Editing Fairfax County, Virginia (section)

== Economy ==
[[File:Dc22counties.jpg|thumb|In 2007, a [[United States Department of Labor|U.S. Department of Labor]] study described Fairfax County as the second economic pillar of the [[Washington metropolitan area]] economy after [[Washington, D.C.]]; in November 2007, ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' magazine described it as "one of the great economic success stories of our time."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS88228+30-Nov-2007+BW20071130|title=Fairfax County high school ranked the best in the nation; two other county schools...<!-- ellipsis in the original -->|department=Editorial|date=November 30, 2007|work=Reuters|access-date=March 16, 2016|archive-date=February 19, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090219215135/http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS88228+30-Nov-2007+BW20071130|url-status=dead}}</ref>]]

Fairfax County's economy revolves around professional services and technology. Many residents work for the government or contractors of the federal government. The government is the largest employer, with [[Fort Belvoir]] in southern Fairfax the county's single largest source of federal employment. Fairfax County has a gross county product of approximately  $95 billion.{{citation needed|date=November 2014}}

Major employers in the county include [[Airbus Americas|Airbus]], [[Volkswagen Group of America]], [[Hilton Hotels Corporation|Hilton Worldwide]],<ref name="hilton hotels">{{cite news|url=http://www.bizjournals.com/losangeles/stories/2009/02/02/daily22.html|title=Hilton Hotels picks Fairfax County for new HQ Read more: Hilton Hotels picks Fairfax County for new HQ – Los Angeles Business from bizjournals |last=Frederick|first=Missy|date=February 4, 2009|newspaper=Washington Business Journal|access-date=April 25, 2010}}</ref> [[DXC Technology]], [[Northrop Grumman]], [[Science Applications International Corporation|Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC)]], [[Leidos]], [[Booz Allen Hamilton]], [[Gannett]], [[Capital One]], [[General Dynamics]], [[ICF International]], [[Freddie Mac]], [[SLM Corporation|Sallie Mae]], [[ManTech International]], [[Mars, Incorporated|Mars]], [[NII Holdings|NII]], and [[NVR (homebuilding company)|NVR]]. The county is home to seven [[Fortune 500|''Fortune'' 500]] company headquarters,<ref name="cnn money">{{cite web|url=https://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune500/2009/states/VA.html|title=Fortune 500: Our Annual Ranking of America's Largest Corporations|website=CNN Money|access-date=April 25, 2010}}</ref> 11 [[Hispanic 500]] companies,<ref name="hispanic biz">{{cite news|url=http://www.bizjournals.com/washington/stories/2009/07/20/daily24.html|title=Hispanic businesses boosting Fairfax County|last=Echols|first=Tucker|date=July 21, 2009|newspaper=Washington Business Journal|access-date=April 25, 2010}}</ref> and five companies on the Black Enterprise 500 list.

The county's economy is supported by the [[Fairfax County Economic Development Authority]], which provides services and information to promote Fairfax County as a leading business and technology center. The FCEDA is the nation's largest non-state economic development authority. Fairfax County is also home to the Northern Virginia Technology Council, a trade association for local technology companies.<ref name="reuters bill gates">{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS216476+11-Mar-2008+PRN20080311|title=Microsoft's Bill Gates Selects March 13 NVTC Titans Breakfast as Forum for Providing His Perspective on the Future of Technology Innovation |publisher=Reuters (via PR Newswire)|access-date=April 25, 2010|date=March 11, 2008|archive-date=February 17, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090217001417/http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS216476+11-Mar-2008+PRN20080311|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="nvtc">{{cite web|url=http://www.nvtc.org/events/geteventinfo.php?event=BANQUET-5|title=Meg Whitman, Former CEO and President of eBay Addresses Crowd of Approximately 800 at NVTC's TechCelebration Annual Banquet|date=October 27, 2008|publisher=Northern Virginia Technology Council|access-date=May 3, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090103132337/http://www.nvtc.org/events/geteventinfo.php?event=BANQUET-5|archive-date=January 3, 2009|url-status=dead}}</ref> Fairfax County has a higher concentration of high-tech workers than [[Silicon Valley]].<ref name="tidwell">{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/31/AR2008103103446.html|title=High-Tech, High-Income, High-Polluting Virginia|last=Tidwell|first=Mike|date=November 2, 2008|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=April 25, 2010}}</ref>

