Fairfax County, officially the County of Fairfax, is located in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. Part of Northern Virginia, Fairfax County borders both the City of Alexandria and Arlington County and forms part of the suburban ring of Washington, D.C. The county is thus predominantly suburban in character, with some urban and rural pockets.
As of the 2010 census, the population was 1,081,726.[1] In 2019, it was estimated at 1,147,532,[2] making it the Commonwealth’s most populous jurisdiction, with around 13% of Virginia’s population. The county is also the most populous jurisdiction in the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV Metropolitan Statistical Area, with around 20% of the MSA population, as well as the larger Washington-Baltimore-Arlington, DC-MD-VA-WV-PA Combined Statistical Area, with around 13% of the CSA population. The county seat is Fairfax, although because it is an independent city under Virginia law, the city of Fairfax is not part of Fairfax County.[3]
Fairfax was the first U.S. county to reach a six-figure median household income and has the second-highest median household income of any county-level local jurisdiction in the United States after neighboring Loudoun County.[4][5]
The county is home to the headquarters of intelligence agencies such as the Central Intelligence Agency, National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, and National Reconnaissance Office, as well as the National Counterterrorism Center and Office of the Director of National Intelligence. The county is also home to seven Fortune 500 companies, including three with Falls Church addresses; although Falls Church is its own independent municipality.[6]