Reston, Virginia
Area Profile
64,414 residents. Public schools, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Reston, in Fairfax County.
Missing required signals: opportunity, growth. AreaProfile withholds a score rather than inferring the missing dimensions.
In the public schools here, 55% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 12.6 students for every teacher.
Natural-hazard exposure is lower than in most comparable published city profiles, placing Reston in the top 24% for physical resilience.
A major airport is 6 miles away, giving the area unusually direct access to the national air network.
At a glance
Jobs & opportunity
72% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 97% of measured US cities.
Household income is higher than at least 95% of measured US cities.
| Metric | Value | Compared with peers | Source period |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income ±$8,441 | $148,710 | Top 5% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Per capita income ±$3,157 | $81,656 | Top 4% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Poverty rate | 5.7% | Bottom 27% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Average commute | 28.4 min | Top 41% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Bachelor's degree or higher | 72.0% | Top 3% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Labor force participation | 74.0% | Top 10% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Mean annual wage | $91,930 | Top 6% | 2025 OEWS |
| Median annual wage | $71,060 | Top 8% | 2025 OEWS |
| Occupation | People employed | Median annual wage |
|---|---|---|
| General and Operations Managers | 112,530 | $156,460 |
| Business Operations Specialists, All Other | 76,600 | $104,770 |
| Software Developers | 69,060 | $154,930 |
| Retail Salespersons | 66,920 | $36,610 |
| Management Analysts | 62,360 | $126,830 |
| Fast Food and Counter Workers | 60,560 | $34,600 |
Occupational employment and wages are published for metropolitan areas rather than for individual cities or ZIP areas, so these describe the wider labor market this location sits in. 2025 OEWS, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Schools
How it’s calculated →55% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 69% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.
There are 12.6 students for every full-time teacher, fewer than in most measured places.
| School | District | Students | Per teacher | Math | Reading |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| South Lakes High | Fairfax County Public Schools | 2,434 | 11.7 | — | — |
| Hughes Middle | Fairfax County Public Schools | 1,012 | 13.9 | 61% | 75% |
| Dogwood Elementary | Fairfax County Public Schools | 745 | 12.6 | 22% | 33% |
| Hunters Woods Elementary School for the Arts and Sciences | Fairfax County Public Schools | 726 | 16.1 | 69% | 76% |
| Lake Anne Elementary | Fairfax County Public Schools | 616 | 13.7 | 38% | 61% |
| Terraset Elementary | Fairfax County Public Schools | 598 | 13.0 | 52% | 77% |
| Sunrise Valley Elementary | Fairfax County Public Schools | 558 | 13.6 | 74% | 84% |
| Aldrin Elementary | Fairfax County Public Schools | 455 | 10.8 | 69% | 82% |
| Forest Edge Elementary | Fairfax County Public Schools | 454 | 11.6 | 56% | 63% |
| Armstrong Elementary | Fairfax County Public Schools | 357 | 10.2 | 65% | 81% |
41.3% of students here are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. That describes the circumstances families arrive with rather than how the schools perform, which is why AreaProfile shows it and does not score it.
Public schools only, from the NCES Common Core of Data. Schools are placed by ZIP code, so this is which schools are in this place rather than which one a particular address is zoned for — district boundaries do not follow municipal ones, and enrollment zones change. Fully virtual schools are excluded: they enroll students from across the state while reporting one administrative address, and counting them here would describe a school population this place does not have. The assessment covers grades 3 through 8, so a high school shows no proficiency figure — a dash in those columns means the test was not given at that school, not that it performed badly. Proficiency is measured against Virginia’s own standard, so it compares cleanly within the state and only broadly against other states; AreaProfile therefore ranks it within state. The directory is current, while the proficiency figures are from the last school year with national coverage before the pandemic interrupted testing.
Housing & affordability
How it’s calculated →Median rent of $2,231 takes 18% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.
A median home costs 4.3 times median household income here, above the historic benchmark of about three times income.
| Metric | Value | Compared with peers | Source period |
|---|---|---|---|
| Home price to income | 4.32 | Top 22% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Homeownership rate | 60.6% | Bottom 21% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Housing units ±841 | 30,485 | Top 2% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Median gross rent ±$54 | $2,231 | Top 6% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Median home value ±$15,234 | $642,000 | Top 7% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Rent as a share of income | 18.0% | Bottom 46% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Vacancy rate | 5.9% | Bottom 33% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
Both affordability measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with, so the comparison is like for like. They describe housing cost against local earnings and are not a cost-of-living index — transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not included, and a place can look affordable here and still be expensive to live in for reasons this does not capture.
