Photo: Travis.Thurston · CC BY-SA 3.0Kailua has higher household incomes than 95% of U.S. towns
The average commute takes 29 minutes each way; Hawaii averages 26, the U.S. 26. Poverty touches 4.0% of residents, where Hawaii as a whole has 10.0%. About one in seven work in Kailua; the top destination outside it is Urban Honolulu (60%, 9 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Kailua apart on work
More than half of Kailua works in Urban Honolulu
8,662 working residents, 60%, have their main job in Urban Honolulu, 8.8 miles away. That’s 4 times as many as work in Kailua itself. The commute map ↓
Most Kailua residents work close to home
60% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home. Only 6% work more than 50 miles away. How far ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2024, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
Why Kailua gets the Jobs & income grade it does
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Kailua is better than 88% of U.S. towns, #12 of 93 in Hawaii. Household income is its strongest input ($148,582, U.S. $80,734); unemployment ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (3.8%, U.S. 5.2%). 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, Kailua could be anywhere from A− to A.
Commuting out of Kailua: the destinations
Where Kailua clocks in
2% 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.
How far Kailua’s workers travel
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
How many people are in Kailua by day
On a workday 12,265 residents head out to work, 2,063 work right here, and 6,809 people come in from elsewhere.
About 34,000 people are in Kailua on a workday afternoon, 14% fewer than live here.
0.62 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
The 8,872 jobs based in Kailua
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Kailua, 2014 → 2024: 7,745 → 8,872. 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 2024.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Kailua’s own residents hold wherever they work.
A commute of about 29 minutes in Kailua
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Kailua workers work from home, vs 10% across Hawaii. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 16,906 commuters (the 13% 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.
Kailua is more walkable than 93% of U.S. towns
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 19,429 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 88% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 46% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 11.3 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 94% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 3.2% of Kailua households have no vehicle (Hawaii 8.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 2% of Kailua’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 1,086 U.S. towns of 28,000 to 54,000, Kailua comes 212th on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | McLean VA | 49,627 | $250K | 2.9% | 2.3% | 6% | A+ |
| 2 | Southlake TX | 31,175 | $250K | 1.5% | 2.7% | 10% | A+ |
| 3 | Leawood KS | 34,093 | $186K | 3.1% | 2.0% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 153 | Pearl City HI | 44,547 | $118K | 5.8% | 2.8% | 6% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 210 | Webster NY | 45,309 | $94K | 5.1% | 2.7% | 15% | A |
| 211 | Troy Township IL | 50,168 | $109K | 5.5% | 3.7% | 10% | A |
| 212 | Kailua HI | 39,640 | $149K | 4.0% | 3.8% | 14% | A |
| 213 | Lake Ridge VA | 46,049 | $127K | 5.8% | 4.0% | 3% | A |
| 214 | Rancho Palos Verdes CA | 39,654 | $180K | 4.2% | 5.5% | 4% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 282 | East Honolulu HI | 51,360 | $160K | 5.3% | 4.5% | 7% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 476 | Kaneohe HI | 37,355 | $126K | 9.7% | 4.5% | 8% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,086 | Bullhead City AZ | 43,987 | $51K | 18.7% | 11.5% | 25% | 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 Kailua, the top three, the last and three more from Hawaii.
How Kailua compares with the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Kaneohe (3%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Kailua workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kailua | – | A | A | 29 min | $148,582 |
| Waimanalo | under 1% | B | A | 29 min | $116,581 |
| Maunawili | under 1% | A+ | B+ | 27 min | $177,143 |
| Kaneohe Base | under 1% | C+ | A− | 11 min | $69,418 |
| Kaneohe | 3% | B+ | A | 28 min | $125,613 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Kailua’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 2024, 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 Kailua: questions
What is the median household income in Kailua?
$148,582 (±$9,302) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $100,389 across Hawaii and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Kailua?
4.0%, against 10.0% across Hawaii and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Kailua?
29 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Hawaii and 26 nationally. 13% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Kailua work?
14% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Urban Honolulu (60%, 9 mi), Kaneohe (3%, 4 mi), East Honolulu (2%, 8 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Kailua walkable?
Kailua is more walkable than 93% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 12.9 out of 20, and 6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Kailua without a car?
2% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. 46% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Kailua, from the people who make the trip.
More of Kailua
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2024, 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.