Photo: Polihale Christopher P. Becker posla.com · CC BY-SA 3.0Most of Hanapepe commutes out: there are 0.6 jobs for every working resident
1% of workers have no commute at all, next to 10% for Hawaii as a whole. 357 jobs are based in Hanapepe for 631 working residents. Hanapepe grades B− for jobs and income and B for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Hanapepe apart on work
Hanapepe’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Hanapepe is Urban Honolulu, 119 miles away as the crow flies. 17% of working residents (106) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
A big share show a job far from home
37% of working residents have a main job more than 50 miles away. Part of that is employers that report every worker at one head office, so not all of those trips happen daily. How far ↓
The better-paid jobs are outside Hanapepe
65% of Hanapepe residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 40% of the jobs based in Hanapepe pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 94% leave town for their job. The jobs ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey; with 631 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
The four measures behind Hanapepe’s grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Hanapepe is better than 49% of U.S. towns, #54 of 93 in Hawaii. The poverty rate holds Hanapepe’s grade up (3.2%, U.S. 12.5%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 8% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Hanapepe could be anywhere from C to A−.
Near or far: the trip to work from Hanapepe
About 37% show a job over 50 miles away. Some of that is real, and some is employers that report every worker at a head office, so a few long commutes are on paper only.
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Hanapepe works in goods: 32% of its jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Hanapepe, 2013 → 2023: 225 → 357. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.
Primary jobs covered by unemployment insurance (not the self-employed). Pay is monthly earnings. LEHD 2023.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Hanapepe’s own residents hold wherever they work.
In and out of Hanapepe on a workday
On a workday 596 residents head out to work, 35 work right here, and 322 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,400 people are in Hanapepe on a workday afternoon, 10% fewer than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
17% of working residents work in Urban Honolulu
Where Hanapepe clocks in
11% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Commuting from Hanapepe: about 27 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Hanapepe workers work from home, vs 10% across Hawaii. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,341 commuters (the 1% who work from home are left out). Across Hawaii: 72% drive alone, 4% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Most trips from Hanapepe start in a car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Hanapepe is more walkable than 64% of U.S. towns, #53 of 93 in Hawaii. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 6.4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 10.0% across Hawaii, on an EPA index of 6.1.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,360 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service: no data. EPA’s transit file has no stops for most of this county (its agencies had not published schedules in the format EPA used in 2020). That is missing data, not a finding that there is no bus or train.
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 1.8% of Hanapepe households have no vehicle (Hawaii 8.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Hanapepe’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Hanapepe is 2,443rd of 5,278 U.S. towns of 1,800 to 3,600
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 74 | Maunawili HI | 2,024 | $177K | 1.6% | 1.6% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 459 | Wheeler AFB HI | 2,097 | $92K | 1.3% | 4.9% | 2% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 529 | Waikapu HI | 3,591 | $123K | 4.8% | 1.8% | 2% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 2,441 | Woodruff WI | 2,082 | $82K | 6.0% | 1.2% | 7% | B− |
| 2,442 | Helemano HI | 2,691 | $83K | 12.4% | 16.8% | 0% | B− |
| 2,443 | Hanapepe HI | 2,638 | $100K | 3.2% | 6.7% | 6% | B− |
| 2,444 | Sterling KS | 2,303 | $55K | 5.7% | 2.4% | 33% | B− |
| 2,445 | Patton Village TX | 2,069 | $78K | 21.5% | 7.4% | <1% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,278 | Lame Deer MT | 1,872 | $24K | 55.8% | 42.2% | 60% | D− |
Census ACS 2020–24 (income, poverty, unemployment), Census LEHD (work in town), TownRatings Jobs & income grades. Each town links to its Work & commute page.
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Hanapepe, the top three, the last and three more from Hawaii.
Around Hanapepe: the bordering towns
The biggest share goes to Eleele (5%).
Jobs & commute next door
Darker towns draw more of Hanapepe’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Two sources, two years. Trips, distances and jobs based here: Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs, where the employer reports them. Income, poverty, unemployment, commute time and how people travel: Census ACS 2020–24 averages.
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Hanapepe: questions
What is the median household income in Hanapepe?
$100,000 (±$26,852) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $100,389 across Hawaii and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Hanapepe?
3.2%, against 10.0% across Hawaii and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Hanapepe?
27 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Hawaii and 26 nationally. 1% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Hanapepe work?
6% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Urban Honolulu (17%, 119 mi), Poipu (14%, 8 mi), Lihue (11%, 15 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Hanapepe walkable?
Hanapepe is more walkable than 64% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 6.1 out of 20, and 6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Hanapepe without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Hanapepe, from the people who make the trip.
More of Hanapepe
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Distances are straight lines between home and work; real drives run longer. Walkability index, job access and transit service: U.S. EPA Smart Location Database. The two grades are our own summaries of these figures, not official ratings.