Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Fairfield is a solid, middle-of-the-road choice. It grades C+ overall, 681st among Ohio's 987 graded towns, with no subject far below average. Its best mark is incomes: the median household earns $78K. Its lowest everyday mark is in health: residents are less healthy than 62% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates. A typical home there costs about $283K, 3.5 years of the Cincinnati metro’s $81K median household income. Only 153 of Ohio’s 1,560 towns score lower on civic life. Its National Register listings include Symmes Mission Chapel and Morgan-Hueston House. 63% of households own their home in Fairfield, against 77% in Ohio’s towns and 73% across U.S. towns.
Where Fairfield beats most towns.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Ohio), ordered by how far Fairfield is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Its founding year, 1787, comes before those of 99% of the Ohio towns we grade with a known year.
Census counts: 9,734 in 1960, 44,907 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1914 and 5 maps from 1915 on.
2 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Fairfield. Close and well known come first.
Big draw15 mi Theme parkKings Island3.5M visitors a year
16 mi Stadium & arenaPaycor Stadium
16 mi Stadium & arenaGreat American Ball Park
39 mi MuseumNational Museum of the United States Air Force1.0M visitors a year
14 mi Stadium & arenaNippert Stadium
13 mi Zoo & aquariumCincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden1.2M visitors a yearKings Island: Eli Duke from Portland, OR, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Paycor Stadium: JonRidinger, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Great American Ball Park: Eric Kilby profile at Flickr website, CC BY-SA 2.0 · National Museum of the United States Air Force: No machine-readable author provided. Rogerd assumed (based on copyright claims)., CC BY-SA 3.0 · Nippert Stadium: Ben Levin, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden: Unknown, CC BY-SA 2.5
Who provides power, water and the rest in Fairfield, and how to reach them.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Aug 3, 2026.
Ordered by what stands out in Fairfield.
Fairfield has seen reported crime rise by a fifth or more, but it has a long record of flood insurance claims.
12 miles of trail in 18 parks and preserves. William Harbin Park, at 191 acres with 7.5 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve.
| Fairfield | Ohio towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.6 miles per square mile | 0.2 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 4.6% | 3.7% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. William Harbin Park | 7.5 mi | 191 |
| 2. Thomas O. Marsh Park | 1 mi | 144 |
| 3. Huffman Park | 0.6 mi | 22 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its public schools are run by the Fairfield City school district. Three of its 9 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Creekside Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 1,111 | C+ |
| Fairfield High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 2,255 | C |
| Fairfield Freshman High SchoolTop results in townGrades 9–10 | Grades 9–10 | 786 | A+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within OH on state tests and graduation
180 flood insurance claims have been filed here, and 21 properties have flooded more than once.
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 69% of U.S. communities. Since 1979, 180 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Fairfield.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Fairfield has chilly winters and warm summers. July afternoons reach 86°, January nights drop to 22° and about 16 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Most working residents leave Fairfield for work: only 14% work in town. The top destinations are Cincinnati (13%), West Chester Township (8%) and Hamilton (5%). Half commute less than 10 miles.
| Fairfield | Ohio towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 14% | 6.8% | 8% |
| Below the poverty line | 8.4% | 9.1% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
36% of adults feel lonely in Fairfield. Fairfield tracks Ohio closely on all 32 CDC measures. 40% of adults have obesity in Fairfield.
| Fairfield | Ohio towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 36% | 34% | 33% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 40% | 38% | 35% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 81% | 80% | 79% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 29% | 28% | 25% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
The typical Fairfield home is worth about $283,000, up 3.5% in a year, 15% above the Ohio typical home. The median rent in Fairfield is $1,242 a month.
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
No broad age group is more than 4 points off the Ohio average. Fairfield’s median age is 38.1 years. 31% of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or more, vs 32% across Ohio.
| Fairfield | Ohio towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median age | 38.1 years | 41.7 years | 40.5 years |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 31% | 24% | 29% |
| Aged 65 or older | 18% | 20% | 18% |
| Under 18 | 21% | 22% | 22% |
50% women, 50% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±1.7 points. Across Ohio, 50.7% of residents are women. Median age: women 40.2, men 36.6.
| Fairfield | OH | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 11.7% | 11.7% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 9.3% | 10.3% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 9.8% | 8.9% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 15.4% | 13.2% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 11.2% | 12.5% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 12.2% | 12% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 12.9% | 13.2% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 10.2% | 10.9% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 7.4% | 7.3% | 7% |
| No diploma | 9.2% | 8.2% | 10.4% |
| High school | 30.1% | 32.1% | 26% |
| Some college | 20.6% | 19.3% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 9.4% | 9% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 22.3% | 19.3% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 8.4% | 12.2% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
Reported crimes rose from 574 to 717 over the last three FBI years, a rise beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
11 within 15 miles of the center of Fairfield
About 6 of every 100 Fairfield residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Ohio.
2 places in Fairfield on the National Register of Historic Places.
7 notable people were born in Fairfield.
City in Ohio, US
Fairfield is a city in southern Butler County, Ohio, United States. It is a suburb located about 25 miles (40 km) north of Cincinnati and is situated on the east bank of the Great Miami River. The population was 44,907 as of the 2020 census. Incorporated in 1955 from portions of Fairfield Township, it includes the former hamlets of Symmes Corner, Fair Play, Furmandale, and Stockton. The Fairfield City School District is one of the largest in Ohio and serves both the city and Fairfield Township.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
7 towns share a border with Fairfield.
West Chester Township next door grades higher for schools (A− to Fairfield’s B−) and lower for cost of living (C− to B−).
| Town | OH rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fairfield | #681 | C+ | B− | B− | B− | C+ |
| Hamilton | #889 | C− | B+ | C− | C+ | D |
| Fairfield Township | #718 | C+ | C+ | — | B− | C |
| Ross Township | #328 | B+ | C+ | A− | A | C |
| West Chester Township | #415 | B+ | C− | B− | A− | A− |
| Forest Park | #778 | C | C+ | C | C | C+ |
| Colerain Township | #616 | B− | B− | C | C+ | B |
| Springdale | #835 | C | C+ | C− | B− | C+ |
Fairfield Township reports no FBI crime data of its own. Compare Fairfield with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Fairfield grades C+ overall, better than 42% of U.S. towns and #681 of 987 in Ohio. It grades C+ for health, B− for safety and B− for schools.
Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades B−.
7 notable people were born here, including Daniel Wisler and Jackson Carman.
