Kamakahonu, Residence Of King Kamehameha I · Photo: W Nowicki · CC BY 3.0There are 5.3 jobs in Kailua for every working resident, and 7,848 people commute in
About one in five work in Kailua; the top destination outside it is Urban Honolulu (22%, 167 miles). There are 8,113 jobs in Kailua, against 1,523 working residents. Kailua grades C+ 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
The short version on getting to work from Kailua
Kailua has far more jobs than workers
Kailua has 8,113 jobs, 5.3 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
Kailua’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Kailua is Urban Honolulu, 167 miles away as the crow flies. 22% of working residents (332) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
The biggest group of Kailua’s workers comes from Hilo
1,923 of the people who work in Kailua live in Hilo, 60 miles away, more than from any other town. The commute map ↓
A big share show a job far from home
48% 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 ↓
Commutes from Kailua are quick
The average trip to work takes 20 minutes, against 26 across Hawaii. That’s about 46 hours a year less on the road than the typical Hawaii worker. Time on the road ↓
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.
Inside Kailua’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Kailua is better than 43% of U.S. towns, #62 of 93 in Hawaii. Household income holds Kailua’s grade up ($88,211, U.S. $80,734); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 29% of U.S. towns). It also does well on unemployment.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Kailua could be anywhere from C to B.
Kailua on a workday afternoon
On a workday 1,258 residents head out to work and 265 work right here.
About 28,000 people are in Kailua on a workday afternoon, 30% more than live here.
5.3 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Kailua’s commute, mile by mile
About 48% 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.
Where Kailua’s workforce comes from
Where Kailua 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.
About 20 minutes each way for Kailua’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.5 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 8,921 commuters (the 10% 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 kinds of work in Kailua
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Kailua, 2013 → 2023: 8,005 → 8,113. 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 Kailua’s own residents hold wherever they work.
In Kailua, the car does most of the work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Kailua is more walkable than 60% of U.S. towns, #59 of 93 in Hawaii. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 3.6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 10.0% across Hawaii, on an EPA index of 6.9.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 9,936 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). 4.7% of Kailua households have no vehicle (Hawaii 8.2%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Kailua’s commuters take a bus or train.
Kailua is 1,282nd of 1,787 U.S. towns of 15,000 to 29,000 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rogers MN | 15,606 | $159K | 1.9% | 1.2% | 10% | A+ |
| 2 | West Springfield VA | 22,532 | $163K | 1.9% | 1.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Wolf Trap VA | 15,858 | $250K | 3.1% | 2.0% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 90 | Ocean Pointe HI | 17,085 | $150K | 2.1% | 2.2% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 110 | Mililani Mauka HI | 21,278 | $139K | 3.3% | 2.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 253 | Ewa Gentry HI | 26,563 | $136K | 2.9% | 3.6% | <1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,280 | Maywood IL | 23,330 | $69K | 15.5% | 7.7% | 4% | C+ |
| 1,281 | Hickory Point Township IL | 17,474 | $59K | 10.4% | 4.6% | 11% | C+ |
| 1,282 | Kailua HI | 21,818 | $88K | 14.3% | 4.0% | 17% | C+ |
| 1,283 | Davison Township MI | 20,403 | $65K | 11.7% | 5.3% | 6% | C+ |
| 1,284 | Landover MD | 24,514 | $72K | 19.5% | 6.7% | 3% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,787 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 29% | 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.
Bordering towns draw 19% of Kailua’s workers
The biggest share goes to Kaiminani (13%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Kailua workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kailua | – | C+ | B | 20 min | $88,211 |
| Holualoa | under 1% | B− | B | 24 min | $115,972 |
| Kaiminani | 13% | B | B− | 20 min | $110,560 |
| Kahaluu-Keauhou | 6% | B− | B+ | 25 min | $96,212 |
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 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 Kailua: questions
What is the median household income in Kailua?
$88,211 (±$5,715) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $100,389 across Hawaii and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Kailua?
14.3%, against 10.0% across Hawaii and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Kailua?
20 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Hawaii and 26 nationally. 10% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Kailua work?
17% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Urban Honolulu (22%, 167 mi), Kaiminani (13%, 8 mi), Kahaluu-Keauhou (6%, 6 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Kailua walkable?
Kailua is more walkable than 60% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 6.9 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Kailua without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
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), 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.