Photo: ideatrendz · CC BY-SA 2.0Kahului’s household incomes are higher than in 75% of U.S. towns
About one in five work in Kahului itself; outside it, Urban Honolulu draws the most (19%, 95 miles). 8.7% of residents live below the poverty line, against 10.0% across Hawaii. The two grades for Kahului are 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 the numbers say about work in Kahului
Kahului’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Kahului is Urban Honolulu, 95 miles away as the crow flies. 19% of working residents (3,606) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Kahului trades workers with the towns around it
Kahului has about as many jobs (17,217) as working residents (19,233), but they are mostly different people: 14,873 residents leave for work each day while 12,857 people come in. Only 25% of the jobs in Kahului are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
A big share show a job far from home
40% 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 ↓
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.
What drives the Jobs & income grade in Kahului
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Kahului is better than 67% of U.S. towns, #35 of 93 in Hawaii. Household income is its strongest input ($98,077, U.S. $80,734); job access by car ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (ahead of 51% of U.S. towns). It also does well on the poverty rate and unemployment and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Kahului could be anywhere from B− to A−.
Short hops and long hauls from Kahului
About 40% 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.
Kahului on a workday afternoon
On a workday 14,873 residents head out to work, 4,360 work right here, and 12,857 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 (0.90 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.
Out of Kahului to work: where people go
Where Kahului 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 17,217 jobs based in Kahului
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Kahului, 2013 → 2023: 14,366 → 17,217. 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 Kahului’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 23 minutes each way, quicker than most of Hawaii
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Kahului workers work from home, vs 10% across Hawaii. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 12,955 commuters (the 5% 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.
The commute in Kahului is mostly behind the wheel
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Kahului is more walkable than 71% of U.S. towns, #48 of 93 in Hawaii. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 4.8% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 10.0% across Hawaii, on an EPA index of 7.3.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 13,633 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). 7.0% of Kahului households have no vehicle (Hawaii 8.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 3% of Kahului’s commuters take a bus or train.
Kahului next to U.S. towns of 20,000 to 38,000: 707th of 1,409 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | West Springfield VA | 22,532 | $163K | 1.9% | 1.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Mountain Brook AL | 21,661 | $201K | 3.2% | 1.2% | 8% | A+ |
| 3 | Upper Dublin Township PA | 27,258 | $168K | 3.2% | 1.9% | 8% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 75 | Mililani Mauka HI | 21,278 | $139K | 3.3% | 2.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 180 | Ewa Gentry HI | 26,563 | $136K | 2.9% | 3.6% | <1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 214 | Mililani Town HI | 27,668 | $127K | 3.2% | 3.7% | 2% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 705 | Dover NH | 34,623 | $95K | 8.3% | 4.1% | 19% | B+ |
| 706 | Brownstown Township MI | 32,680 | $95K | 8.5% | 5.9% | 4% | B+ |
| 707 | Kahului HI | 28,288 | $98K | 8.7% | 3.5% | 23% | B+ |
| 708 | Wheat Ridge CO | 32,081 | $91K | 11.2% | 5.0% | 6% | B+ |
| 709 | Fairland MD | 26,231 | $99K | 10.4% | 6.1% | 2% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,409 | Barstow CA | 24,804 | $53K | 23.1% | 11.9% | 17% | 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 Kahului, the top three, the last and three more from Hawaii.
Work next door: 12% of Kahului’s workers
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
The biggest share goes to Wailuku. Darker towns draw more of Kahului’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 Kahului: questions
What is the median household income in Kahului?
$98,077 (±$13,386) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $100,389 across Hawaii and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Kahului?
8.7%, against 10.0% across Hawaii and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Kahului?
23 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Hawaii and 26 nationally. 5% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Kahului work?
23% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Urban Honolulu (19%, 95 mi), Wailuku (12%, 3 mi), Wailea (7%, 12 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Kahului walkable?
Kahului is more walkable than 71% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 7.3 out of 20, and 5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Kahului without a car?
3% of commuters take transit and 7% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Kahului, from the people who make the trip.
More of Kahului
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.