Eleele Pedestrian Bridge, Mile 16.02 Kaumualii Highway (Route 50)
Eleele’s story
126 years in pictures
The archive holds 1 old photo or paper and 4 maps from 1963 on.
- 1900Eleele is settled
EleeleHI
A town of 2,522, settled in 1900.
1 bordering townMap →
Photo: ECTran71 · CC BY-SA 4.0
Population
2,522
Census survey, 2020–24
Typical home
$842K
−0.8% in a year
Household income
$118K
median
Median age
39.6
years
Jobs based here
570
A commuter town
Is Eleele a good place to live?
The best of Eleele’s subject grades are an A for health and the outdoors; the weakest is a D for hazard risk. Only 12 of Hawaii’s 125 towns score higher on cost of living. Eleele’s January low is 64°F, close to Hawaii’s towns (64°F) and above U.S. towns (22°F). Eleele’s trail density is 2.3 miles per square mile, above both Hawaii’s towns (0.5) and U.S. towns (0.4). On history, just 4 of Hawaii’s 125 towns do worse. Eleele has no overall grade: it has no figures for safety and schools, and an overall grade needs at least three of the four big subjects (cost of living, safety, schools and health).
What makes Eleele stand out
Where Eleele beats most towns.
A commuter town
95% of working residents leave Eleele for work
Where Eleele’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
570jobs based in Eleele
5%of working residents work in town
14 mimedian commute distance
Census LEHD 2023
How Eleele grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Hawaii), ordered by how far Eleele is from typical.
Eleele has no overall grade: it has no figures for safety and schools, and an overall grade needs at least three of the four big subjects (cost of living, safety, schools and health).
Hazard riskinland flooding tops the listDOpen →HealthWilcox Memorial Hospital 12.1 miles awayAOpen →Jobs & incomeB+Open →Cost of livingB+Open →WalkabilityEPA walkability 8.8 of 20; 4% of households have no car; 1.1% of workers walk, bike or ride transitBOpen →
Character Graded, but not part of the overall grade.
Described, not graded Taste, not quality: snow or an older crowd is neither good nor bad.
ClimateMild winters, 87° summer afternoons–Open →Housing market–Open →Who lives hereMedian age 39.6; 18% of adults have a four-year degree–Open →
How TownRatings grades towns →
Getting set up
Moving to Eleele: who provides what
Eleele is unincorporated, so Kauai County and regional agencies provide most services.
PowerKauai Island Utility Cooperative38.4¢/kWh · EIA 2025HIFLD · EIA
WaterHanapepe-Eleele water systemNo health-based violations in 5 years · EPAEPA
Internet3 providers100% of addresses get 100/20 MbpsFCC
Trash & county servicesKauai CountyKauai County provides services here
Register to voteOnlineIn Hawaii you can register online up to and including Election Day, in person up to and including Election Day, or by mail (postmarked 10 days before).vote.govWho runs elections hereKauai County ClerkKauai County; contacts on the Handbook page.FVAP, Jul 2021
ZIP code9670596705 100%Census 2020
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Nov 18, 2024.
The data
Ordered by what stands out in Eleele.
HealthA
Eleele stands out in Hawaii and nationally: a smaller share of its adults have obesity
20% of Eleele adults have obesity. Among 93 Hawaii towns, just 9 have a lower share of adults who have been diagnosed with depression than Eleele. 30% of Eleele adults have high blood pressure.
86%healthier than U.S. townsAHealth Grade
| Eleele | Hawaii towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 27% | 35% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 17% | 23% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 13% | 16% | 17% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 19% | 16% |
32 measures vs. Hawaii
5 better26 too close to call1 worse
| What stands out | Eleele | HI |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults with obesity | 19.9% | 25.6% |
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 5.3% | 6.7% |
| Fewer women getting mammograms | 69.5% | 78.3% |
Kauai Veterans Memorial Hospital
6.7 mi away · emergency room
3 of 3
care shortages: primary care, dental, mental health
83rd
percentile among HI towns
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Schools
The schools Eleele’s kids attend
Its public schools are run by the Hawaii Department of Education school district. Its one school is below.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Eleele Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 367 | C+ |
NCES · EDFacts
Natural hazardsHazard risk grade D
Inland flooding leads a very high hazard risk in Eleele
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 82% of U.S. communities.
