Fairlawn is not Fairlawn Heights
The City of Fairlawn and Akron’s Fairlawn Heights neighborhood are different places with different rules. People mix them up because they share a name and sit next to each other on Akron’s west side.
| City of Fairlawn | Fairlawn Heights | |
|---|---|---|
| Government | Its own city | A neighborhood of Akron |
| Schools | Copley-Fairlawn City Schools | Akron Public Schools |
| City rules at sale | Fairlawn’s | Akron’s, including rental registration |
If your house is in the Akron neighborhood, see Fairlawn Heights instead. This page covers the City of Fairlawn.
A small city built around West Market Street
Fairlawn covers only about 4.6 square miles and had 7,710 residents in 2020. It was incorporated as Fairlawn Village in 1960 and became a city once the 1970 census put it over the threshold.
West Market Street is its main business district. Summit Mall, at 3265 West Market, opened on October 28, 1965, with Halle’s, O’Neil’s and Polsky’s as its first anchors. Simon Property Group owns it today, and Rosemont Commons sits farther west at 3750 West Market. For a homeowner, that puts shopping, offices and medical services close by.
The housing is mostly from the postwar decades and later. The median house was built in 1973, almost none predate 1940, and only about 2% of homes sit vacant.
Fairlawn’s biggest growth came late. The population sat near 6,100 through the 1970s and 1980s, dipped to 5,779 in 1990, then rose about 26% to 7,307 by 2000. About 66% of the housing is single-family detached, so roughly a third is condos, apartments or attached homes.
Check the parcel, not the mailing address
Fairlawn uses four ZIP codes: 44313, 44333, 44334 and 44398. A mailing address alone won’t always tell you whether a house is in the City of Fairlawn, in Akron or in a neighboring township, and that decides which city’s rules, schools and services apply. The Summit County Fiscal Office parcel record is the reliable answer, and it’s what the title company will use.
Copley-Fairlawn schools
Fairlawn shares a school district with Copley Township: the Copley-Fairlawn City School District, with its main office at 3797 Ridgewood Road in Copley. Copley High School is the district’s only high school.
Buyers with children often search by district, and in a city this small, the district is part of what a Fairlawn address means.
Older owners and the move to smaller homes
Fairlawn’s population skews older. In 2020 the median age was 48.2, and 27% of residents were 65 or older. Many sales here are long-time owners moving to a condo, to family or to assisted living.
That often means:
- A house that is clean and sound but hasn’t been updated in 20 or 30 years.
- Decades of belongings to sort.
- A move date driven by a care facility, not by the market.
When the house is in good shape and time allows, listing it will usually bring more. When the move has to happen on a schedule, a direct sale with a set closing date can be easier. The pages on selling when moving to assisted living and selling a house full of stuff cover both sides.
No city inspection in Fairlawn
Fairlawn does not require a point-of-sale inspection, according to a 2025 Summit County title-agency list. The county rules still apply: the seller pays the $4 per $1,000 conveyance fee, and any house on a septic system or well needs the county health inspection. See the Summit County page for each.
For a written number on your Fairlawn house, ask for an offer, and Bob will schedule the 15-to-20-minute walkthrough.