Sign inJoin
Work & commute in Fairwood · A commuter town

99% of Fairwood’s working residents leave town for work

Most working residents leave Fairwood for work: only 1% work in town. The top destinations are Washington (26%), Baltimore (3%) and Bowie (3%). Half commute less than 13 miles.

Work in town
1%
47 of 3,316 working residents
Typical commute
13 mi
half travel less, straight-line
Time each way
39 min
More than MD (31 min)
Work from home
35%
More than MD (19%)
Jobs based here
589
A commuter town
Work out of state
25%
mostly District of Columbia

What kind of work town is Fairwood?

Read from the numbers below. The page puts what stands out first.

★ What stands out · The commute map

26% of working residents work in Washington

A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.

Washington: 872 residents work here (26%)BladensburgFederalsburgCollege Park: 61 residents work here (2%)Greenbelt: 53 residents work here (2%)EastonBowie: 101 residents work here (3%)Baltimore: 110 residents work here (3%)FairwoodLake Arbor: 74 residents work here (2%)MitchellvilleWoodmoreGlenn DaleBeltsville: 58 residents work here (2%)Maryland CityRosaryvilleBethesda: 101 residents work here (3%)WaldorfColumbia: 81 residents work here (2%)Arlington: 72 residents work here (2%)WashingtonBaltimoreBowieBethesdaColumbiaLake ArborFairwood
1
Washington, DC13.4 mi away
26%872
2
Baltimore25.5 mi away
3%110
3
Bowie2 mi away
3%101
4
Bethesda18.5 mi away
3%101
5
Columbia17.6 mi away
2%81
6
Lake Arbor4.4 mi away
2%74
7
Arlington, VA18.2 mi away
2%72
8
College Park9.1 mi away
2%61
9
Beltsville9.7 mi away
2%58
10
Greenbelt6.5 mi away
2%53
Everywhere elseother towns and states
52%1,733
The top trips

Where Fairwood clocks in

Lines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.

Time on the road

About 39 minutes each way, longer than most of Maryland

From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.

A year of commuting
301 hours

Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 12.5 full days in the car, bus or train.

Average commute minutes, one way

Fairwood39 min
Maryland31 min
U.S.26 min
Working from home
35%

of Fairwood workers work from home, vs 19% across Maryland. Their commute is the hallway.

About 3 in 10

How Fairwood ranks on commute time →

The jobs

What the 589 jobs in Fairwood are

589 jobs are based in Fairwood. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Fairwood’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in FairwoodJobs Fairwood residents hold

What kind of work

Goods: factories, building, farms2%5%
Trade, transport & utilities28%13%
Services: health, schools, offices70%82%

What it pays

$1,250 a month or less24%9%
$1,251–$3,333 a month38%16%
Over $3,333 a month38%75%

Who does it

29 or younger27%15%
30 to 5447%54%
55 and older26%31%
+42%

Jobs based in Fairwood, 2013 → 2023: 415 → 589. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.

Primary jobs covered by unemployment insurance (not the self-employed). Pay is monthly earnings. LEHD 2023.

Day and night

Fairwood quiets down on a workday

On a workday 3,269 residents head out to work, 47 work right here, and 542 people come in from elsewhere.

3,269live here, work elsewhere
47live and work here
542work here, live elsewhere
Night and day
At night7,500
Workday4,800
7,500live here− 3,300head out to work+ 540come in to work= 4,800on a workday

About 4,800 people are in Fairwood on a workday afternoon, 36% fewer than live here.

Job hub or commuter town?
0.18jobs per workerCommuter townJob hub

0.18 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.

Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.

How far

Half of Fairwood commutes less than 13 miles

Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.

10 mi25 mi30 miWashington: 26% · 13.4 miBaltimore: 3% · 25.5 miBowie: 3% · 2 miBethesda: 3% · 18.5 miColumbia: 2% · 17.6 miLake Arbor: 2% · 4.4 miArlington: 2% · 18.2 miCollege Park: 2% · 9.1 miBeltsville: 2% · 9.7 miGreenbelt: 2% · 6.5 miBaltimore 3%Bowie 3%Bethesda 3%Columbia 2%Fairwood
FairwoodTop destinations (size = commuters)
26%Under 10 mi853 residents
61%10–24 mi2,019 residents
10%25–50 mi323 residents
3%Over 50 mi93 residents

Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.

Next door

Fairwood and the towns next door

The biggest share goes to Bowie (3%). Darker towns draw more of Fairwood’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.

How to read these numbers

What this data can and can’t tell you

  • Every worker, home to work. The Census links each worker’s home block to their main job’s block, for jobs covered by unemployment insurance. That’s most jobs, but not the self-employed.
  • Where the employer says. A job counts where the employer reports it. Some big employers report one address for many sites, which can make a few commutes look longer than they are.
  • Two surveys. Flows, distances and jobs: LEHD 2023. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: the Census American Community Survey.
  • Straight lines. Distances are as the crow flies between home and work. Roads, rivers and traffic make the real trip longer.
Beyond the commute

More of Fairwood

Fairwood home →

Commuter talk

Getting to work from Fairwood, from the people who make the trip.

Town Square →
Weigh in
Is the commute from Fairwood worth it?

Your answer becomes a post in Town Square.

Ask neighbors

Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Distances are straight lines between home and work; real drives run longer.

Post to Fairwood

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in