82risk score of 100
FEMA risk score
Inland floodingWildfire
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Work & commuteJobs & income grade B+
With 0.6 jobs for every working resident, most of Eleele’s workers commute out
Most working residents leave Eleele for work: only 5% work in town. The median household income in Eleele is $118,000. Since 2013, Eleele has added 124 jobs, to 570 in 2023.
5%work in town
| Eleele | Hawaii towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $118,000 | $100,000 | $80,000 |
| Below the poverty line | 6.1% | 9.7% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 25 minutes | 28 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Working residents who work in town | 5.4% | 3.6% | 8% |
Where working residents work
In Eleele5%
Urban Honolulu22%
Poipu17%
Lihue14%
Kalaheo5%
14 mi
median commute distance
570
jobs based in Eleele
A commuter town
jobs vs. working residents
B
Walkability grade: more walkable than 55% of U.S. towns
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Climate
Mild winters and pleasant summers in Eleele
Eleele has warm winters and warm summers. July afternoons reach 86°, January nights drop to 64° and snow is almost unheard of.
87°summer high
Typical low → high °F
Winter65–80°
Spring67–81°
Summer72–86°
Fall71–85°
87°
typical summer high
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
10.5%conserved
10.5%
conserved · 73 of 693 acres
2.5 mi
of trails · 2.3 per sq mi
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Eleele Nani Park | 0.5 mi | 7 |
| 2. Eleele Park | — | 3 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
HousingCost of living grade B+
Homes in Eleele are worth about $842K, by Zillow’s estimate
The typical Eleele home is worth about $842,000, down 0.8% in a year, close to the Hawaii typical home.
$842KZillow home value
Typical home value
Eleele$842K
Hawaii$833K
−0.8%
value change, 1 year
1
homes sold in April
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Nearby attractions
All 11 attractions →Russian Fort Elizabeth and 10 more within 40 miles
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Eleele. Close and well known come first.
6 mi LandmarkRussian Fort Elizabeth
12 mi Canyon & gorgeWaimea Canyon State Park
20 mi State parkNā Pali Coast State Park
21 mi BeachHanakapiai Beach
6 mi GardenAllerton Garden5 mi GardenNational Tropical Botanical GardenSources: National Park Service · ski areas © OpenSkiMap / OpenStreetMap contributors · Wikidata · Wikipedia readership · photos via Wikimedia Commons
Photo credits
Russian Fort Elizabeth: en:User:Mel29, Public domain · Waimea Canyon State Park: Aaronbernstein, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Nā Pali Coast State Park: Jmblanco74, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Hanakapiai Beach: Jeff Kubina, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Allerton Garden: Daderot., CC BY-SA 3.0
Keep exploring
Everything we know about Eleele
17pages on Eleele
The big questions
Out and about
After high school
Colleges nearby
1 within 15 miles of the center of Eleele
About 7 of every 100 Eleele residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Hawaii.
About Eleele
Census-designated place in Hawaii, United States
ʻEleʻele (literally, "black" or "black water" in Hawaiian) is a census-designated place (CDP) on the island of Kauaʻi in Kauaʻi County, Hawaiʻi, United States, with the ZIP code of 96705. Glass Beach, that is made of sea glass, is a local attraction. The population was 2,515 at the 2020 census, up from 2,040 at the 2000 census.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Area
- 1.1 sq mi
- Elevation
- 23 ft
- ZIP code
- 96705
- Area code
- 808
Eleele’s neighbors
One town shares a border with Eleele.
HanapepeEleele
How the neighbors grade
Eleele and Hanapepe report no FBI crime data of their own. Eleele and Hanapepe aren’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Eleele with a neighbor →
Questions about Eleele
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Eleele, HI a good place to live?
Eleele has no overall grade: it has no figures for safety and schools, and an overall grade needs at least three of the four big subjects (cost of living, safety, schools and health).
Is Eleele, HI expensive?
Not for the area. That is 8.6 years of the area's median household income ($97,668 across the Kapaa, HI area). Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades B+.