Photo: Jud McCranie · CC BY-SA 4.0Households in Fairfax earn less than those in 96% of U.S. towns
Working from home is the commute for 3% of workers, against 12% across South Carolina. 26.8% of residents live below the poverty line (South Carolina 14.1%). Fairfax grades D− for jobs and income and C for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Fairfax in brief
A big share show a job far from home
48% of working residents have a main job more than 50 miles away. Part of that is employers that report every worker at one head office, so not all of those trips happen daily. How far ↓
Fairfax workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 41 minutes each way, against 26 across South Carolina. Over a year that’s about 314 hours of commuting, 115 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
Fewer jobs are based in Fairfax than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Fairfax fell from 492 in 2013 to 328 in 2023, −33%. That can be real closings or a large employer now reporting its workers at another address; the data can’t tell the two apart. 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; with 426 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Jobs & income in Fairfax: the grade in detail
On income, poverty and job access, Fairfax is better than 2% of U.S. towns. All three inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Fairfax’s grade.
Unemployment (6.1%) 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 D− to D.
Near or far: the trip to work from Fairfax
About 48% show a job over 50 miles away. Some of that is real, and some is employers that report every worker at a head office, so a few long commutes are on paper only.
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.
The daily trip from Fairfax: about 41 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 13.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Fairfax workers work from home, vs 12% across South Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 786 commuters (the 3% who work from home are left out). Across South Carolina: 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.
Mostly services: health care, schools and offices
328 jobs are based in Fairfax.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Fairfax, 2013 → 2023: 492 → 328. 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.
A workday in Fairfax: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 405 residents head out to work, 21 work right here, and 307 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (0.77 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.
5% of working residents work in Columbia
Where Fairfax clocks in
5% of workers
4% of workers
4% 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.
In Fairfax, most people drive to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Fairfax is more walkable than 26% of U.S. towns. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: hardly any commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 2.4% across South Carolina.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 812 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service: no data. EPA’s transit file has no stops for most of this county (its agencies had not published schedules in the format EPA used in 2020). That is missing data, not a finding that there is no bus or train.
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 16.3% of Fairfax households have no vehicle (South Carolina 5.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Fairfax’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Fairfax compares with U.S. towns of 900 to 1,800
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 209 | Pimlico SC | 1,765 | $137K | 4.8% | 0.0% | 0% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 421 | Cane Savannah SC | 1,551 | $132K | 4.6% | 11.8% | 0% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 818 | Shell Point SC | 1,439 | $82K | 3.1% | 6.4% | 1% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 5,175 | Whitesburg KY | 1,609 | $29K | 37.5% | 11.1% | 32% | D− |
| 5,176 | Richland MO | 1,737 | $34K | 25.9% | 3.8% | 8% | D− |
| 5,177 | Fairfax SC | 1,352 | $41K | 26.8% | 6.1% | 5% | D− |
| 5,178 | Tracy City TN | 1,427 | $39K | 24.2% | 8.3% | 7% | D− |
| 5,179 | Crandon WI | 1,726 | $43K | 20.9% | 1.8% | 16% | D− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,400 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 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 South Carolina.
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?
$40,649 (±$6,886) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $69,324 across South Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Fairfax?
26.8%, against 14.1% across South Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Fairfax?
41 minutes each way on average, against 26 across South Carolina and 26 nationally. 3% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Fairfax work?
5% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Columbia (5%, 77 mi), Allendale (4%, 5 mi), Hampton (4%, 10 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Fairfax walkable?
Fairfax is more walkable than 26% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 7.3 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Fairfax without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 16% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
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.