In Fairfax County, Virginia, high-income earners are more likely to work from home, while low-income earners are more likely to drive alone, showing polarization in commuting methods by income level.
Local media outlet FFXNOW analysed the “2025 Commuting Status Report” recently released by the Council of Local Governments (COG) and reported that high-income Fairfax County residents earning over $250,000 a year worked from home 25.8% of the time, while low-income residents earning under $80,000 a year did so only 10% of the time.
According to the outlet, there was also a clear gap in commuting methods by income level, with high-income residents driving their own vehicles only 51.4% of the time, while low-income residents drove themselves 70.6% of the time. While there were
differences in commuting methods such as subway, carpooling, and walking, the gap was not as large as the difference in telecommuting and driving alone. The Washington Regional Council of Governments explained the significant differences in commuting methods by income level as “because higher-income jobs often allow for telecommuting, and the high dependence of low-income people on their own cars is a common pattern seen throughout the region.”
The survey found that Fairfax County residents have a relatively good average commute time compared to neighbouring areas. The average one-way commute time for Fairfax workers was 35.57 minutes, the third shortest in the region after Arlington (31.04 minutes) and Washington, D.C. (33.01 minutes). Meanwhile, Charles County (63.48 minutes) and Calvert County (56.2 minutes) in Maryland had the longest commute times.
Meanwhile, the survey, conducted every three years, surveyed approximately 7,500 commuters from March to June of last year.