Fairfax vs Marion

A side-by-side comparison of Fairfax and Marion: population, income, housing, and more.

Fairfax and Marion are places in Iowa. This page compares them across population, income, housing, education, commuting, and how each has changed since 2019.

Marion has the higher population (41,690 vs 2,865 in Fairfax). Fairfax has the higher median household income ($120,552 vs $87,105 in Marion). Fairfax has the higher median home value ($278,800 vs $230,800 in Marion).

Population, income & housing

	Fairfax	Marion
Population	2,865	41,690
Median age	37.1 yrs	40.4 yrs
Median household income	$120,552	$87,105
Median home value	$278,800	$230,800
Median gross rent	$1,188	$978
Housing units	1,009	17,680
Homeownership rate	93.2%	77.5%
Bachelor's degree or higher	36.9%	39.2%
Unemployment rate	1.7%	3.4%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Fairfax	Marion
Population	2,680 → 2,865 (+6.9%)	39,328 → 41,690 (+6.0%)
Median household income	$97,643 → $120,552 (+23.5%)	$72,150 → $87,105 (+20.7%)
Median home value	$221,400 → $278,800 (+25.9%)	$168,700 → $230,800 (+36.8%)
Median gross rent	$1,375 → $1,188 (-13.6%)	$725 → $978 (+34.9%)

Fairfax

Population

2,6802,865

Median household income

$97,643$120,552

Median home value

$221,400$278,800

Median gross rent

$1,375$1,188

Marion

Population

39,32841,690

Median household income

$72,150$87,105

Median home value

$168,700$230,800

Median gross rent

$725$978

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Fairfax	Marion
Under 5	10.0%	7.0%
5 to 17	19.9%	17.8%
18 to 24	5.7%	5.0%
25 to 34	12.6%	12.8%
35 to 44	14.5%	15.3%
45 to 54	13.8%	12.6%
55 to 64	12.9%	11.3%
65 to 74	7.0%	10.6%
75 and over	3.7%	7.5%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Fairfax	Marion
White (non-Hispanic)	87.2%	88.6%
Black or African American	2.9%	2.7%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.1%	0.1%
Asian	0.6%	1.8%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.1%
Some other race	0.5%	0.2%
Two or more races	3.2%	3.4%
Hispanic or Latino	5.5%	3.2%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Fairfax	Marion
No high school diploma	2.9%	2.9%
High school graduate	24.4%	24.5%
Some college or associate's	35.8%	33.4%
Bachelor's degree	25.5%	27.7%
Graduate or professional degree	11.4%	11.5%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Fairfax	Marion
Drove alone	74.3%	74.2%
Carpooled	5.0%	5.9%
Public transit	0.8%	1.0%
Walked	0.0%	1.1%
Bicycle	0.0%	0.1%
Worked from home	20.0%	16.5%
Other means	0.0%	1.3%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Fairfax	Marion
1-unit, detached	72.1%	65.1%
1-unit, attached	21.3%	9.4%
2 to 4 units	4.0%	6.0%
5 to 19 units	2.7%	9.8%
20 or more units	0.0%	5.4%
Mobile home & other	0.0%	4.3%

Poverty & households

	Fairfax	Marion
Poverty rate	5.1%	7.0%
Average household size	2.91	2.47
Mean commute (minutes)	25	19
Median year structure built	2004	1992