Fairfax vs Mount Vernon

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

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

Mount Vernon has the higher population (4,551 vs 2,865 in Fairfax). Fairfax has the higher median household income ($120,552 vs $106,356 in Mount Vernon). Fairfax has the higher median home value ($278,800 vs $256,900 in Mount Vernon).

Population, income & housing

	Fairfax	Mount Vernon
Population	2,865	4,551
Median age	37.1 yrs	23.7 yrs
Median household income	$120,552	$106,356
Median home value	$278,800	$256,900
Median gross rent	$1,188	$802
Housing units	1,009	1,280
Homeownership rate	93.2%	87.6%
Bachelor's degree or higher	36.9%	49.5%
Unemployment rate	1.7%	5.4%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Fairfax	Mount Vernon
Population	2,680 → 2,865 (+6.9%)	4,451 → 4,551 (+2.2%)
Median household income	$97,643 → $120,552 (+23.5%)	$71,552 → $106,356 (+48.6%)
Median home value	$221,400 → $278,800 (+25.9%)	$203,400 → $256,900 (+26.3%)
Median gross rent	$1,375 → $1,188 (-13.6%)	$757 → $802 (+5.9%)

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

Mount Vernon

Population

4,4514,551

Median household income

$71,552$106,356

Median home value

$203,400$256,900

Median gross rent

$757$802

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Fairfax	Mount Vernon
Under 5	10.0%	3.8%
5 to 17	19.9%	22.1%
18 to 24	5.7%	24.8%
25 to 34	12.6%	5.2%
35 to 44	14.5%	13.2%
45 to 54	13.8%	9.4%
55 to 64	12.9%	11.6%
65 to 74	7.0%	5.0%
75 and over	3.7%	4.8%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Fairfax	Mount Vernon
White (non-Hispanic)	87.2%	92.2%
Black or African American	2.9%	1.8%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.1%	0.2%
Asian	0.6%	1.2%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.5%	0.5%
Two or more races	3.2%	0.7%
Hispanic or Latino	5.5%	3.4%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Fairfax	Mount Vernon
No high school diploma	2.9%	6.2%
High school graduate	24.4%	14.6%
Some college or associate's	35.8%	29.8%
Bachelor's degree	25.5%	29.5%
Graduate or professional degree	11.4%	20.0%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Fairfax	Mount Vernon
Drove alone	74.3%	64.0%
Carpooled	5.0%	4.8%
Public transit	0.8%	0.0%
Walked	0.0%	10.6%
Bicycle	0.0%	0.0%
Worked from home	20.0%	20.6%
Other means	0.0%	0.0%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Fairfax	Mount Vernon
1-unit, detached	72.1%	78.8%
1-unit, attached	21.3%	2.7%
2 to 4 units	4.0%	4.9%
5 to 19 units	2.7%	9.2%
20 or more units	0.0%	0.0%
Mobile home & other	0.0%	4.3%

Poverty & households

	Fairfax	Mount Vernon
Poverty rate	5.1%	6.2%
Average household size	2.91	2.97
Mean commute (minutes)	25	21
Median year structure built	2004	1975