===Tysons===
{{Main|Tysons, Virginia}}
[[File:Tysons Corner Sunset .jpg|thumb|[[Tysons, Virginia|Tysons]], a leading business center and one of the nation's largest business districts]]
[[Tysons, Virginia|Tysons]], located in the county, is Virginia's largest office market and the nation's largest suburban business district, with {{convert|26600000|sqft|m2}} of office space.<ref name="tysons">{{cite web|url=http://beyonddc.com/profiles/tysonscorner.shtml|title=Tysons Corner, Virginia|publisher=BeyondDC|access-date=January 20, 2007|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070303014230/http://www.beyonddc.com/profiles/tysonscorner.shtml|archive-date=March 3, 2007}}</ref><ref name="tysons business">{{cite web|url=http://www.fairfaxcountyeda.org/tysons-corner-business-area|title=Tysons Corner Business Area|publisher=Fairfax County Economic Development Authority|access-date=April 20, 2010|archive-date=March 3, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100303013000/http://fairfaxcountyeda.org/tysons-corner-business-area|url-status=dead}}</ref> It is the country's 12th-largest business district and is expected to grow substantially in the coming decades. It contains a quarter of the county's total office space inventory, which was {{convert|105200000|sqft|m2}} as of 2006, representing roughly the same size as the [[Lower Manhattan]] region of New York City.<ref name="CoStar">{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/custom/2005/11/10/CU2005111001553.html|title=The CoStar Office Market Watch|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=November 12, 2009}}</ref> In October 2011, ''[[Forbes]]'' described the area as "the place where the [[Internet]] was invented, but today it looks increasingly like the center of the global [[military-industrial complex]]",<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/beltway/2011/10/10/why-virginias-become-mecca-for-military-contractors/|title=Why Virginia's Become Mecca For Military Contractors|date=October 10, 2011|work=Forbes|access-date=March 16, 2016}}</ref> because it is home to the nation's first [[Internet service provider|ISPs]], many of which are now defunct, and attracts numerous [[defense contractor]]s that have relocated from other states to or near Tysons Corner.

Tysons draws over 100,000 workers from around the [[Washington metropolitan area]], and draws 55,000 shoppers daily to its two [[super-regional mall]]s, [[Tysons Corner Center]] and [[Tysons Galleria]] compared to 62,500 shoppers daily in [[Washington, D.C.]].

After years of delays attributed to stalling and controversy, the $5.2 billion expansion of the [[Washington Metro]] [[Silver Line (Washington Metro)|Silver Line]] in Virginia from Washington, D.C., to [[Washington Dulles International Airport|Dulles International Airport]] was funded by the [[Federal Transit Administration]] in December 2008.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/12/03/AR2008120302256.html|title=Silver Line To Dulles Wins Crucial Federal Okay|newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=March 16, 2016}}</ref> The Silver Line added four stations in Tysons, including [[Tysons station|a station]] between Tysons Corner Center and Tysons Galleria.

Along with the expansion of Washington Metro, Fairfax County government has a plan to "urbanize" the Tysons area. The plan calls for a private-public partnership and a grid-like street system to make Tysons a more urban environment, tripling available housing to allow more workers to live near their workplaces. The goal is to have 95% of Tysons Corner within {{convert|1/2|mi|m|adj=on|sigfig=1}} of a metro station.<ref>{{cite magazine|title=A (Radical) Way to Fix Suburban Sprawl|magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]|author=Lisa Selin Davis|date=June 11, 2009|url=http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1904187,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090615083138/http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1904187,00.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=June 15, 2009}}</ref>

=== Top employers ===
According to the county's 2023 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report,<ref name="CAFR">{{cite web |title=County of Fairfax, Virginia Comprehensive Annual Financial Report For the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 2023 |url=https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/finance/sites/finance/files/Assets/documents/PDF/Financial-Reports/fy2023-annual-comprehensive-financial-report.pdf |access-date=May 18, 2024 |website=Fairfax County, Virginia Government Website}}</ref> the county's largest employers are:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! #
! Employer
! # of Employees
! % of Total County Employment
|-
|1
|[[Federal government of the United States]]
|27,821
|4.48
|-
|2
|[[Fairfax County Public Schools]]
|25,526
|4.11
|-
|3
|[[Inova Health System]]
|20,000
|3.22
|-
|4
|Fairfax County Government
|12,426
|2.00
|-
|5
|[[George Mason University]]
|5,000-9,999
|1.21
|-
|6
|[[Booz Allen Hamilton]]
|5,000-9,999
|1.21
|-
|7
|[[Amazon (company)|Amazon]]
|5,000-9,999
|1.21
|-
|8
|[[Capital One]]
|5,000-9,999
|1.21
|-
|9
|[[Science Applications International Corporation|SAIC]]
|5,000-9,999
|1.21
|-
|10
|[[Freddie Mac|Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation]]
|5,000-9,999
|1.21
|}