Fairfax is a city of 132,100 in Fairfax County, about 15 miles west of downtown Washington · Updated November 2026
How common is property crime in Fairfax?
Property crime in Fairfax sits near the national middle: an A-, with more property crime than the neighborhoods where 54% of Americans live. Theft makes up 76% of it. Burglary, the crime most likely to reach into a home, grades A+, and vehicle theft grades A.
A-
Property crime CrimeGrade™
Safety score 802 of 1,000About as much property crime as the typical US neighborhoodi What this means
46% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more property crime than Fairfax as a whole, and 54% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a property crime safety score of 823, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Fairfax scores 802.
Crime is concentrated in a small share of places, so most neighborhoods score high on the 0 to 1,000 scale. That is why a score in the 800s can still mean more property crime than most US neighborhoods.
How to read the map: each area's color compares its property crime with the homes, parked cars and people there, on one national scale, from green for the least to red for the most. Each area gets its own color, so a busy shopping center can show red while the homes beside it stay green. The interactive maps load faster on a strong connection. Compare high speed internet in Fairfax, VA at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Fairfax, and anyone thinking about buying or renting a home there.
Business and enterprise customers: this free map shows neighborhood areas. CrimeGrade™ business reports map crime at about 66-meter detail and estimate it for one address and type of business. See business reports
What stands out about property crime in Fairfax
Burglary is a strength. Fairfax grades A- for property crime, but burglary grades A+, better than in the neighborhoods where 79% of Americans live.
Thefts run high for a city with an A for property crime. Fairfax has 17.4 thefts a year per 1,000 residents; for the typical resident of a US city graded A for property crime, the figure is 8.1.
One part of Fairfax stands out for vehicle theft. Car thefts in Merrifield, in northeast Fairfax, run at about double the rate in the rest of the city.
Where property crime is lowest and highest in Fairfax
Every part of Fairfax where people live grades A or B for property crime on the national scale. Property crime grades across Fairfax run from A+ to B-.
100%
A or B 100%
Share of residents, by the property crime CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
1Maple Hill, southCar thefts run about 40% lower here than in the rest of Fairfax.A857
2Mantua, eastThefts run about 30% lower here than in the rest of Fairfax.A-834
3Merrifield, northeastClose to the rest of Fairfax on most crimes.B+759
4Country Club Hills & Fairfax Woods, centralCar thefts run about 30% higher here than in the rest of Fairfax.B+748
Neighborhood areas of Fairfax, ranked by property crime CrimeGrade™; beside each grade is its safety score, from 0 to 1,000 (higher is safer). Each one combines several of the smaller areas on the map.
Property crime rates and types in Fairfax
CrimeGrade™ estimates Fairfax has about 23 reported property crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, about the same as the US as a whole and close to Virginia.
All property crime
Burglary
Vehicle theft
Reported crimes a year, per 1,000 residents. Property crime here includes vandalism, which the FBI's property crime rate leaves out.
Theft is the most common property crime in Fairfax, about 76% of the total, followed by vandalism and vehicle theft.
Each CrimeGrade™ here compares a property crime with what it affects: homes for burglary and arson, parked cars for vehicle theft, people and parking for theft, homes and businesses for vandalism. Rates count crimes per 1,000 residents.
Select a crime's name to see its map above. CrimeGrade™ business reports map each crime at about 66-meter detail.
Where and when property crime happens in Fairfax
Fairfax has its own police department, and these figures come from its reports, 2022 to 2024.
In Fairfax, 35% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally. Car thefts happen most often in parking lots and garages: 61% of them, against 23% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Stores and businesses (57%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Car theft
Parking lots and garages (61%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Theft from cars
Parking lots and garages (68%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Vandalism
Parking lots and garages (30%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Shares of the crimes reported to police, 2022 to 2024. Reports with no time recorded are left out of the times.
Property crime in Fairfax and nearby cities
Fairfax has more property crime than 8 of its 10 nearest cities. Wolf Trap and Clifton have the least property crime nearby.
Among the traits that tend to go with property crime, two set Fairfax apart: it has 1.7% of its homes standing empty, against 7.1% nationally, and 14 buses and trains an hour at the evening rush, where most Americans have none nearby. It also combines many jobs with busy transit: places with both tend to report more theft than places with only one of them, and it runs high here.
Empty homesSeasonal and vacation homes are left out. Places with many empty homes tend to report more burglary, vandalism and arson.1.7% of homesUS: 7.1%Lower than for 97% of US city residents
Transit serviceBuses and trains an hour at the evening rush. Places with busy transit tend to report more theft. BestNeighborhood's Transit Grade for Fairfax: D+ (20 of 100).14 trips an hourUS: noneHigher than for 89% of US city residents
Walk GradeBestNeighborhood's grade for getting through daily life on foot, traced along real walking routes to shops, schools and parks. Walkable places tend to report more theft. 71% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.D+ (24 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 71% of US city residents
Show all 6
Parking lotsBig lots at stores, offices and apartment complexes. Places with more lot space tend to report more theft.0.9 spaces per residentUS: 2.0Lower than for 79% of US city residents
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft.58 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Higher than for 73% of US city residents
Residents in dense blocksBlocks of 10,000 or more people per square mile. Dense neighborhoods tend to report more car theft.31% of residentsUS: 24%Higher than for 69% of US city residents
BestNeighborhood, a sister site of CrimeGrade™, ranks the neighborhoods of Fairfax on shops, parks, home prices, getting around and more.
These traits tend to go with more or less crime; none of them causes it on its own. Sources: Census job counts and housing figures, OpenStreetMap and Overture business listings, CrimeGrade™ parking estimates, NASA night-light imagery, US Forest Service tree cover, EPA transit data and BestNeighborhood's Walk Grade.
What property crime costs Fairfax
Property crime costs Fairfax about $18 million a year, or $137 per resident and about $396 per household: the value of what is stolen or damaged, plus the police, courts and prisons that respond.
Cost of property crime per resident, per year
How the cost breaks down
Pain and suffering add little to the cost of property crime, so this is close to its full cost.
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Burglary
$540,000
$4
Theft
$12 million
$90
Vehicle theft
$2.1 million
$16
Arson
$22,000
under $1
Vandalism
$3.7 million
$28
Total
$18 million
$137
How CrimeGrade™ works
The property crime CrimeGrade™ covers burglary, theft, car theft, arson and vandalism, from A+ for the least crime to F for the most, on one scale for the whole country.
It weighs each property crime against what it affects: homes for burglary and arson, parked cars for car theft, and the people and parking around stores for theft.
The rates on this page count crimes for every 1,000 people who live here, the way police departments report them.
Comparisons with US neighborhoods use the Census Bureau's block groups, small areas of about 1,400 residents, and count the people who live in each. The figures count crimes reported to police; many crimes, shoplifting above all, never are. Behind the grades, CrimeGrade™ tested 21,607 factors from 125 data families. For business owners, paid CrimeGrade™ location reports estimate crime at a single address for each type of business.
Where the numbers come from
Crime reports that police departments file with the FBI
State crime records and city crime data, where they are published
Published research on what crime costs victims and communities
These are estimates of reported crime for whole areas, not a record of what happened on any one street. CrimeGrade™ updates them once a year and provides them free and without guarantee. Check local sources before you rely on them for a decision.
