Symmes Mission Chapel · Photo: Nyttend · Public domainFairfield has higher unemployment (5.5%) than 68% of U.S. towns
Working residents average 24 minutes each way, about the same as across Ohio. Jobs and income earn Fairfield B; getting around on foot earns it B−. About one in seven stay in Fairfield for work; outside it, Cincinnati is the main destination (13%, 13 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs & income in Fairfield: the grade in detail
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Fairfield is better than 61% of U.S. towns, #477 of 992 in Ohio. Job access by car holds Fairfield’s grade up (ahead of 85% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down. It also does well on household income and the poverty rate.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Fairfield could be anywhere from B− to A−.
Fairfield by day and by night
On a workday 18,835 residents head out to work, 3,047 work right here, and 23,979 people come in from elsewhere.
About 50,000 people are in Fairfield on a workday afternoon, 12% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.24 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.
The places Fairfield commutes to
Where Fairfield clocks in
13% of workers
8% of workers
5% 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.
Inside Fairfield’s 27,026 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Fairfield, 2013 → 2023: 26,948 → 27,026. 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.
Commuting from Fairfield: about 24 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Fairfield workers work from home, vs 13% across Ohio. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 20,717 commuters (the 11% 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.
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.
In Fairfield, the car does most of the work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Fairfield is more walkable than 46% of U.S. towns, #484 of 993 in Ohio. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.1% 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 23,158 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 26% 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). 3.4% of Fairfield households have no vehicle (Ohio 7.5%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Fairfield’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Fairfield is 575th among 1,000 U.S. towns of 31,000 to 60,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | McLean VA | 49,627 | $250K | 2.9% | 2.3% | 6% | A+ |
| 2 | Southlake TX | 31,175 | $250K | 1.5% | 2.7% | 11% | A+ |
| 3 | Leawood KS | 34,093 | $186K | 3.1% | 2.0% | 9% | A+ |
| 4 | Upper Arlington OH | 35,893 | $155K | 3.3% | 2.0% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 7 | Liberty Township OH | 40,625 | $187K | 1.6% | 2.5% | 8% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 12 | Dublin OH | 49,094 | $160K | 3.2% | 2.5% | 15% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 573 | Salem MA | 45,381 | $85K | 12.1% | 5.1% | 17% | B |
| 574 | Bristol Township PA | 54,063 | $79K | 10.3% | 5.4% | 11% | B |
| 575 | Fairfield OH | 44,682 | $78K | 8.4% | 5.5% | 14% | B |
| 576 | La Puente CA | 36,423 | $87K | 11.3% | 6.2% | 3% | B |
| 577 | Linden NJ | 45,752 | $93K | 9.6% | 9.5% | 10% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 1,000 | Bullhead City AZ | 43,987 | $51K | 18.7% | 11.5% | 26% | 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 Ohio.
Bordering towns draw 18% of Fairfield’s workers
The biggest share goes to West Chester Township (8%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Fairfield workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fairfield | – | B | B− | 24 min | $77,937 |
| Hamilton | 5% | C | A− | 25 min | $55,166 |
| Fairfield Township | under 2% | A− | C | 24 min | $108,353 |
| Ross Township | under 2% | A | C− | 29 min | $93,906 |
| West Chester Township | 8% | A− | C | 23 min | $109,979 |
| Forest Park | 2% | B | A− | 24 min | $75,956 |
| Colerain Township | under 2% | B+ | B+ | 24 min | $73,103 |
| Springdale | 3% | B− | B+ | 20 min | $67,903 |
Same-state neighbors only. 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?
$77,937 (±$5,996) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $71,389 across Ohio and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Fairfield?
8.4%, against 13.3% across Ohio and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Fairfield?
24 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Ohio and 26 nationally. 10% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Fairfield work?
14% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Cincinnati (13%, 13 mi), West Chester Township (8%, 7 mi), Hamilton (5%, 4 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Fairfield walkable?
Fairfield is more walkable than 46% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 7.7 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Fairfield without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. 0% 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.