Fairhaven is a medium-sized coastal town (i.e. on the ocean, a bay, or inlet) located in the state of Massachusetts. With a population of 15,837 people and four associated neighborhoods, Fairhaven is the 128th largest community in Massachusetts. Much of the housing stock in Fairhaven was built prior to World War II, making it one of the older and more historic towns in the country.

Telecommuters are a relatively large percentage of the workforce: 9.08% of people work from home. While this number may seem small overall, as a fraction of the total workforce it is high relative to the nation. These workers are often telecommuters who work in knowledge-based, white-collar professions. For example, Silicon Valley has large numbers of people who telecommute. Other at-home workers may be self-employed people who operate small businesses out of their homes.

Fairhaven is also nautical, which means that parts of it are somewhat historic and touch the ocean or tidal bodies of water, such as inlets and bays. Such areas are often places that visitors and locals go for waterfront activities or taking in the scenery.

In terms of college education, Fairhaven is substantially better educated than the typical community in the nation, which has 21.84% of the adults holding a bachelor's degree or graduate degree: 29.57% of adults in Fairhaven have a college degree.

The per capita income in Fairhaven in 2022 was $54,224, which is middle income relative to Massachusetts, and wealthy relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $216,896 for a family of four. However, Fairhaven contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.

The people who call Fairhaven home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Fairhaven residents report their race to be White, followed by Asian. Important ancestries of people in Fairhaven include Portuguese, English, Irish, French, and Italian.

The most common language spoken in Fairhaven is English. Other important languages spoken here include Portuguese and Spanish.