Urban Honolulu, Hawaii

Area Profile

345,482 residents. Public schools, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Urban Honolulu, in Honolulu County.

59out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 49% of 4,196 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 16 sources
OpportunityTop 12% of 4,199 cities measured77
SchoolsTop 9% of 4,162 cities measured82
Growth2,872nd of 4,224 cities measured42
Housing affordability3,998th of 4,218 cities measured34
ClimateTop 15% of 4,225 cities measured81
Physical resilience3,589th of 4,226 cities measured21
AccessTop 31% of 4,226 cities measured97
Economic stability2,545th of 4,226 cities measured52
The quick read

Urban Honolulu ranks in the top 12% of cities measured for employment opportunity, with unemployment at 2.8% and median household income of $86,504. The unemployment rate is published for Honolulu County, HI, which contains Urban Honolulu, rather than for Urban Honolulu alone.

Public schools test above most of the state: 46% of students met the mathematics standard, placing the area in the top 9% of published profiles for schools.

1,615 housing units were authorized over the past twelve months, within 7% of the prior year — steady rather than turning. The permit count and 1 other measure here are published for Honolulu County, HI, which contains Urban Honolulu, rather than for Urban Honolulu alone.

These sentences are written by fixed rules from the measurements below — a statement appears because a number crossed a stated threshold, and the values behind it are stored with it. No figure anywhere on this site is invented, estimated or inferred to fill a gap. How this works.

At a glance

Population
345,482
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$86,504
Top 27% nationally
Density
5,699/sq mi
60.6 sq mi of land
Median age
43.0
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Hawaii
Nearest major airport
HNL
5 mi · Daniel K Inouye Intl
Median home value
$843,400
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment across Honolulu County, HI, which contains Urban Honolulu, is 2.8%, lower than in 96% of the 4,226 measured US cities.

Employment across Honolulu County, HI, which contains Urban Honolulu, fell 0.4% over the past year, to 462,481 employed residents.

41% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 83% of measured US cities.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsHonolulu County, HI’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$73,09051st percentileof 4,101filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftHonolulu County, HI’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$70,35945th percentileof 4,101filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$1,7052024 ACS 5-Year$86,504Top 27%of 29,2232024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$1,0612024 ACS 5-Year$49,569Top 18%of 31,4202024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate ±0.8%2024 ACS 5-Year11.3%Bottom 48%of 31,7732024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±0.3 min2024 ACS 5-Year23.9 minTop 35%of 31,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±0.9%2024 ACS 5-Year41.5%Top 17%of 31,9192024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±0.8%2024 ACS 5-Year55.1%9th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentHonolulu County, HI’s figureJuly 2026462,481Top 18%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (3 years)Honolulu County, HI’s figureJuly 2026+1.0%Top 31%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (year over year)Honolulu County, HI’s figureJuly 2026−0.4%Top 44%of 4,226July 2026
Labor forceHonolulu County, HI’s figureJuly 2026475,65682nd percentileof 4,226July 2026
Labor force participation ±0.7%2024 ACS 5-Year82.5%Top 34%of 31,5132024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wageUrban Honolulu, HI Metro Area’s figure2025 OEWS$71,940Top 37%of 3,7292025 OEWS
Median annual wageUrban Honolulu, HI Metro Area’s figure2025 OEWS$57,220Top 28%of 3,7292025 OEWS
Public transit to work ±0.5%2024 ACS 5-Year7.3%97th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)Honolulu County, HI’s figureJuly 2026+0.6%Bottom 15%of 4,226July 2026
Unemployment rateHonolulu County, HI’s figureJuly 20262.8%Top 4%of 4,226July 2026
Worked from home ±0.6%2024 ACS 5-Year9.8%59th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year

Median household income, successive ACS releases

202120222023202487k76k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $86,504 in the 2024 ACS 5-Year. Consecutive releases share four years of sample, so AreaProfile shows them as a record of successive estimates and does not compute a year-over-year change from them.

Largest occupations — Urban Honolulu, HI

OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Fast Food and Counter Workers17,240$35,080
Retail Salespersons12,810$37,400
Registered Nurses9,680$139,260
General and Operations Managers9,430$113,940
Office Clerks, General8,820$41,600
Waiters and Waitresses8,550$60,250

Searches the 40 largest occupations here that have a published wage.

Occupational employment and wages are published for metropolitan areas rather than for individual cities or ZIP areas, so these describe the wider labor market this location sits in. 2025 OEWS, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish a labor-market series for this place — true of a consolidated city-county, a city and county sharing one government, or a Puerto Rico municipio, regardless of population. This is the figure for Honolulu County, HI, which contains this city.

46% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 60% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 14.2 students for every full-time teacher across 56 public schools, fewer than in most measured places.

