Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 16,700, settled in 1905.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Fort Hunt grades A overall, 80th among Virginia's 249 graded towns. The median household earns $216K. CDC estimates put its residents' health ahead of 98% of the country. What holds it back is price: homes are expensive, about $998K for a typical one and 7.9 times the Washington metro’s $127K median household income. 81% of adults 25 and older hold a bachelor’s degree or more in Fort Hunt, where Virginia’s towns sit at 44% and U.S. towns at 29%. Fort Hunt is more walkable than 88% of U.S. towns. Only 27 of Virginia’s 372 towns score higher on the outdoors.
Where Fort Hunt beats most towns.
22.6% of the town is conserved land, across 13 parks and preserves.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Virginia), ordered by how far Fort Hunt is from typical.
Its grades run from A+ for jobs and income (better than 98% of comparable towns) to D for cost of living (better than 9%), so the A overall blends very different results.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 12,923 in 2000, 17,231 in 2020. The archive holds 24 old photos and papers going back to 1938 and 5 maps from 1913 on.
5 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Fort Hunt. Close and well known come first.
Big draw11 mi National park siteWhite House311K visitors a year
Big draw10 mi National MemorialWashington Monument204K visitors a year
Big draw10 mi LandmarkArlington National Cemetery
Big draw10 mi LandmarkUnited States Triumphal Arch
Big draw11 mi MuseumSmithsonian Institution30.0M visitors a year
Big draw11 mi National MemorialLincoln Memorial7.7M 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 · Lincoln Memorial: Aerial_view_of_Lincoln_Memorial_-_east_side.jpg: Carol M. Highsmith derivative w, Public domain
Fort Hunt 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 Fort Hunt.
Fort Hunt sends many workers across the state line and has less food insecurity than most of Virginia, but it carries more natural-hazard risk than most of Virginia (mostly inland flooding).
At 7.9 years of the Washington metro’s $127K median household income, the typical home (about $998K) costs more against local pay than in 96% of Virginia towns; that ratio is one input to its D for cost of living. The median property tax bill is $9,658, against $2,790 across Virginia, another input to its cost-of-living grade.
Fort Hunt’s median rent is $3,501 a month. The typical Fort Hunt home is worth about $998,000, up 2.9% in a year, more than twice the Virginia typical home. 94% of Fort Hunt households own their home.
| Fort Hunt | Virginia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $3,501 a month | $1,760 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 94% | 68% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Its public schools are run by the Fairfax County Public Schools. Two of its 7 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sandburg MiddleLargest public middle schoolGrades 7–8 | Grades 7–8 | 1,401 | B− |
| Waynewood ElementaryTop results in townGrades PK–6 | Grades PK–6 | 738 | A |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within VA on state tests and graduation
Its widest gap with Virginia is food insecurity: 5.4% of its 12,489 adults worry about having enough food, against 13.1% statewide. Against the 771 U.S. towns with household incomes like Fort Hunt’s, it is healthier than 54%, a smaller edge than it has nationally: part of it comes with its incomes.
12% of adults report frequent mental distress in Fort Hunt. Fort Hunt beats the Virginia average on 21 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 1. 24% of adults have obesity in Fort Hunt.
| Fort Hunt | Virginia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 12% | 16% | 17% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 24% | 34% | 35% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 7.4% | 12% | 14% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 23% | 25% |
| What stands out | Fort Hunt | VA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 5.4% | 13.1% |
| Fewer adults facing housing insecurity | 5.1% | 10.9% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 10.4% | 7.7% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
23% of working residents cross a state line to work. Fort Hunt has 1,140 jobs for its 6,559 working residents: even if every job went to a resident, most would still commute out.
Most working residents leave Fort Hunt for work: only 3% work in town. The average trip to work in Fort Hunt is 31 minutes. The top destinations are Washington (23%), Alexandria (12%) and Arlington (10%).
| Fort Hunt | Virginia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Work from home | 31% | 17% | 11% |
| Median household income | $216,000 | $101,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 31 minutes | 27 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 2.2% | 7.7% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
4.0 miles of trail in 13 parks and preserves. Fort Hunt Park, at 175 acres with 2.2 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Fort Hunt Park | 2.2 mi | 175 |
| 2. Mount Vernon Community Park | 0.6 mi | 21 |
| 3. Hollin Hall Park | 0.4 mi | 9 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Fort Hunt has chilly winters and warm summers. July afternoons reach 89°, January nights drop to 27° and about 13 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 89% of Virginia towns, with expected losses of about $394 per resident a year; that rating is what its C+ for hazard risk is built on.
Since 1978, 36 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Fort Hunt.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
32 within 15 miles of the center of Fort Hunt
About 4 of every 100 Fort Hunt residents are enrolled in college, against 7 across Virginia.
Where Fort Hunt’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
5 places in Fort Hunt on the National Register of Historic Places.
Census-designated place in Virginia, United States
Fort Hunt is a census-designated place (CDP) in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. The area is named after Fort Hunt, which was built on the bank of the Potomac River in 1897 to defend Washington, D.C. from naval attack and is now a public park. The area is also notable for its high population of senior citizens and for being one of the first suburbs in wealthy Fairfax County. The population was 17,231 at the 2020 census. Fort Hunt encompasses the 22308 ZIP code of Alexandria, composed of much of the most affluent section of southeast Fairfax County, close to the George Washington Memorial Parkway and Potomac River, including the neighborhoods of Riverside Gardens, Tauxemont, Herbert …
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
4 towns share a border with Fort Hunt.
| Town | VA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fort Hunt | #80 | A | D | — | B+ | A+ |
| Hybla Valley | #163 | B | C | — | B+ | C+ |
| Belle Haven | #25 | A | C− | — | B+ | A+ |
| Mount Vernon | #64 | A | C− | — | B+ | A |
| Groveton | #133 | B+ | C− | — | B+ | B+ |
Fort Hunt, Hybla Valley, Belle Haven, Mount Vernon and Groveton report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Fort Hunt with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Fort Hunt grades A overall, better than 86% of U.S. towns and #80 of 249 in Virginia. It grades A+ for health and B+ for schools. Cost of living is its weak spot, with a D.
Yes. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades D.
