Best PlacesFairfax, VA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in the Fairfax area, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Fairfax ranks 3rd of 445 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. Paychecks stretch further here than almost anywhere else: the median household brings in $163,047, wages outrun the cost of living, and good schools ranks near the top of the country. The main drawbacks are the weather, fast internet, and state finances.
The best neighborhoods in Fairfax
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.
The best areas in Fairfax
The parts of Fairfax, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first.
Southwestern Fairfax
Maple Hill
Merrifield
Mantua
Western Fairfax
Country Club Hills & Fairfax Woods
Northern Fairfax
Scores across Fairfax run from about the 55th to the 100th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Fairfax's strengths and weaknesses
Fairfax ranks where it does because the parts of life that are hardest to change mostly work here. Few empty homes, low crime, and good schools are the strongest pieces.
The drawbacks are real but narrow. The weather, fast internet, and state finances hold the score down. The detail is below, and the map is where it turns into a choice of neighborhood rather than just a place.
Where Fairfax ranks high
- Low vacancyBetter than 99% of cities
- Crime safetyBetter than 99% of cities
- School gradeA, better than 99% of cities
- Household income$163,047 median, better than 98% of cities
- Healthcare accessBetter than 98% of cities
Where Fairfax ranks low
- Nice weatherabout 62 pleasant days a year, better than only 7% of cities
- Internet speedBetter than only 12% of cities
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 12% of cities
- Cheap childcare$1,512 a month, better than only 13% of cities
- Cell coverageBetter than only 16% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Fairfax
A household needs to earn about $210,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Fairfax home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $163,047, so buying stretches a typical household.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment and a 6.8% 30-year fixed rate. The rate updates weekly from Freddie Mac; property tax uses Fairfax's effective rate against the median home value.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first ten years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Fairfax
Fairfax runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Fairfax.
Who works in Fairfax, and how
Work in Fairfax centers on professional & technical and education. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 60%
- Work from home 30%
- Transit, walk, or bike 10%
Life in Fairfax
Fairfax has more restaurants and bars per resident than 80% of cities and more parkland per resident than 92% of cities. The coast is about 21 minutes away. The map and measures below show how they vary by area.
What the weather is like in Fairfax, month by month
Fairfax sees roughly 62 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 47, with lows near 25. Spring and fall carry most of the comfortable stretch.
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 Fairfax
Washington Dulles International sits about 10 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 Fairfax
Schools across Fairfax average an A+, better than 99% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Navy ElementaryA+ · 85% proficient
- Greenbriar West ElementaryA+ · 82% proficient
- Wakefield Forest ElementaryA+ · 82% proficient
Top middle schools
- Carson MiddleA+ · 88% proficient
- Rocky Run MiddleA+ · 88% proficient
- Frost MiddleA+ · 86% proficient
Top high schools
- Lake Braddock SecondaryA+ · 83% proficient
- Oakton HighA+ · 81% proficient
- Madison HighA+ · 80% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Fairfax school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Fairfax 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 Fairfax against the other 444 cities.
Who Fairfax suits
Families
Schools beat 99% of the country and crime runs low. Compare neighborhoods on the map for the best fit.
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 91% of cities and 30% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Fairfax
Is Fairfax a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Fairfax ranks 3rd of 445 cities. It scores highest on few empty homes, low crime, and good schools, and lowest on the weather and fast internet. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Fairfax expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $777,260. The overall cost of living runs about 31% above the national average. Set against a $163,047 median income, cost of living beats 91% of cities.
Is Fairfax safe?
Yes, Fairfax is safer than 99% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $219 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Fairfax?
July highs average about 91 degrees, and January highs near 47 with lows near 25. The area gets its pleasant stretches in spring and fall.
What are the best neighborhoods in Fairfax?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Southwestern Fairfax, Maple Hill, and Merrifield. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Fairfax good for families?
Schools beat 99% of cities, and safety is best away from the urban core. Home prices are usually the catch in the strongest school areas.
Is Fairfax good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 91% of cities, and internet is widely advertised, so a big-employer salary stretches further here.
Compare Fairfax with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Fairfax. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Fairfax 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.
Fairfax detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Fairfax: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Fairfax: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Fairfax: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Fairfax: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Fairfax 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.