Public schools
57
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
14.2
across 56 of them
Math proficiency
46.3%
Top 15% in Hawaii
Reading proficiency
59.6%
Top 15% in Hawaii
The 12 largest of 57 public schools, by enrollment.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Governor Wallace Rider Farrington High SchoolHawaii Department of Education2,09415.520%49%
Moanalua High SchoolHawaii Department of Education1,96616.438%79%
President Theodore Roosevelt High SchoolHawaii Department of Education1,33616.548%75%
President William McKinley High SchoolHawaii Department of Education1,24514.033%67%
Kaimuki Middle SchoolHawaii Department of Education1,01917.966%69%
King David Kalakaua Middle SchoolHawaii Department of Education90014.142%51%
Moanalua Middle SchoolHawaii Department of Education76815.761%78%
Maemae Elementary SchoolHawaii Department of Education66715.578%77%
Moanalua Elementary SchoolHawaii Department of Education66116.958%65%
Prince David Kawananakoa Middle SchoolHawaii Department of Education60214.049%58%
President George Washington Middle SchoolHawaii Department of Education57811.135%41%
Robert Louis Stevenson Middle SchoolHawaii Department of Education57115.943%54%

44.6% of students here are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. That describes the circumstances families arrive with, not how the schools perform, so it is shown and not scored.

Public schools only, from the NCES Common Core of Data, placed by ZIP code — which schools are in this place, not which one a particular address is zoned for. A dash in a proficiency column is a gap in the federal file, not a bad result. Proficiency is measured against Hawaii’s own standard, so it is ranked within state. How to read school figures.

Prices for everything a household buys run about 11% above the national average — the Bureau of Economic Analysis index reads 111.4, against 100 for the nation. Nationally, housing drives most of the spread between places in this index; other goods vary far less.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s house price index for the Urban Honolulu, HI Metro Area is up 39% over five years, and up 11% over the last year. It follows repeat sales of the same homes, so it measures price change rather than which homes happened to sell.

Homeowners here who pay a tax bill pay a median of $2,491 a year in real estate taxes, about 0.30% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $2,318, some 27% above the $1,823 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $2,318 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $92,700 a year, about 107% of the median household income here of $86,504.

The typical renter household here spends 32% of its income on rent, above the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $1,823 a month.

A median home at $843,400 costs 7.1 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $118,574, well above the historic benchmark, at a level conventionally described as seriously unaffordable.

Cost of living
111.4

Prices here run about 11% above the national average. The spread between places is driven mostly by housing — goods vary far less — and this excludes taxes.

Published for the Urban Honolulu, HI Metro Area as a whole. Prices are regional — people shop, commute and rent across a metropolitan area rather than within a city boundary — so this describes the cost of living around this place better than a figure drawn to its own limits would.

Rent as a share of income
32.4%
Above the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
7.1×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$2,318
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$1,823
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$843,400
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Urban Honolulu’s median household income of $86,504, which describes the place rather than you. Enter your own and the ratio is recomputed against it. It stays in this browser.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Cost of living indexthe Urban Honolulu, HI Metro Area’s figure2023111.4Bottom 19%of 3,7002023
Home price change (1 year)the Urban Honolulu, HI Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+11.1%99th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the Urban Honolulu, HI Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+38.6%36th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the Urban Honolulu, HI Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+62.0%8th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.32024 ACS 5-Year7.1Bottom 2%of 26,8152024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±1.0%2024 ACS 5-Year48.9%8th percentileof 31,7172024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±1,2962024 ACS 5-Year157,30399th percentileof 32,1772024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$1,769Bottom 30%of 4,072FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$3,225Bottom 16%of 4,072FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$2,318Bottom 20%of 4,072FY2026
Median gross rent ±$252024 ACS 5-Year$1,823Bottom 11%of 23,1202024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$17,3592024 ACS 5-Year$843,40097th percentileof 29,1112024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$542024 ACS 5-Year$2,49165th percentileof 26,4402024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$3,7912024 ACS 5-Year$118,574Top 16%of 27,5482024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.01%2024 ACS 5-Year0.30%2nd percentileof 20,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±0.7%2024 ACS 5-Year32.4%Bottom 30%of 22,9502024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±6292024 ACS 5-Year5,82699th percentileof 32,3302024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year3.7%77th percentileof 31,8952024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year9.3%61st percentileof 31,7692024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±1,3132024 ACS 5-Year20,40199th percentileof 32,3302024 ACS 5-Year

These measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with. They compare housing cost with local earnings only: transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not in them. How to read affordability, the two rent figures and the cost-of-living index.

Development Momentum

42/ 100
Ranks 2,872 of 4,224 published city profiles

An AreaProfile calculation combining permit volume per resident, its direction over one and three years, population change and employment growth. Permit volume alone is not the measure.

