Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Woodlawn’s strongest is walkability: it is more walkable than 97% of U.S. towns. This Virginia town ranks 114th of 249 in Virginia, with a B+ overall. It comes out better than nearly three quarters of U.S. towns. The drawback is cost of living (C+): the typical home is worth about $367K, 2.9 years of the Washington metro’s $127K median household income. 12% of the land here is conserved, above both the Virginia town median (4.6%) and the median of U.S. towns (4.3%). Pope-Leighey House is on the National Register of Historic Places. The biggest park or preserve is Huntley Meadows Park, at 78 acres. The town’s median rent is $1,828 a month, against $1,760 a month in Virginia’s towns and $1,185 a month across U.S. towns.
Figures: home values, Zillow · incomes, Census ACS, 2020–24 · USGS PAD-US · National Register of Historic Places · OpenStreetMap.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Virginia), ordered by how far Woodlawn is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Where Woodlawn beats most towns.
| School | Grades | Students |
|---|---|---|
| Mount Vernon Woods Elementary | PK–6 | 507 |
| Woodlawn Elementary | PK–6 | 447 |
| Engleside Christian School | PK–6 | 66 |
The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 2002 and 5 maps from 1913 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Explore the history →Where Woodlawn’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
Ordered by what stands out in Woodlawn.
Woodlawn has homes that are cheap against local pay and sends most of its workers to Washington and beyond.
Woodlawn has 891 jobs for its 8,478 working residents: even if every job went to a resident, most would still commute out.
Commuting out is the norm in Woodlawn: 1% of working residents work locally. The town’s average trip to work is 32 minutes. The top destinations are Washington (12%), Alexandria (10%) and Arlington (8%). Between 2013 and 2023, jobs in Woodlawn dropped by 71, to 891.
| Woodlawn | Virginia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 32 minutes | 27 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Working residents who work in town | 1.5% | 5% | 8% |
| Work from home | 13% | 18% | 11% |
| Below the poverty line | 11% | 7.7% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
One of its 3 schools is below, with the reason it’s listed. Public schools: the Fairfax County Public Schools. Also worth knowing: the 2 public schools in Woodlawn teach 954 students between them.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mount Vernon Woods ElementaryLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–6 | Grades PK–6 | 507 | D |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within VA on state tests and graduation
Walkers can cover 1.2 miles of trail in 7 parks and preserves. For Woodlawn, the density of trails is 0.5 miles per square mile.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Pinewood Lake Park | 0.5 mi | 10 |
| 2. Huntley Meadows Park | 0.1 mi | 78 |
| 3. Pole Road Park | — | 49 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
A winter brings about 13 inches of snow, with January nights at 27° and July afternoons at 89°.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Paid flood insurance claims in Woodlawn since 1979: 7. Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in just over three fifths of U.S. communities. Of the losses FEMA expects in the town, 68% come from inland flooding and 9% from heat waves.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
The age mix tracks Virginia closely: no broad group is more than 4 points off. A third of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or more, vs 42% across Virginia. Woodlawn: 14% of residents are 65 or older.
| Woodlawn | Virginia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aged 65 or older | 14% | 16% | 18% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 33% | 44% | 29% |
| Median age | 37.1 years | 38.5 years | 40.5 years |
| Under 18 | 24% | 23% | 22% |
52% women, 48% men
About 92 men for every 100 women (the survey’s margin: ±1.3 points). Across Virginia, 50.6% of residents are women.
| Woodlawn | VA | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 11.2% | 11.6% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 12.6% | 10.1% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 6.8% | 9.3% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 16.3% | 13.5% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 12.9% | 13.6% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 13.3% | 12.5% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 12.5% | 12.8% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 10.7% | 9.9% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 3.6% | 6.8% | 7% |
| No diploma | 19.7% | 8.4% | 10.4% |
| High school | 23.4% | 23.9% | 26% |
| Some college | 18.3% | 17.7% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 5.8% | 7.8% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 18.4% | 23.7% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 14.5% | 18.5% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
Two figures for adults in Woodlawn: 41% sleep under 7 hours, 22% worry about having enough food. Of 32 CDC measures, Woodlawn beats the Virginia average on 5 and trails it on 12. 16% of adults 18 to 64 have no health insurance in the town.
| Woodlawn | Virginia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| No health insurance, 18–64 (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 8.4% | 8.1% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 38% | 34% | 33% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 41% | 36% | 36% |
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 22% | 12% | 14% |
| What stands out | Woodlawn | VA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 4.7% | 7.7% |
| Fewer adults with arthritis | 20.7% | 26.2% |
| More uninsured adults | 15.9% | 8.7% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
At 2.9 years of the Washington metro’s $127K median household income, the typical home costs less against local pay than in 93% of Virginia towns; that ratio is one input to its C+ for cost of living. 67.3% of renter households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, against 48.5% across Virginia.
The share of households in Woodlawn who are owner-occupiers: 59%. Homes sold in Woodlawn spent a median 47 days on the market. Bidding over the asking price: 26% of homes sold in the town.
| Woodlawn | Virginia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 59% | 68% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,828 a month | $1,760 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Woodlawn. Close and well known come first.
Big draw12 mi National park siteWhite House311K visitors a year
Big draw11 mi National MemorialWashington Monument204K visitors a year
Big draw10 mi LandmarkArlington National Cemetery
Big draw11 mi LandmarkUnited States Triumphal Arch
Big draw12 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
Woodlawn 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.
29 within 15 miles of the center of Woodlawn
About 7 of every 100 Woodlawn residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Virginia.
Census-designated place in Virginia, United States
Woodlawn is a census-designated place in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. The population as of the 2010 census was 20,804. It was carved out of the Mount Vernon CDP beginning with the 2010 census, from the west it goes from Fort Belvoir to Little Hunting Creek stretching along U.S. Route 1 on the south and Huntley Meadows Park on the north. Historic Woodlawn Plantation occupies the southwestern corner. Fairfax County Park Authority operates neighborhood parks in the area.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
4 towns share a border with Woodlawn.
| Town | VA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Woodlawn | #114 | B+ | C+ | — | B+ | B− |
| Hybla Valley | #163 | B | C | — | B+ | C+ |
| Fort Belvoir | #86 | A− | D− | — | B+ | A |
| Mount Vernon | #64 | A | C− | — | B+ | A |
| Groveton | #133 | B+ | C− | — | B+ | B+ |
Woodlawn, Hybla Valley, Fort Belvoir, Mount Vernon and Groveton report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Woodlawn with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
By most measures, yes. Woodlawn grades B+ overall, better than 74% of U.S. towns and #114 of 249 in Virginia. It grades B− for health and B+ for schools.
The typical home is worth about $367,000, 11% below 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 C+.
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