Photo: Famartin · CC BY-SA 4.0Households in Fair Oaks have higher incomes than those in 90% of U.S. towns
Home is the office for 29% of workers, next to 18% for Virginia as a whole. 5.7% of residents are in poverty, next to 9.9% for Virginia as a whole. Only 7% stay in Fair Oaks for work; outside it, Washington is the main destination (9%, 18 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Fair Oaks at work: what stands out
Fair Oaks draws workers from far and wide
The 38,441 jobs in Fair Oaks are filled from a wide area. The ten biggest home towns of its workers supply 20%; the other 77% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
Fair Oaks is where the jobs are
Fair Oaks has 38,441 jobs, 2.3 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 57,000 people are in town, 61% more than the 36,000 who live here. Day and night ↓
Most jobs here, and most residents’ jobs, pay over $40,000
77% of Fair Oaks’ working residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, the top earnings band in the Census data, and so do 76% of the jobs based in Fair Oaks. The jobs ↓
A lot of Fair Oaks works from home
29% of Fair Oaks workers work from home, against 18% across Virginia. Time on the road ↓
Nearly all the work in Fair Oaks is services
88% of the jobs based here are in services, such as health care, schools and offices. Only 1% are in factories, building or farms. 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.
The four measures behind Fair Oaks’ grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Fair Oaks is better than 84% of U.S. towns, #100 of 253 in Virginia. Job access by car holds Fair Oaks’ grade up (ahead of 96% 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, Fair Oaks could be anywhere from B+ to A+.
The daily trip into Fair Oaks
Where Fair Oaks clocks in
9% of workers
8% 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.
The daily commute in and out of Fair Oaks
On a workday 15,483 residents head out to work, 1,168 work right here, and 37,273 people come in from elsewhere.
About 57,000 people are in Fair Oaks on a workday afternoon, 61% more than live here.
2.3 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.
Mostly services: health care, schools and offices
38,441 jobs are based in Fair Oaks.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Fair Oaks, 2013 → 2023: 35,150 → 38,441. 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 Fair Oaks’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The trip to work from Fair Oaks: about 27 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Fair Oaks workers work from home, vs 18% across Virginia. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 15,274 commuters (the 29% who work from home are left out). Across Virginia: 83% drive alone, 3% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Where in the region Fair Oaks works
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.
Fair Oaks is more walkable than 93% of U.S. towns
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 21,461 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 88% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 50% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 12.9 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 95% 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 Fair Oaks households have no vehicle (Virginia 6.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Fair Oaks’ commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Fair Oaks is 373rd of 1,219 U.S. towns of 25,000 to 48,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Upper Dublin Township PA | 27,258 | $168K | 3.2% | 1.9% | 8% | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 8 | Oakton VA | 36,528 | $161K | 4.6% | 1.9% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 16 | Short Pump VA | 29,026 | $139K | 3.6% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 78 | Ashburn VA | 46,026 | $155K | 4.0% | 3.2% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 371 | Center Township IN | 41,028 | $102K | 7.3% | 2.9% | 19% | A− |
| 372 | West Falls Church VA | 31,279 | $135K | 7.9% | 4.9% | 3% | A− |
| 373 | Fair Oaks VA | 35,545 | $124K | 5.7% | 5.7% | 7% | A− |
| 374 | Lockport IL | 27,822 | $112K | 6.8% | 4.7% | 7% | A− |
| 375 | American Fork UT | 41,020 | $99K | 7.3% | 3.2% | 13% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,219 | 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 Fair Oaks, the top three, the last and three more from Virginia.
Next door to Fair Oaks
The biggest share goes to Fairfax (3%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Fair Oaks workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fair Oaks | – | A− | A | 27 min | $123,947 |
| Oakton | under 2% | A+ | A+ | 29 min | $160,663 |
| Difficult Run | under 2% | A+ | B | 30 min | $250,000+ |
| Fair Lakes | under 2% | A+ | A− | 29 min | $127,332 |
| Fairfax | 3% | A | A+ | 28 min | $132,348 |
| Navy | under 2% | A+ | A | 27 min | $238,676 |
| George Mason | under 2% | A− | A+ | 24 min | $150,341 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Fair Oaks’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 Fair Oaks: questions
What is the median household income in Fair Oaks?
$123,947 (±$11,442) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $93,170 across Virginia and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Fair Oaks?
5.7%, against 9.9% across Virginia and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Fair Oaks?
27 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Virginia and 26 nationally. 29% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Fair Oaks work?
7% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Washington (9%, 18 mi), Tysons (8%, 8 mi), Arlington (7%, 14 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Fair Oaks walkable?
Fair Oaks is more walkable than 93% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 13.3 out of 20, and 6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Fair Oaks without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. 50% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Fair Oaks, from the people who make the trip.
More of Fair Oaks
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.