About Fairfax

The City of Fairfax ( FAIR-faks), colloquially known as Fairfax City, Downtown Fairfax, Old Town Fairfax, Fairfax Courthouse, FFX, or simply Fairfax, is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. At the 2010 census the population was 22,565, which had risen to 24,146 at the 2020 census.The City of Fairfax is an enclave surrounded by the separate political entity Fairfax County. Fairfax City also contains an exclave of Fairfax County, the Fairfax County Court annex, which includes the Courthouse, Adult and Juvenile Detention Centers. The City of Fairfax and the area immediately surrounding the historical border of the City of Fairfax, collectively designated by Fairfax County as "Fairfax", comprise the county seat of Fairfax County. The city is part of the Washington metropolitan area as well as a part of Northern Virginia.