2025 Compare Cities Cost of Living:
Fairfax, VA vs Kensington, MD

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Highlights
Is it cheaper to live in Kensington or is it cheaper to live in Fairfax?
- Kensington is 2.7% less expensive than Fairfax.

Which city has more affordable housing, Kensington or Fairfax?
- Kensington housing costs are 8.0% more expensive than Fairfax housing costs.

Is Health Care more affordable in Fairfax or is Health Care more affordable in Kensington.
- Health related expenses are 15.5% less in Kensington.
 Fairfax, VAKensington, MDUnited States
 Overall  Unlock138.5100
 Food & Groceries114.1  Unlock100
 Health  Unlock86.8100
 Housing223.8  Unlock100
 Median Home Cost  Unlock$786,400$338,100
 Utilities97  Unlock100
 Transportation  Unlock133.4100
 Miscellaneous145.6  Unlock100
100 = National Average (Below 100 means cheaper than the US average. Above 100 means more expensive.)
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Reviews for Fairfax    28 Reviews

I lived in the area for 17 years through high school until I eventually became a truck driver. Having now seen most states extensively, I wanted to fairly review what  More

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Living in Fairfax, or any of the Northern Virginia suburbs of DC, means dealing with highways that are a Gordian knot of converging lanes and overpasses, making long  More

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Over 10 years ago

The Cost of living here is high. Though the standard of living is also high, unless you're making over 50,000/year, it's difficult to both live and build any sort of  More

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Reviews for Kensington    3 Reviews

Over 11 years ago

Not as expensive as Chevy Chase, Bethesda or upper NW, but very clean safe affordable and close in to  More

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Over 15 years ago

too expensive, but great  More

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I have lived in Kensington for the last couple of years. This place is great-virtually no crime, close to DC, shops and parks, excellent schools, metro and commuter  More

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