Pros and Cons of Living in Fairfield

Fairfield's honest tradeoff is a real, genuinely distinctive cultural and educational identity and affordable housing, set against mixed school and crime data this record does not smooth over.

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Real advantages

Fairfield offers the real, accredited Maharishi International University and its distinctive, well-documented practicing-TM community, genuinely affordable housing (Zillow avg. listing ~$161,552), and a real, disproportionate financial-services employment cluster.

Real tradeoffs

Fairfield's school district posts Niche grades that decline by level (B+ elementary to C high school); its crime data runs genuinely mixed across sources; its population has declined modestly in recent years; and in-town healthcare is limited to a 25-bed critical access hospital.

The net read

For residents seeking genuine affordability, a connection to MIU or Fairfield's distinctive community, or retirees drawn to its substantially above-threshold senior population share, Fairfield's advantages are genuine. For families prioritizing a consistently top-rated public high school, the real, disclosed tradeoffs are worth weighing directly.

Key takeaways

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Last reviewed: 2026-08-27. Independent research; not financial, tax, or legal advice -- confirm current figures with a local professional before making a decision.