Population has fallen 1% since 2020, to 344,967 in 2024.

Federal tax returns show Honolulu County, which contains Urban Honolulu, lost about 0.8% of its residents through moves within the US in the most recent year, counting those who arrived against those who left. Households that moved in reported an average income of $73,090, close to the $70,359 of households that moved out.

At 1.6 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US cities. The permit rate is published for Honolulu County, HI, which contains Urban Honolulu, rather than for Urban Honolulu alone.

Units permitted
1,615
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
1.6
Bottom 35% nationally
Year over year
+7%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
58.1%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

20202021202220232024348k344k
Census Population Estimates Program, July 1 of each year. These annual estimates are designed for year-over-year comparison, unlike the ACS five-year figure shown as this profile's population. It has been rising, over a series running from 2020 to 2024.

People moving in and out

Net migration
−0.8%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
95%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$73,090
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$70,359
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. San Diego County, CA 1,529 people · 4.2% of arrivals
  2. Los Angeles County, CA 1,007 people · 2.8% of arrivals
  3. Clark County, NV 914 people · 2.5% of arrivals
  4. Hawaii County, HI 881 people · 2.4% of arrivals
  5. Pierce County, WA 665 people · 1.8% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Clark County, NV 2,381 people · 5.6% of departures
  2. San Diego County, CA 1,719 people · 4.0% of departures
  3. Hawaii County, HI 1,125 people · 2.6% of departures
  4. Los Angeles County, CA 939 people · 2.2% of departures
  5. King County, WA 902 people · 2.1% of departures

Based on the address on federal tax returns, compared with the same filers a year earlier. It counts people who file, and sees a move only when the address on a return changes. Domestic moves only: people arriving from abroad are left out. This is the figure for Honolulu County, HI. IRS Statistics of Income, filing years 2022–2023.

The Census Bureau's Building Permits Survey lists only jurisdictions that issue their own permits, and Urban Honolulu, HI is not one. This is the figure for Honolulu County, HI, which contains this city.

Weather & climate

7 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 88°F and January a low of 67°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 16.4 inches.

Air quality measures a median index of 31, in the Good band, and no day in the year passed 100.

60°80°100°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station HONOLULU INTL AP, 5.3 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND2.4"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
90th percentile air quality index2024 calendar year412024 calendar year
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals16.4"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals67°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals88°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals71991-2020 Normals
Days above AQI 1002024 calendar year02024 calendar year
Median air quality index2024 calendar year312024 calendar year
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals9°F1991-2020 Normals

Air quality

Median air quality index
31
Good on a typical day
Worst tenth of days
41
90th percentile index
Days above 100
0
unhealthy for sensitive groups

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. Air quality is measured by EPA monitors and published by county only where a monitor sits; a county without one shows nothing rather than an estimate, and a county reading is still the county’s. How to read climate and air quality.

Physical risk

21 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, earthquake and tsunami, with inland flooding alone responsible for 64% of it.

Inland floodingHigh
WildfireElevated
EarthquakeModerate
TsunamiHigh

Low or minimal exposure: lightning, landslide, coastal flooding, hurricane, ice storm, tornado, drought, hail, strong wind, winter weather, cold wave, heat wave, volcanic activity, avalanche.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA publishes at county level. City values are the population-weighted mean of the counties the city overlaps, using AreaProfile place-to-county land-area weights. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

Violent crime
181
per 100,000 residents · 2025 calendar year
Property crime
1,459
per 100,000 residents · 2025 calendar year

Below these are deaths rather than offenses, published for the county. The two measure different things and are not comparable with each other.

Urban Honolulu's police department reported 181 violent offenses per 100,000 residents, near the middle of places with a department reporting. Property crime runs at 1,459.

Honolulu County records 2.0 homicide deaths per 100,000 residents a year, lower than most counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at 3.7 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 18.4 per 100,000 residents in Honolulu County.

Homicide
2.0
per 100,000 residents
Firearm deaths, all intents
3.7
per 100,000 residents
Drug overdose
18.4
per 100,000 residents
Suicide
11.9
per 100,000 residents

Firearm deaths count every intent together, and nationally the majority are suicides rather than homicides, so the firearm figure and the homicide figure above it count some of the same deaths twice over. They overlap and should not be added together.

Reported by Honolulu Police Department for a population of 987,000, across all twelve months of 2025. That department covers a noticeably different population from the 345,482 in this place itself, so it polices an area wider or narrower than the boundary used elsewhere on this page. Offenses are published by police department rather than by town, so this department was matched to this city by name within the state. Reported crime counts what was reported to and recorded by police.

