Mookini Heiau · Photo: Mailseth · CC BY-SA 3.0Hawi’s household incomes are higher than in 62% of U.S. towns
Only 3% work in Hawi; the top destination outside it is Urban Honolulu (20%, 150 miles). Below the poverty line: 10.1% of residents, where Hawaii as a whole has 10.0%. The two grades for Hawi are C+ for jobs and income and C for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The figures behind Hawi’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Hawi is better than 37% of U.S. towns. Household income holds Hawi’s grade up ($84,457, U.S. $80,734); job access by car pulls it down (near the bottom of U.S. towns). It also does well on unemployment.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Hawi could be anywhere from D to A−.
How many people are in Hawi by day
On a workday 193 residents head out to work, 6 work right here, and 241 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.24 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
The towns that employ Hawi’s residents
Where Hawi clocks in
Lines 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.
The 247 jobs based in Hawi
247 jobs are based in Hawi.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Hawi, 2013 → 2023: 237 → 247. 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 Hawi’s own residents hold wherever they work.
From Hawi, about 35 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 11.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Hawi workers work from home, vs 10% across Hawaii. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 924 commuters (the 7% 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.
How far Hawi goes to work
About 41% 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.
In Hawi, the car does most of the work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Hawi is more walkable than 28% of U.S. towns. Both inputs place Hawi near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 991 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). 1.7% of Hawi households have no vehicle (Hawaii 8.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Hawi’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 5,793 U.S. towns of 1,400 to 2,800, Hawi comes 3,168th on jobs and income
| # | 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 | Plandome NY | 1,482 | $250K | 0.9% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 79 | Maunawili HI | 2,024 | $177K | 1.6% | 1.6% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 434 | Wheeler AFB HI | 2,097 | $92K | 1.3% | 4.9% | 2% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 451 | Ko Olina HI | 1,670 | $133K | 6.8% | 0.8% | 3% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 3,166 | Russia NY | 2,269 | $86K | 9.1% | 6.6% | 3% | C+ |
| 3,167 | Ross Township PA | 2,789 | $88K | 6.4% | 9.4% | 5% | C+ |
| 3,168 | Hawi HI | 2,070 | $84K | 10.1% | 4.0% | 3% | C+ |
| 3,169 | Wells MN | 2,395 | $60K | 8.7% | 3.4% | 3% | C+ |
| 3,170 | Connelly Springs NC | 1,550 | $55K | 9.2% | 10.9% | 0% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 5,793 | 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 Hawi, the top three, the last and three more from Hawaii.
Around Hawi: the bordering towns
The biggest share goes to Kapaau (4%).
Jobs & commute next door
Darker towns draw more of Hawi’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 Hawi: questions
What is the median household income in Hawi?
$84,457 (±$12,023) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $100,389 across Hawaii and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Hawi?
10.1%, against 10.0% across Hawaii and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Hawi?
35 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Hawaii and 26 nationally. 7% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Hawi work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Urban Honolulu (20%, 150 mi), Waikoloa Beach Resort (14%, 21 mi), Kailua (8%, 42 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Hawi walkable?
Hawi is more walkable than 28% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 5.4 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Hawi without a car?
0% 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 Hawi, from the people who make the trip.
More of Hawi
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.