Fairfax County

Fairfax County, Virginia
County
County of Fairfax
The Fairfax County Courthouse at Fairfax in 2010.
Flag Seal Logo
Nickname(s): "Fairfax"
Location in the U.S. state of Virginia
Virginia's location in the U.S.
Founded	June 19, 1742
Named for	Thomas Fairfax, 6th Lord Fairfax of Cameron
Seat	Fairfax1
Largest town	Herndon
Area
• Total	406 sq mi (1,052 km2)
• Land	391 sq mi (1,013 km2)
• Water	15 sq mi (39 km2), 3.8%
Population (est.)
• (2015)	1,142,234
• Density	2,813/sq mi (1,086/km²)
Congressional districts	8th, 10th, 11th
Time zone	Eastern: UTC-5/-4
Website	www.fairfaxcounty.gov
Footnotes: 1 Administrative and court offices are located in unincorporated areas in Fairfax County

Fairfax County, officially the County of Fairfax, is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia.

As of the 2010 census, the population was 1,081,726, in 2015, it was estimated at 1,142,234, making it the Commonwealth's most populous jurisdiction, with 13.6% 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 19.8% of the MSA population, as well as the larger Washington-Baltimore-Arlington, DC-MD-VA-WV-PA Combined Statistical Area, with 13.1% of the CSA population. The county seat is the City of Fairfax, though because it is an independent city under Virginia law, the city of Fairfax is not part of Fairfax County.

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 local jurisdiction in the United States after neighbor Loudoun County.

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.