Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 8,894.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Fair Lakes grades A overall, ranked 62nd of 249 in Virginia. Residents are healthier than 98% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates. The median household earns $127K. What holds it back is price: the typical home is worth about $588K, 4.6 years of the Washington metro’s $127K median household income. Fair Lakes’ median rent is $2,419 a month, against $1,760 a month in Virginia’s towns and $1,185 a month across U.S. towns. Fair Lakes is easier to get around on foot or by transit than 85% of U.S. towns. The biggest park or preserve is Willow Pond Park, at 32 acres.
Where Fair Lakes beats most towns.
Where Fair Lakes’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Virginia), ordered by how far Fair Lakes is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
The archive holds 12 old photos and papers going back to 2016 and 7 maps from 1915 on.
Explore the history →Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Fair Lakes. Close and well known come first.
Big draw19 mi National park siteWhite House311K visitors a year
Big draw19 mi National MemorialWashington Monument204K visitors a year
Big draw17 mi LandmarkArlington National Cemetery
Big draw18 mi LandmarkUnited States Triumphal Arch
Big draw20 mi MuseumSmithsonian Institution30.0M visitors a year
5 mi MuseumSteven F. Udvar-Hazy Center1.6M visitors a yearWhite House: This image or media was taken or created by Matt H. Wade. To see his entire port, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Washington Monument: Oren Rozen, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Arlington National Cemetery: Protoant, Public domain · United States Triumphal Arch: Hstoops, CC0 · Smithsonian Institution: Highsmith, Carol M., 1946-, photographer, Public domain · Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center: Unknown, CC BY-SA 3.0
Fair Lakes is unincorporated, so Fairfax County and regional agencies provide most services.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Sep 30, 2026.
Ordered by what stands out in Fair Lakes.
Fair Lakes draws workers from Centreville and beyond and has less tooth loss than most of Virginia, but it has property taxes about twice the Virginia norm.
Its widest gap with Virginia is tooth loss: 4.5% of those 65+ have lost all their teeth, against 11.1% statewide.
22% of adults have obesity in Fair Lakes.
| Fair Lakes | Virginia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 22% | 34% | 35% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 8.9% | 12% | 14% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 25% | 33% | 35% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 13% | 16% | 17% |
| What stands out | Fair Lakes | VA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 4.5% | 11.1% |
| Fewer adults with COPD | 3.1% | 6.2% |
| Fewer adults treating high blood pressure | 71.7% | 76.8% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
8,955 jobs are based in Fair Lakes, 2.1 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in. 28.1% of workers work from home, against 18.3% across Virginia.
Most working residents leave Fair Lakes for work: only 3% work in town. 28% of Fair Lakes workers work from home. Jobs based in Fair Lakes fell to 8,955 in 2023, 933 fewer than in 2013.
| Fair Lakes | Virginia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Work from home | 28% | 17% | 11% |
| Median household income | $127,000 | $101,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 29 minutes | 27 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 5.5% | 7.7% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 73% of U.S. communities.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Fair Lakes has chilly winters and warm summers. July afternoons reach 87°, January nights drop to 26° and about 21 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Willow Pond Park | — | 32 |
| 2. Little Rocky Run Stream Valley Park | — | 29 |
| 3. Stringfellow Park | — | 17 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
The median property tax bill is $5,661, against $2,790 across Virginia, another input to its cost-of-living grade.
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
10 within 15 miles of the center of Fair Lakes
About 7 of every 100 Fair Lakes residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Virginia.
Census-designated place in Virginia, United States
Fair Lakes is a census-designated place (CDP) and business park located west of Fairfax in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. Fair Lakes had a population of 8,404 in 2020.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
4 towns share a border with Fair Lakes.
| Town | VA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fair Lakes | #62 | A | D | — | B+ | A+ |
| Fair Oaks | #60 | A | D | — | B+ | A+ |
| Greenbriar | #32 | A | C− | — | B+ | A |
| Centreville | #85 | A− | C− | — | B+ | A |
| Union Mill | #50 | A | C | — | B+ | A+ |
Fair Lakes, Fair Oaks, Greenbriar, Centreville and Union Mill report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Fair Lakes with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Fair Lakes grades A overall, better than 90% of U.S. towns and #62 of 249 in Virginia. It grades A+ for health and B+ for schools. Cost of living is its weak spot, with a D.
Yes. The typical home is worth about $588,000, 43% above the Virginia typical home. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades D.
