1,482 | $250K | 0.9% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Hewlett Harbor NY | 1,332 | $250K | 1.9% | 7.2% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 24 | New California OH | 1,672 | $162K | 0.0% | 1.1% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 46 | Millcreek Township OH | 1,562 | $151K | 2.3% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 59 | Bratenahl OH | 1,396 | $138K | 4.4% | 0.8% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 509 | Monroe Township IN | 1,315 | $128K | 1.5% | 1.2% | 1% | A |
| 510 | Jackson Township IN | 1,760 | $101K | 0.9% | 1.1% | 2% | A |
| 511 | Fairfax OH | 1,764 | $75K | 4.1% | 3.3% | 7% | A |
| 512 | Forest Lake IL | 1,865 | $96K | 4.0% | 4.7% | <1% | A |
| 513 | Rossville TN | 1,215 | $120K | 7.3% | 6.1% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 6,085 | 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 Fairfax, the top three, the last and three more from Ohio.
Work next door: 33% of Fairfax’s workers
The biggest share goes to Cincinnati (31%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Fairfax workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fairfax | – | A | A | 21 min | $75,000 |
| Cincinnati | 31% | C− | A+ | 22 min | $52,909 |
| Mariemont | 2% | A+ | B | 22 min | $152,273 |
| Columbia Township | under 2% | C | A | 20 min | $68,088 |
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?
$75,000 (±$8,461) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $71,389 across Ohio and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Fairfax?
4.1%, against 13.3% across Ohio and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Fairfax?
21 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Ohio and 26 nationally. 13% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Fairfax work?
7% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Cincinnati (31%, 6 mi), Blue Ash (6%, 7 mi), Sharonville (3%, 10 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Fairfax walkable?
Fairfax is more walkable than 86% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 13.6 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Fairfax without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. 0% 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.