Kaneohe Naval Air Station · Photo: Cpl Richard Mattingly, USMC · Public domainAt 9.0%, unemployment in Kaneohe Base is higher than in 92% of U.S. towns
Only 4% work in Kaneohe Base itself; outside it, Urban Honolulu draws the most (36%, 10 miles). The two grades for Kaneohe Base are C+ for jobs and income and A− for walkability. For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 0.5 trips an hour at the evening peak near the typical resident, next to 16.6 in Urban Honolulu.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Kaneohe Base stands out on work
Commutes from Kaneohe Base are quick
The average trip to work takes 11 minutes, against 26 across Hawaii. That’s about 115 hours a year less on the road than the typical Hawaii worker. Time on the road ↓
Kaneohe Base and Urban Honolulu trade workers both ways
Urban Honolulu is the top workplace for Kaneohe Base residents (36%) and also where the most people who work in Kaneohe Base come from (29% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
The jobs in Kaneohe Base pay better than its residents’ jobs
70% of the jobs based in Kaneohe Base pay over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year), against 47% of the jobs Kaneohe Base residents hold. 94% of the jobs here are held by people who live outside Kaneohe Base. The jobs ↓
A young workforce
35% of Kaneohe Base’s working residents are 29 or younger, about one in three. The jobs ↓
Kaneohe Base has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Kaneohe Base went from 522 in 2013 to 832 in 2023, +59%. The jobs ↓
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; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
What’s behind Kaneohe Base’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Kaneohe Base is better than 38% of U.S. towns, #70 of 93 in Hawaii. Job access by car holds Kaneohe Base’s grade up (ahead of 67% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Kaneohe Base could be anywhere from C− to B.
Kaneohe Base’s commute takes about 11 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 3.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Kaneohe Base workers work from home, vs 10% across Hawaii. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 6,561 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.
Commuting out of Kaneohe Base: the destinations
Where Kaneohe Base clocks in
8% 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.
In Kaneohe Base, services account for most jobs
832 jobs are based in Kaneohe Base.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Kaneohe Base, 2013 → 2023: 522 → 832. 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 Kaneohe Base’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Kaneohe Base on a workday afternoon
On a workday 1,281 residents head out to work, 49 work right here, and 783 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.
0.63 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 2023, primary jobs.
The distance from Kaneohe Base to work
About 20% 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.
Kaneohe Base is easy on foot, hard by bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Kaneohe Base is more walkable than 78% of U.S. towns, #43 of 93 in Hawaii. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 24.9% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 10.0% across Hawaii, on an EPA index of 6.6.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 6,911 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 0.5 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 50% 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). 2.5% of Kaneohe Base households have no vehicle (Hawaii 8.2%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Kaneohe Base’s commuters take a bus or train.
Kaneohe Base places 1,796th of 2,507 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 8,000 to 15,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 2 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Ladue MO | 8,934 | $250K | 1.1% | 1.7% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 390 | Aiea HI | 9,087 | $140K | 5.3% | 3.8% | 2% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 407 | Waipio HI | 10,870 | $110K | 5.7% | 2.9% | 2% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 427 | Ahuimanu HI | 8,452 | $135K | 6.4% | 2.6% | 0% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,794 | Emmett ID | 8,900 | $59K | 18.3% | 2.1% | 17% | C+ |
| 1,795 | Monroe Township IN | 8,997 | $67K | 8.9% | 6.1% | 12% | C+ |
| 1,796 | Kaneohe Base HI | 10,919 | $69K | 10.0% | 9.0% | 4% | C+ |
| 1,797 | Coral Hills MD | 9,756 | $69K | 18.3% | 8.5% | <1% | C+ |
| 1,798 | Wahpeton ND | 8,141 | $63K | 15.6% | 1.7% | 39% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,507 | Roma TX | 11,543 | $25K | 37.1% | 12.4% | 22% | 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 Kaneohe Base, the top three, the last and three more from Hawaii.
12% of Kaneohe Base works in a town next door
The biggest share goes to Kailua (8%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Kaneohe Base workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kaneohe Base | – | C+ | A− | 11 min | $69,418 |
| Kaneohe | 4% | B+ | A | 28 min | $125,613 |
| Kailua | 8% | A | A | 29 min | $148,582 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Kaneohe Base’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 Kaneohe Base: questions
What is the median household income in Kaneohe Base?
$69,418 (±$13,679) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $100,389 across Hawaii and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Kaneohe Base?
10.0%, against 10.0% across Hawaii and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Kaneohe Base?
11 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Hawaii and 26 nationally. 5% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Kaneohe Base work?
4% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Urban Honolulu (36%, 10 mi), Kailua (8%, 4 mi), Kaneohe (4%, 4 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Kaneohe Base walkable?
Kaneohe Base is more walkable than 78% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 6.6 out of 20, and 25% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Kaneohe Base without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Kaneohe Base, from the people who make the trip.
More of Kaneohe Base
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.