Photo: Travis.Thurston · CC BY-SA 3.0Household incomes in Kapolei are higher than in 91% of U.S. towns
For jobs and income Kapolei is better than 73% of U.S. towns (B+); for walkability it is more walkable than 93% of U.S. towns (A). Below the poverty line: 6.3% of residents, where Hawaii as a whole has 10.0%. Transit is limited for a town this walkable: about 9.8 trips an hour stop near the typical resident at the evening peak, against 16.6 in Urban Honolulu.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Kapolei apart on work
More than half of Kapolei works in Urban Honolulu
4,887 working residents, 56%, have their main job in Urban Honolulu, 14 miles away. That’s 7 times as many as work in Kapolei itself. The commute map ↓
Kapolei trades workers with the towns around it
Kapolei has about as many jobs (10,089) as working residents (8,745), but they are mostly different people: 8,039 residents leave for work each day while 9,383 people come in. Only 7% of the jobs in Kapolei are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Kapolei workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 31 minutes each way, against 26 across Hawaii. Over a year that’s about 238 hours of commuting, 38 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
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.
Jobs & income in Kapolei: the grade in detail
Household income holds Kapolei’s grade up ($128,324, U.S. $80,734); unemployment pulls it down (6.7%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on the poverty rate and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Kapolei could be anywhere from B to A.
56% of working residents work in Urban Honolulu
Where Kapolei 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.
The daily commute in and out of Kapolei
On a workday 8,039 residents head out to work, 706 work right here, and 9,383 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 (1.15 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.
From Kapolei, about 31 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Kapolei workers work from home, vs 10% across Hawaii. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 10,171 commuters (the 11% 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.
Jobs in Kapolei: what the 10,089 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Kapolei, 2014 → 2024: 7,572 → 10,089. 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 Kapolei’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The distance from Kapolei to work
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.
Kapolei is more walkable than most U.S. towns, with limited transit
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 11,372 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 92% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 92% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 9.8 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 93% 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). 5.8% of Kapolei households have no vehicle (Hawaii 8.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 3% of Kapolei’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Kapolei is 734th among 1,658 U.S. towns of 16,000 to 30,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | West Springfield VA | 22,532 | $163K | 1.9% | 1.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Mountain Brook AL | 21,661 | $201K | 3.2% | 1.2% | 8% | A+ |
| 3 | Lake Forest IL | 19,731 | $235K | 3.5% | 1.8% | 12% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 76 | Ocean Pointe HI | 17,085 | $150K | 2.1% | 2.2% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 96 | Mililani Mauka HI | 21,278 | $139K | 3.3% | 2.3% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 233 | Ewa Gentry HI | 26,563 | $136K | 2.9% | 3.6% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 732 | Golden CO | 20,390 | $99K | 12.6% | 3.6% | 17% | B+ |
| 733 | Central Point OR | 19,139 | $86K | 6.7% | 3.1% | 10% | B+ |
| 734 | Kapolei HI | 22,232 | $128K | 6.3% | 6.7% | 8% | B+ |
| 735 | Frederickson WA | 25,383 | $110K | 5.7% | 5.7% | 3% | B+ |
| 736 | West Carson CA | 22,143 | $93K | 8.7% | 5.4% | 3% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,658 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 28% | 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 Kapolei, the top three, the last and three more from Hawaii.
Kapolei and the towns next door
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Kapolei workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kapolei | – | B+ | A | 31 min | $128,324 |
| East Kapolei | under 1% | A | B | 33 min | $118,904 |
| Makakilo | under 1% | B+ | A− | 33 min | $118,550 |
| Kalaeloa | under 1% | C+ | A+ | 40 min | $90,313 |
| Ewa Villages | under 1% | B+ | A | 31 min | $88,813 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Kapolei’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 Kapolei: questions
What is the median household income in Kapolei?
$128,324 (±$11,155) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $100,389 across Hawaii and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Kapolei?
6.3%, against 10.0% across Hawaii and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Kapolei?
31 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Hawaii and 26 nationally. 11% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Kapolei work?
8% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Urban Honolulu (56%, 14 mi), Ko Olina (4%, 3 mi), Waipahu (3%, 5 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Kapolei walkable?
Kapolei is more walkable than 93% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 14.0 out of 20, and 6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Kapolei without a car?
3% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. 92% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Kapolei, from the people who make the trip.
More of Kapolei
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.