Growth & development
How it’s calculated →No building-permit activity is published for this location by the Census Building Permits Survey.
Weather & climate
7 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 88°F and January a low of 25°F.
Normal annual precipitation is 43.2 inches, including 21.0 inches of snow.
| Metric | Value | Source period |
|---|---|---|
| Annual precipitation | 43.2" | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Annual snowfall | 21.0" | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Average January low | 25°F | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Average July high | 88°F | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Comfortable months | 7 | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Seasonal temperature swing | 43°F | 1991-2020 Normals |
Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. They describe what a typical year looks like rather than what the weather is doing today.
Physical risk
The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are hurricane, cold wave and drought.
Low or minimal exposure: winter weather, lightning, heat wave, inland flooding, strong wind, hail, earthquake, ice storm, tornado, coastal flooding, wildfire.
Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA publishes at county level. City values are the population-weighted mean of the counties the city overlaps, using AreaProfile place-to-county land-area weights. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.
What this profile does not cover
Three things people look for are missing from every AreaProfile page, and each is missing for a reason rather than by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them and the weighting is documented on the methodology page.
- Crime
- The FBI’s Crime Data Explorer is the only source with national coverage and a published method, and it requires an API key AreaProfile does not hold. Arrest counts, news volume and commercial “safety scores” are not substituted in the meantime. Reported crime is also easy to misread: agency participation varies year to year, and a city that draws a large daytime workforce carries incidents its residents did not generate.
- Taxes
- No tax dataset has met the source admission test for coverage, transparent methodology and update cadence. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
- Full cost of living
- No public source publishes one with national coverage and a documented method. Housing affordability above is computed from published rent, price and income, and excludes transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes — commuting cost in particular tends to offset suburban housing savings.
Access
4 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest 6 miles away.
| Airport | Code | Distance | Longest runway |
|---|---|---|---|
| Washington Dulles Intl | IAD | 6 mi | 11,500 ft |
| Baltimore/Washington Intl Thurgood Marshall | BWI | 40 mi | 10,503 ft |
| Harrisburg Intl | MDT | 91 mi | 10,001 ft |
Airport identity, position and runway data come from the FAA. “Major airport” is an AreaProfile classification — a public-use civil airport with a paved runway of at least 8,000 feet — not an FAA hub designation. Distances are straight-line, not driving distance.
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Other cities in Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV
Same metropolitan area, measured the same way| City | County | Population | Area Score | Compare |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Washington | District of Columbia | 681,294 | 65 | vs Reston |
| Arlington | Arlington County | 236,254 | — | vs Reston |
| Alexandria | Alexandria city | 156,976 | 61 | vs Reston |
| Germantown | Montgomery County | 90,719 | — | vs Reston |
| Frederick | Frederick County | 83,395 | 70 | vs Reston |
| Waldorf | Charles County | 82,943 | — | vs Reston |
| Silver Spring | Montgomery County | 81,462 | — | vs Reston |
| Centreville | Fairfax County | 71,706 | — | vs Reston |
| Dale City | Prince William County | 71,016 | — | vs Reston |
| Gaithersburg | Montgomery County | 69,825 | 68 | vs Reston |
| Bethesda | Montgomery County | 69,397 | — | vs Reston |
| Rockville | Montgomery County | 67,671 | 71 | vs Reston |
Every city here is measured on the same scale from the same source releases, so the comparison is like for like. A higher Area Score reflects AreaProfile’s standardized weighting rather than a judgment about which is the better place to live.
Similar places
Matched on AreaProfile signals, not geographyCompare
Put Reston side by side with a similar place.
Data & methodology
| Used for | Source | Source period | Updated |
|---|---|---|---|
| Access | Federal Aviation Administration Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service | NASR current cycle | 28-day NASR cycle |
| Physical risk | Federal Emergency Management Agency National Risk Index | National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0) | Periodic dataset versions (v1.20.0 current) |
| Climate | NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly) | 1991-2020 Normals | Every ten years (next release follows the 2001–2030 period) |
| Jobs | U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics | 2025 OEWS | Annual (spring release) |
| Demographics, Housing, Income, Jobs | U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File) | 2024 ACS 5-Year | Annual (5-year estimates released each December) |
| schools | U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments | 2019-20 school year; 2024-25 school year | Directory annually; assessment results as EDFacts releases them |
Profile recalculated August 30, 2026. Recalculation is not the same as new source data — each figure above shows the period its source actually covers. Read the full methodology or browse every source.