Key Industries

We’re more than just tech.

Our key industries are game changers and are pushing the boundaries of how we all experience technological innovations in our lives. A bold statement? We’re bold here in Fairfax County.

Cybersecurity. Aerospace. Data analytics. These are just three of the many industries that consider Fairfax County a hotspot. It’s a place where great minds come together to rethink, rework and reshape the way we live.

Here, technology has been a driving force to economic expansion. We’re currently home to 8,700 technology firms, ranging from high-profile, publicly held companies to entrepreneurial start-ups. Knowledge-based enterprises directly employ more than 154,000 people in Fairfax County. All thrive, thanks to easy access to business, consumer and federal customer markets.

Professional, scientific and technical services account for 25 percent of employment in the county (four times the national average). Other key industries rely on Fairfax County’s large pool of executive, management and financial workers. And it is a young workforce: One-third of the county’s professional and technical jobs are held by young adults ages 19 to 34.

Ten Fortune 500 firms are headquartered here in Fairfax County: Beacon Roofing Supply, Booz Allen Hamilton, Capital One, Freddie Mac, General Dynamics, Hilton, Leidos, Northrop Grumman, NVR and SAIC. But that is just the beginning of Fairfax County’s business story. We’re home to innovative startups, hundreds of companies from other countries and a vibrant minority business community.

Our proximity to the nation’s capital means that government contracts, defense and financial services are all hot topics in Fairfax County. But watch this space, because we’re not limited only to our key industries. If there’s a new or emerging industry, you can be sure that companies in Fairfax County will be tinkering and innovating within it before the world hears about it.