Different types of effector and memory T lymphocytes are induced and maintained in protective or pathological immune responses. Here we characterized two human CD4⁺ T_H17 helper cell subsets that, in the recently activated state, could be distinguished on the basis of their expression of the anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10. IL-10⁺ T_H17 cells upregulated a variety of genes encoding immunoregulatory molecules, as well as genes whose expression is characteristic of tissue-resident T cells. In contrast, IL-10^– T_H17 cells maintained a pro-inflammatory gene-expression profile and upregulated the expression of homing receptors that guide recirculation from tissues to blood. Expression of the transcription factor c-MAF was selectively upregulated in IL-10⁺ T_H17 cells, and it was bound to a large set of enhancer-like regions and modulated the immunoregulatory and tissue-residency program. Our results identify c-MAF as a relevant factor that drives two highly divergent post-activation fates of human T_H17 cells and provide a framework with which to investigate the role of these cells in physiology and immunopathology.