KahukuHI
A town of 2,375, settled in 1900.
Is Kahuku a good place to live?
Kahuku’s best subject grades are an A for walkability and an A+ for the outdoors; its weakest is a D for hazard risk. Kahuku’s January low is 66°F, where Hawaii’s towns sit at 64°F and U.S. towns at 22°F. Only one of the 94 Hawaii towns we compare has a higher share of children under 18 than Kahuku. 23% of the land in Kahuku is conserved, against 12% in Hawaii’s towns and 4.3% across U.S. towns. No town in Hawaii scores higher than Kahuku on the outdoors. Kahuku has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
What makes Kahuku stand out
Where Kahuku beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
Every workday, about 507 people come to Kahuku for work
Where Kahuku’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
How Kahuku grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Hawaii), ordered by how far Kahuku is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Moving to Kahuku: who provides what
Kahuku is unincorporated, so Honolulu County and regional agencies provide most services.
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 Kahuku.
Kahuku has 2.8 jobs for every working resident, and 507 people commute in
For half of commuters, work is under 25 miles away. Employers in Kahuku added 254 jobs between 2013 and 2023, to 512. Commuting out is the norm here: 3% of working residents work locally. The mean commuting time for Kahuku comes to 30 minutes.
| Kahuku | Hawaii towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 30 minutes | 28 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $75,000 | $100,000 | $80,000 |
| Working residents who work in town | 2.7% | 3.7% | 8% |
| Below the poverty line | 8% | 9.7% | 9.6% |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
The schools Kahuku’s kids attend
Its two schools are below. The Hawaii Department of Education school district runs its public schools. The largest public high school is Kahuku High & Intermediate School, with 1,433 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kahuku Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–6 | Grades PK–6 | 339 | C |
| Kahuku High & Intermediate SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 7–12 | Grades 7–12 | 1,433 | C+ |
NCES · EDFacts
The biggest natural risk in Kahuku is tsunamis, at a very high overall level
FEMA puts 48% of Kahuku’s expected hazard losses down to tsunamis, and 41% to inland flooding. Expected damage from storms and floods is higher here than in 88% of U.S. communities. Federal aid has come to Kahuku households in 3 declared disasters; the latest was in 2026.
FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
More children than Hawaii overall
Kahuku’s age of the median resident stands at 27.3 years. Children under 18 are 37% of residents (21% statewide); people 65 and older are 11% of residents (20% statewide). The bachelor’s-degree share among adults 25 and older is 33%, against 36% across Hawaii.
| Kahuku | Hawaii towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median age | 27.3 years | 41.2 years | 40.5 years |
| Aged 65 or older | 11% | 20% | 18% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 33% | 31% | 29% |
Ages · share of residents
Education · adults 25 and older
Women and men · all residents
54% women, 46% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±8.4 points. Across Hawaii, 49.8% of residents are women.
| Kahuku | HI | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 21.9% | 11.3% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 14.9% | 9.4% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 8% | 8.1% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 12% | 13.3% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 11.7% | 13.3% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 11.5% | 11.8% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 8.8% | 12.4% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 7.4% | 11.4% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 3.9% | 9% | 7% |
| No diploma | 5.7% | 6.8% | 10.4% |
| High school | 34.2% | 26.5% | 26% |
| Some college | 21.2% | 19.6% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 5.4% | 10.9% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 23.3% | 22.8% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 10.1% | 13.3% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 2,400, single groups can be off by several points
Zillow puts the typical Kahuku home at about $1.1M
In the year to September 2026, typical home values climbed 6.7%. Three in five households live in a home they own in Kahuku. Only 5 of the 94 Hawaii towns we compare have a lower typical rent than Kahuku.
| Kahuku | Hawaii towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 60% | 71% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,256 a month | $2,015 a month | $1,185 a month |
Typical home value
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Kahuku keeps 22.6% of its land conserved
3.9 miles of trail. In Kahuku, the concentration of trails is 1.7 miles per square mile.
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Kahuku ranks healthier than 66% of the country’s towns
In Kahuku, nearly a third of adults have obesity. Against the Hawaii average, Kahuku comes out ahead on 2 CDC measures out of 32, and behind on 10. Among 94 Hawaii towns, just 7 have a higher share of adults who sleep under 7 hours than Kahuku. Two figures for adults in the town: 20% binge drink, 17% have been diagnosed with depression.
| Kahuku | Hawaii towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 51% | 45% | 36% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 19% | 16% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 17% | 23% |
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 21% | 18% | 14% |
| What stands out | Kahuku | HI |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 5.5% | 6.7% |
| Fewer adults with heart disease | 5.5% | 6.2% |
| More adults facing housing insecurity | 14.3% | 10.9% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
USS Missouri and 46 more within 40 miles
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Kahuku. Close and well known come first.
Big draw22 mi MuseumUSS Missouri
22 mi MuseumUSS Arizona Memorial
21 mi Stadium & arenaAloha Stadium
30 mi MountainDiamond Head
29 mi BeachWaikīkī
3 mi MuseumPolynesian Cultural CenterPhoto credits
USS Missouri: Camera Operator: EM2 KENNETH D. MEHL (Released to Public), Public domain · USS Arizona Memorial: DoD photo by: PH3(AW/SW) JAYME PASTORIC, USN, Public domain · Aloha Stadium: This photo was taken and originally uploaded by Bobak to English Wikipedia. Uplo, CC BY 3.0 · Diamond Head: Unknown, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Waikīkī: Frank Schulenburg, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Polynesian Cultural Center: Gh5046 at en.wikipedia, Public domain
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Everything we know about Kahuku
Colleges nearby
1 within 15 miles of the center of Kahuku
About 7 of every 100 Kahuku residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Hawaii.
Questions about Kahuku
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Kahuku, HI expensive?
That is 10.4 years of the area's median household income ($106,195 across the Urban Honolulu, HI metro area). Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C.