Fairfax County, Virginia
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Fairfax County is one of the wealthiest jurisdictions in the United States. The median household income is 2.2 times Virginia's statewide figure. Poverty sits at 6.1%. Child poverty at 3.3%. The overall distress score of 26.6 places it in the bottom 5% nationally. Healthy zone, by a wide margin. Here's the part that's interesting. Even in Fairfax, 90% of the distress that does exist comes from a single domain. Housing Cost Burden scores 67.0 while every other domain sits below 28. Owner cost burden ranks at the 90th percentile nationally. In a county where incomes are among the highest in the country, nearly a third of homeowners are still spending more than 30% of income on housing. DC-area prices don't adjust for government salaries. Across the Potomac, the picture shifts fast. Prince George's County scores 58.1 (Elevated). The District itself hits 47.6. Fairfax's Virginia neighbors are healthier. Prince William manages 38.6, Alexandria 38.8. The county ranks 127th of 133 Virginia jurisdictions for distress. The wealth provides a cushion that housing costs alone can't overcome. But the fact that housing burden reaches the 90th percentile in the richest county in the DC metro says something about what the housing market is doing to everyone else.
The Numbers Behind the Score
The CDI measures five statistically derived factors of household financial distress, PCA-weighted. Fairfax County's primary driver is Housing Cost Burden at 73.0 — above the national median.
Scores are percentile-based: 50 = national median, higher = more distressed.
Neighbors and Peers
Neighboring Counties
| County | Score | Zone | vs. Fairfax County |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fairfax County, VA | 30.0 | Healthy | — |
| Prince George's County, MD | 73.5 | Serious | +43.5 |
| Charles County, MD | 61.4 | Elevated | +31.3 |
| District of Columbia, DC | 53.5 | Elevated | +23.4 |
| Prince William County, VA | 48.5 | Normal | +18.5 |
| Alexandria city, VA | 43.9 | Normal | +13.9 |
| Montgomery County, MD | 40.3 | Normal | +10.3 |
| Fairfax city, VA | 38.7 | Normal | +8.7 |
| Falls Church city, VA | 26.7 | Healthy | -3.3 |
| Loudoun County, VA | 25.1 | Healthy | -4.9 |
| Arlington County, VA | 23.5 | Healthy | -6.6 |
Population Peers
| County | Score | Zone | vs. Fairfax County |
|---|---|---|---|
| King County, WA | 31.4 | Healthy | +1.4 |
| Santa Clara County, CA | 27.6 | Healthy | -2.4 |
| Middlesex County, MA | 32.5 | Healthy | +2.4 |
| Nassau County, NY | 36.0 | Normal | +6.0 |
| Hennepin County, MN | 37.5 | Normal | +7.4 |
Download Data
Export all distress indicators for Fairfax County as a CSV file.
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