Best PlacesFair Oaks, VA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Fair Oaks, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Fair Oaks ranks 57th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on population health by a wide margin, and noise is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Fair Oaks
BestNeighborhood is the only ranking that scores 40 measures of daily life neighborhood by neighborhood and lets you re-weight every one of them yourself.
Fair Oaks' strengths and weaknesses
Where Fair Oaks ranks high
- Health outlookBetter than 99% of cities
- Crime safetyBetter than 96% of cities
- Educational attainmentBetter than 95% of cities
- BikingBetter than 95% of cities
- School gradeA, better than 93% of cities
Where Fair Oaks ranks low
- QuietBetter than only 1% of cities
- Nice weatherabout 62 pleasant days a year, better than only 11% of cities
- Cheap childcare$1,512 a month, better than only 14% of cities
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 19% of cities
- Internet speedBetter than only 27% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Fair Oaks
A household needs to earn about $167,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Fair Oaks home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $140,828, so buying stretches a typical household.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment, a 6.6% 30-year fixed rate, and a 28% share of income going to the payment. The rate is the 2026-07-23 30-year fixed average, series MORTGAGE30US from the St. Louis Fed, which publishes Freddie Mac's weekly survey. Against the median home value, property tax uses Fair Oaks' effective rate of 0.96%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 10 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Fair Oaks
Fair Oaks runs younger than the country, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Fair Oaks.
Who works in Fair Oaks, and how
Work in Fair Oaks centers on professional & technical and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 65%
- Work from home 28%
- Transit, walk, or bike 7%
Life in Fair Oaks
Fair Oaks has more restaurants and bars per resident than 72% of cities and more parkland per resident than 85% of cities. The coast is about 22 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Fair Oaks and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Fair Oaks, month by month
Fair Oaks sees roughly 62 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 47, with lows near 25. The comfortable stretch runs April through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 47° | 36° | 25° |
| April | 71° | 57° | 44° |
| July | 91° | 79° | 67° |
| October | 73° | 60° | 47° |
Flying in and out of Fair Oaks
Washington Dulles International sits about 8 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 13.9 million passengers in 2025, with 200 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Fair Oaks
Schools across Fair Oaks average an A, better than 93% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Navy ElementaryA+ · 85% proficient
- Willow Springs ElementaryA+ · 80% proficient
- Fairfax Villa ElementaryA+ · 77% proficient
Top middle schools
- Rocky Run MiddleA+ · 88% proficient
- Frost MiddleA+ · 86% proficient
- Franklin MiddleA+ · 78% proficient
Top high schools
- Oakton HighA+ · 81% proficient
- Woodson HighA · 76% proficient
- Chantilly HighA · 75% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Fair Oaks school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Fair Oaks measure by measure
Cards are ordered by how much each measure matters to you, so the ones you weighted highest come first. Expand to see every measure. Percentages compare Fair Oaks against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Fair Oaks suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 72% of cities and 28% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Fair Oaks
Is Fair Oaks a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Fair Oaks ranks 57th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on population health, low crime, and an educated workforce, and lowest on noise and the weather. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Fair Oaks expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $623,541. The overall cost of living runs about 28% above the national average. Set against a $140,828 median income, cost of living beats 72% of cities.
Is Fair Oaks safe?
Yes, Fair Oaks is safer than 96% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $192 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Fair Oaks?
July highs average about 91 degrees, and January highs near 47 with lows near 25. That works out to about 62 pleasant days a year, more than 11% of cities.
Is Fair Oaks good for families?
Schools beat 93% of cities, crime safety beats 96%, and childcare runs $1,512 a month.
Compare Fair Oaks with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Fair Oaks. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Fair Oaks represents the same real quantity as a 60 anywhere else, and the ranking is a weighted average of those absolutes. The map colors come from a national scale calibrated against a population weighted random sample of 5,000 neighborhoods. That absolute scoring is what no other places-to-live ranking does: it puts a single neighborhood, a town, a metro, and a state on one scale, so the same 40 measures answer both which metro to move to and which street inside it to buy on. Read the full methodology.
Fair Oaks detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Fair Oaks: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Fair Oaks: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Fair Oaks: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Fair Oaks: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Fair Oaks detail on related sites:
- CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
- ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
- CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.
Federal and public data:
- U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey: income, home value, rent, vacancy, commute time and mode, educational attainment, home age, age structure, household type, industry, and race.
- NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
- FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
- FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
- U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
- FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
- CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
- National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
- FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
- Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.
Your priorities
Move a slider to say how much a measure matters. Zero turns it off.