Photo: The Eloquent Peasant · CC BY-SA 4.0About half of Kalaeloa’s working residents commute to Urban Honolulu
Commuters spend 40 minutes getting to work on average, where Hawaii has 26 and the U.S. 26. Kalaeloa grades C+ for jobs and income and A+ for walkability. Only 2% stay in Kalaeloa for work; outside it, Urban Honolulu is the main destination (48%, 14 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Kalaeloa, in a few figures
Nearly half of Kalaeloa works in Urban Honolulu
394 working residents, 48%, have their main job in Urban Honolulu, 14 miles away. That’s 24 times as many as work in Kalaeloa itself. The commute map ↓
Kalaeloa workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 40 minutes each way, against 26 across Hawaii. Over a year that’s about 307 hours of commuting, 107 more than the state’s typical worker. Every town next door averages less (31 to 37 minutes). Time on the road ↓
Kalaeloa makes and builds things
37% of the jobs based in Kalaeloa are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Kalaeloa residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 10%. The jobs ↓
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; with 829 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Kalaeloa
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Kalaeloa is better than 40% of U.S. towns, #65 of 93 in Hawaii. Job access by car holds Kalaeloa’s grade up (ahead of 75% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down (22.0%, U.S. 12.5%). It also does well on household income.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Kalaeloa could be anywhere from C to A−.
The towns that employ Kalaeloa’s residents
Where Kalaeloa clocks in
8% of workers
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.
The daily trip from Kalaeloa: about 40 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 12.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Kalaeloa workers work from home, vs 10% across Hawaii. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,506 commuters (the 7% 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.
Goods jobs make up 37% of work in Kalaeloa
797 jobs are based in Kalaeloa.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Kalaeloa, 2014 → 2024: 874 → 797. 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 Kalaeloa’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How many people are in Kalaeloa by day
On a workday 810 residents head out to work, 19 work right here, and 778 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 (0.96 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
How many miles Kalaeloa commutes
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.
Kalaeloa is more walkable than 95% 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 1,622 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). Nearly all residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 10.3 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). 18.4% of Kalaeloa households have no vehicle (Hawaii 8.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 15% of Kalaeloa’s commuters take a bus or train.
Kalaeloa places 2,743rd of 4,593 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 2,300 to 4,500
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 553 | Waikapu HI | 3,591 | $123K | 4.8% | 1.8% | 2% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,162 | Puhi HI | 4,362 | $137K | 8.5% | 2.8% | 6% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,224 | Whitmore Village HI | 4,105 | $105K | 11.2% | 2.9% | 2% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,741 | Cedar Creek Township MI | 3,365 | $74K | 9.2% | 5.1% | 1% | C+ |
| 2,742 | Wimberley TX | 2,909 | $80K | 6.9% | 12.3% | 9% | C+ |
| 2,743 | Kalaeloa HI | 3,342 | $90K | 22.0% | 6.9% | 2% | C+ |
| 2,744 | Cape May NJ | 2,716 | $63K | 10.3% | 3.4% | 22% | C+ |
| 2,745 | Vernon Township OH | 3,035 | $81K | 10.8% | 6.1% | 1% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,593 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 19% | 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 Kalaeloa, the top three, the last and three more from Hawaii.
Around Kalaeloa: the bordering towns
The biggest share goes to Kapolei (8%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Kalaeloa workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kalaeloa | – | C+ | A+ | 40 min | $90,313 |
| Ewa Gentry | under 2% | A | A | 36 min | $135,684 |
| Ocean Pointe | under 2% | A+ | A− | 37 min | $149,767 |
| Kapolei | 8% | B+ | A | 31 min | $128,324 |
| Ewa Villages | under 2% | B+ | A | 31 min | $88,813 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Kalaeloa’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 Kalaeloa: questions
What is the median household income in Kalaeloa?
$90,313 (±$13,972) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $100,389 across Hawaii and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Kalaeloa?
22.0%, against 10.0% across Hawaii and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Kalaeloa?
40 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Hawaii and 26 nationally. 7% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Kalaeloa work?
2% work in town.
Is Kalaeloa walkable?
Kalaeloa is more walkable than 95% of U.S. towns (Walkability A+): an EPA walkability index of 10.8 out of 20, and 16% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Kalaeloa without a car?
15% of commuters take transit and 18% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Kalaeloa, from the people who make the trip.
More of Kalaeloa
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.