Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 1,919, settled in 1900.
Kealakekua’s best subject grades are a B+ for health and cost of living; its weakest is a D− for hazard risk. Kealakekua’s January low is 69°F, where Hawaii’s towns sit at 64°F and U.S. towns at 22°F. On cost of living, just 10 of Hawaii’s 125 towns do better. Most errands need a car: it is less walkable than 72% of U.S. towns. 1.4% of the land in Kealakekua is conserved, below both the Hawaii town median (12%) and the median of U.S. towns (4.3%). Greenwell Store is on the National Register of Historic Places. Kealakekua has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
Where Kealakekua beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
2,019 counted in 2010 and 2,307 in 2020.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Hawaii), ordered by how far Kealakekua is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
The archive holds 1 old photo or paper and 5 maps from 1928 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Kealakekua is unincorporated, so Hawaii County and regional agencies provide most services.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Nov 18, 2024.
Ordered by what stands out in Kealakekua.
The median commute is under 14 miles. Since 2013, Kealakekua has added 251 jobs, to 1,141 in 2023. For most workers, Kealakekua is a place to come home to: only 17% work in town. Its average commute comes in at 31 minutes.
| Kealakekua | Hawaii towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 17% | 3.7% | 8% |
| Average trip to work | 31 minutes | 28 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $103,000 | $100,000 | $80,000 |
| Below the poverty line | 7.2% | 9.7% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
The largest public high school is Konawaena High School, with 955 students. The Hawaii Department of Education school district runs its public schools. Of its 4 schools, two are listed below, each with the reason.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Konawaena Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 614 | C+ |
| Konawaena High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 955 | B+ |
NCES · EDFacts
On expected storm and flood damage, Kealakekua sits above 96% of U.S. communities. Of the losses FEMA expects locally, 46% come from earthquakes and 32% from inland flooding. Federal aid has come to Kealakekua households in 4 declared disasters; the latest was in 2026.
FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
In Kealakekua, nearly a fifth of adults worry about having enough food. The town beats the Hawaii average on 1 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 8. Two figures for adults in the town: 37% sleep under 7 hours, 19% have been diagnosed with depression.
| Kealakekua | Hawaii towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 25% | 27% | 35% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 37% | 45% | 36% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 17% | 23% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 16% | 17% |
| What stands out | Kealakekua | HI |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults sleeping under 7 hours | 37.3% | 45.7% |
| More smokers | 13.7% | 11% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
July afternoons reach 86°, January nights drop to 69° and snow is almost unheard of.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
A bachelor’s degree or higher: 32% of adults 25 and older, vs 36% across Hawaii. Adults 35 to 64 are 33% of residents (38% statewide).
| Kealakekua | Hawaii towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 32% | 31% | 29% |
| Median age | 40.9 years | 41.2 years | 40.5 years |
52% women, 48% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±7.6 points. Across Hawaii, 49.8% of residents are women.
| Kealakekua | HI | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 15.9% | 11.3% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 8.5% | 9.4% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 6.1% | 8.1% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 13.9% | 13.3% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 7.5% | 13.3% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 10.2% | 11.8% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 14.9% | 12.4% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 14% | 11.4% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 9% | 9% | 7% |
| No diploma | 13.6% | 6.8% | 10.4% |
| High school | 22.3% | 26.5% | 26% |
| Some college | 17.7% | 19.6% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 14.3% | 10.9% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 22.4% | 22.8% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 9.7% | 13.3% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 1,900, single groups can be off by several points
Homes in Kealakekua are typically worth about $791,000, down 1.1% in a year, 5% below the Hawaii typical home. For households locally, the share who own their home is 69%.
| Kealakekua | Hawaii towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $965 a month | $2,015 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 69% | 71% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Across 1 park or preserve: 2.7 miles of trail. Kealakekua’s trail network density stands at 0.3 miles per square mile. One park or preserve covers 5 acres in the town.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Clarence Lum Won Park | — | 5 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Kealakekua. Close and well known come first.
Big draw35 mi MountainMauna Kea
Big draw21 mi MountainMauna Loa
14 mi National ParkHawai'i Volcanoes National Park1.9M visitors a year
12 mi MountainHualālai
7 mi National Historical ParkPu'uhonua o Honaunau National Historical Park372K visitors a year
38 mi BeachPunalu'u BeachMauna Kea: Unknown, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Mauna Loa: Gordon Joly, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park: Jos-uit-boston at Dutch Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Hualālai: Photograph by J. Kauahikaua., Public domain · Pu'uhonua o Honaunau National Historical Park: Carol M. Highsmith, Public domain · Punalu'u Beach: Diego Delso, CC BY-SA 3.0
None within 15 miles of Kealakekua; the nearest are
About 9 of every 100 Kealakekua residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Hawaii.
Where Kealakekua’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
6 notable people were born in Kealakekua.
Census-designated place in Hawaii, U.S.
Kealakekua is a census-designated place (CDP) in Hawaiʻi County, Hawaiʻi, United States. As of the 2020 census, Kealakekua had a population of 2,307. It was the subject of the 1933 popular song "My Little Grass Shack in Kealakekua, Hawaii" by Bill Cogswell, Tommy Harrison and Johnny Noble, which became a Hawaiian music standard.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
3 towns share a border with Kealakekua.
| Town | HI rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kealakekua | — | — | B+ | — | — | B+ |
| Honalo | — | — | B | — | — | B+ |
| Captain Cook | — | — | C− | — | — | B+ |
| Kahaluu-Keauhou | — | — | D− | — | — | A− |
Kealakekua and Honalo have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. Kealakekua, Honalo, Captain Cook and Kahaluu-Keauhou report no FBI crime data of their own. Captain Cook and Kahaluu-Keauhou aren’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Kealakekua with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Not for the area. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades B+.
6 notable people were born here, including Keitani Graham and Brandon Cablay.
