Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 39,640.
Kailua’s best subject grades are an A for health, walkability, and incomes; its weakest is a D for cost of living. Kailua’s median rent is $3,093 a month, where Hawaii’s towns sit at $2,009 a month and U.S. towns at $1,185 a month. On health, just 5 of Hawaii’s 125 towns do better. FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 89% of U.S. communities, with inland flooding at the top. Kailua has 3 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Kaneohe Ranch Building and Pahukini Heiau. Kailua 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).
Where Kailua beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
Where Kailua’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Hawaii), ordered by how far Kailua is from typical.
Kailua 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).
How TownRatings grades towns →
The archive holds 12 old photos and papers and 5 maps from 1952 on.
3 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Explore the history →Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Kailua. Close and well known come first.
Big draw14 mi MuseumUSS Missouri
14 mi MuseumUSS Arizona Memorial
13 mi Stadium & arenaAloha Stadium
11 mi MountainDiamond Head
10 mi BeachWaikīkī
9 mi LandmarkNational Memorial Cemetery of the PacificUSS 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 · National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific: Cleared as filed at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0
Kailua 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.
Ordered by what stands out in Kailua.
The typical Kailua home is worth about $1,526,000, up 2.7% in a year, 83% above the Hawaii typical home.
| Kailua | Hawaii towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Renters paying 30%+ of income on rent | 49% | 55% | 48% |
| Households that own their home | 72% | 71% | 73% |
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Its public schools are run by the Hawaii Department of Education school district. Three of its 14 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kailua Intermediate SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 7–8 | Grades 7–8 | 749 | A− |
| Kalaheo High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 874 | A− |
| Aikahi Elementary SchoolTop results in townGrades PK–6 | Grades PK–6 | 485 | A+ |
NCES · EDFacts
Kailua beats the Hawaii average on 18 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 2. 8.1% of Kailua adults smoke cigarettes, below both Hawaii’s towns (12%) and U.S. towns (14%). 20% of adults binge drink in Kailua.
| Kailua | Hawaii towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 8.1% | 12% | 14% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 19% | 16% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 11% | 13% | 14% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 29% | 32% | 33% |
| What stands out | Kailua | HI |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 4.6% | 8.5% |
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 10.8% | 17.3% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 8.5% | 6.7% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Since 1978, 257 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Kailua.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Most working residents leave Kailua for work: only 13% work in town. Kailua’s median household income is $149,000. Jobs based in Kailua grew to 8,994 in 2023, 1,321 more than in 2013.
| Kailua | Hawaii towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $149,000 | $100,000 | $80,000 |
| Below the poverty line | 4% | 9.7% | 9.6% |
| Working residents who work in town | 13% | 3.6% | 8% |
| Average trip to work | 29 minutes | 28 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Kailua has warm winters and warm summers. July afternoons reach 84°, January nights drop to 65° and snow is almost unheard of.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
10 miles of trail in 10 parks and preserves. The trail density in Kailua is 1.0 miles per square mile. The biggest park or preserve is Kailua Beach Park, at 24 acres.
| Kailua | Hawaii towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 1.0 miles per square mile | 0.5 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 9.7% | 12% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Kailua Beach Park | 0.2 mi | 24 |
| 2. Kailua District Park | 0.2 mi | 18 |
| 3. Aikahi Community Park | — | 7 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
8 within 15 miles of the center of Kailua
About 6 of every 100 Kailua residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Hawaii.
18 notable people were born in Kailua.
Census-designated place in Hawaii, United States
Kailua (English: kye-LOO-ə, Hawaiian: [kɐjˈluwə]) is a census-designated place (CDP) in Honolulu County, Hawaii, United States. It lies in the Koʻolaupoko District of the island of Oʻahu on the windward coast at Kailua Bay. It is in the judicial district and the ahupua'a named Ko'olaupoko. It is 12 miles (19 km) northeast of Honolulu – over Nu‘uanu Pali. In the Hawaiian language Kailua means "two seas" or "two currents", a contraction of the words kai (meaning "sea" or "sea water") and ʻelua (meaning "two"); it is so named because of the two former fishponds in the district (Kawainui and Kaʻelepulu) or the two currents that run through Kailua Bay. Kailua is primarily a residential community…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
4 towns share a border with Kailua.
| Town | HI rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kailua | — | — | D | — | — | A |
| Waimanalo | — | — | C− | — | — | C+ |
| Maunawili | — | — | D | — | — | A+ |
| Kaneohe Base | — | — | C | — | — | A |
| Kaneohe | — | — | D | — | — | A− |
Maunawili has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Kailua, Waimanalo, Maunawili, Kaneohe Base and Kaneohe report no FBI crime data of their own. Kailua, Waimanalo, Kaneohe Base and Kaneohe aren’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Kailua with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Kailua 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).
Yes. That is 14.4 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 D.
Kailua has 3 places on the National Register of Historic Places. 18 notable people were born here, including B.J. Penn and Brian Adams.
.jpg){kind=link}
-L1004709.jpg){kind=link}
