This project explores labor markets in Fairfax County, VA to better understand the landscape and barriers to economic opportunity for the county’s residents, businesses, and places. With particular attention to post-COVID socioeconomic circumstances, the team used local, state, and federal data sources to (1) provide a census tract-level characterization of the Fairfax County workforce, occupation sectors, and industry composition; (2) explore how this landscape may change post-pandemic and identify vulnerable areas, as well as areas that are or have the potential to create emerging businesses/new industries; (3) map workforce flows within and in/out of Fairfax County by select employment factors and explore scenarios of post-pandemic change in workforce flows.

The project allows our sponsor to better understand the landscape and barriers to economic opportunity for the county’s residents, businesses, and places, one of the goals of Fairfax County’s strategic plan. In light of the current pandemic, it allows the county to identify the current characteristics of its resident and commuting labor force, the characteristics of its businesses and industries, the geographic and temporal flows between them, and how this landscape may change after covid. These insights can help shape post-pandemic employment, transportation, and housing policy and program development as well as serve as a baseline for future change across the county.