Offenses are reported to the FBI by Urban Honolulu’s own police department and shown only where it reported every month of the year; a partial year is withheld rather than scaled up. Reported crime is what police recorded, which is not the same as what happened. Death rates are crude rates — deaths divided by population, not adjusted for age — except where a count was too small for the CDC to publish and it modeled the rate, which the card marks. They come from provisional death certificate records, published by the CDC by county and not below it. So they describe the county around Urban Honolulu (Honolulu County) rather than Urban Honolulu itself. Neither is part of the Area Score. How to read crime rates and death rates.

What this profile does not cover

Each of these is absent for a reason, not by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them; the weighting is on the methodology page.

Taxes
Income and sales taxes are not published: no source covers them nationally with a method open enough to check. Property taxes are shown in the housing section but are not part of the score. The cost-of-living index above is a price level for all consumption, not a household budget, and it excludes taxes. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
Anything about a specific address
Every figure describes an area, not a street or a house.

Access

3 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest Daniel K Inouye Intl at 5 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±0.6%2024 ACS 5-Year89.2%Bottom 47%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle5 miTop 8%of 4,226NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle3Bottom 20%of 4,226NASR current cycle
No internet access ±0.5%2024 ACS 5-Year6.3%Top 44%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Daniel K Inouye IntlHNL5 mi12,360 ft
Kalaeloa (John Rodgers Fld)JRF14 mi8,365 ft
Kawaihapai AirfieldHDH29 mi9,007 ft

Airport identity, position and runway data come from the FAA. “Major airport” is an AreaProfile classification — a public-use civil airport with a paved runway of at least 8,000 feet — not an FAA hub designation. Distances are straight-line, not driving distance.

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Other cities in Urban Honolulu, HI

Same metropolitan area, measured the same way
CityCountyPopulationArea ScoreCompare
East HonoluluHonolulu County51,36064East Honolulu vs Urban Honolulu
Pearl CityHonolulu County44,54762Pearl City vs Urban Honolulu
WaipahuHonolulu County40,48255Waipahu vs Urban Honolulu
KailuaHonolulu County39,64064
KaneoheHonolulu County37,35558
Mililani TownHonolulu County27,66863
Ewa GentryHonolulu County26,56356
KapoleiHonolulu County22,23257
Mililani MaukaHonolulu County21,27856
MakakiloHonolulu County20,73554
WahiawaHonolulu County17,99653
Ocean PointeHonolulu County17,08557

Every city here is measured on the same scale from the same source releases, so the comparison is like for like. A higher Area Score reflects AreaProfile’s standardized weighting rather than a judgment about which is the better place to live.

Compare

Put Urban Honolulu side by side with a similar place.

Urban Honolulu vs DoralUrban Honolulu vs Kendall

Moving to Urban Honolulu from somewhere else?

You get the difference in prices, rent and weather, and the income that would keep pace.

Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource period
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle
SafetyFederal Bureau of Investigation, Crime Data Explorer
Summarized offense counts by law enforcement agency
2025 calendar year
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)
Demographics, IncomeInternal Revenue Service, Statistics of Income Division
U.S. Population Migration Data (county to county)
filing years 2022–2023
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 Normals
HousingU.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
Regional price parities and county personal income
2023
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
2025 OEWS
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
July 2026
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimate
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026
Access, Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-Year
SafetyU.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics
Provisional county-level mortality by intent
March 2025 to February 2026; May 2025 to April 2026
SchoolsU.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics
Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments
2018-19 school year; 2024-25 school year
HousingU.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research
Fair Market Rents
FY2026
ClimateU.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Air Quality System
Daily Air Quality Index by county
2024 calendar year
HousingU.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency
House Price Index (traditional, all-transactions)
2026 Q2
Current conditionsNOAA National Weather Service
National Weather Service current conditions
Live observation, read when the page opens

Profile recalculated October 8, 2026. Recalculation is not the same as new source data — each figure above shows the period its source actually covers. Read the full methodology, or every source with how often each updates.

ZIP codes in Urban Honolulu

9 ZIP areas

Every ZIP area in Urban Honolulu with census figures of its own, largest first. The ones linked below diverge enough from the city as a whole to carry a full profile; the rest track Urban Honolulu closely, so their figures are here rather than on a page that would repeat this one. An Area Score is calculated for published profiles only, which is why it is blank on those rows.

ZIPPopulationMedian household incomeMedian home valueArea Score
9681755,492$75,476$916,10056
9681650,883$114,609$1,168,80055
9681950,345$99,848$954,60055
9682243,747$95,947$1,003,400—
9682629,174$68,296$507,200—
9681527,530$77,096$621,000—
9681326,766$91,690$819,700—
9681424,689$77,768$714,400—
96848573$21,042——