Countywide

Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology (TJ) has been ranked the fifth best high school in the county and the first in Virginia in a new U.S. News & World Report ranking.

Released on Tuesday (Aug. 19), the ranking highlighted the magnet school’s unique, STEM-focused program offerings and amenities, including its 15 specialized research labs, courses like DNA science and advanced marine biology, and a student-led academic journal.


Countywide

A ranking of localities by their bicycle-friendliness has Fairfax City near the top in Virginia.

The City of Fairfax came in seventh place in Virginia in PeopleForBikes’ 2025 ranking of cities, which were released in mid-June. Fairfax came in 22nd across the south as a whole, and 286th in the U.S.


News

Three Fairfax County-based businesses have made a list of the top 100 firms nationally where young Americans would be willing to work free for a year, in hopes of landing a full-time position.

Tysons-based Capital One placed 39th on the ranking, with Tysons’ Hilton coming in at #46 and Vienna-based Navy Federal Credit Union #55.


News

Three of the best places to live in the country can be found in Fairfax County, according to one recently released ranking.

U.S. News and World Report included Burke, Reston and Centreville on its 2025-2026 list of the Top 250 Best Places to Live in the U.S., with the first two taking first and second place, respectively, among Virginia localities.


Countywide

Fairfax has scored a Top 5 spot on a ranking of the healthiest counties in the U.S.

The 2025 Niche rankings released last week found that Fairfax County is the fifth healthiest county in the country based on a review of 2,764 counties.


Around Town

Washingtonian’s annual ranking of the “100 Very Best Restaurants” in the D.C. region has arrived, and several Fairfax spots made the cut, both from the county and the city.

Joon, the high-end Persian restaurant that chefs Najmieh Batmanglij and Christopher Morgan opened in Tysons in 2023, once again led the way, coming in at no. 24 — one notch down from its placement on the 2024 list.


Around Town

More than half of Northern Virginia’s top 10 restaurants can be found in Fairfax — either the county or the city, according to one regional magazine.

In its November issue, which hit newsstands last week, Northern Virginia Magazine released its annual ranking of the region’s 50 Best Restaurants, as determined by its four food critics. A few Fairfax establishments have become permanent fixtures, but the 2024 list also includes some first-timers and comebacks.


Around Town

The Washington Post has a new round-up of dining recommendations for the D.C. region, and two Fairfax County establishments made the cut.

Newington’s Afghan Bistro and Neutral Ground Bar and Kitchen in McLean are among the “40 Best Restaurants In and Around D.C.,” says the newspaper’s longtime food critic Tom Sietsema, whose annual fall dining guide published yesterday (Wednesday).


Countywide

The superintendent of Fairfax County Public Schools is the second-most influential person in Northern Virginia — just behind occasional-FCPS-critic Gov. Glenn Youngkin, according to a new ranking.

Northern Virginia Magazine awarded Dr. Michelle Reid the no. 2 spot in its newly released list of the 50 Most Influential People in Northern Virginia, highlighting her efforts to guide the state’s largest public school system through the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic.


Countywide

The greatest concentration of wealth in Fairfax County isn’t in the mansions of McLean or the waterfront estates near Mount Vernon that once counted former football team owner Dan Snyder among their residents.

The county’s wealthiest spot is, in fact, a sliver of Dunn Loring off of the I-495 and I-66 interchange that’s packed with single-family homes, according to the Business Journals Wealthy 1,000, a ranking of the 1,000 wealthiest zip codes in the U.S.


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