Photo: Polihale at English Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0Kekaha has 0.2 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
Jobs and income earn Kekaha C; getting around on foot earns it C+. There are 188 jobs in Kekaha for 884 working residents. Only 4% stay in Kekaha for work; outside it, Urban Honolulu is the main destination (21%, 128 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Kekaha stands out on work
Kekaha’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Kekaha is Urban Honolulu, 128 miles away as the crow flies. 21% of working residents (184) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Kekaha is a place people come home to
There are 188 jobs based in Kekaha, about two for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. Day and night ↓
A big share show a job far from home
41% 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 ↓
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; with 884 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Where Kekaha’s Jobs & income grade comes from
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Kekaha is better than 28% of U.S. towns, #81 of 93 in Hawaii. Household income holds Kekaha’s grade up ($84,375, U.S. $80,734); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 3% of U.S. towns). It also does well on unemployment.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Kekaha could be anywhere from D to B+.
How far Kekaha goes to work
About 41% 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.
Who works in Kekaha, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 850 residents head out to work, 34 work right here, and 154 people come in from elsewhere.
About 3,100 people are in Kekaha on a workday afternoon, 18% fewer than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Out of Kekaha to work: where people go
Where Kekaha clocks in
16% of workers
9% 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.
A place that makes things: 42% of Kekaha’s jobs are in goods
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Kekaha, 2013 → 2023: 142 → 188. 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 Kekaha’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Each way, about 26 minutes from Kekaha
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Kekaha workers work from home, vs 10% across Hawaii. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,567 commuters (the 2% 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.
In Kekaha, the car does most of the work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Kekaha is more walkable than 41% of U.S. towns, #69 of 93 in Hawaii. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 2.7% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 10.0% across Hawaii, on an EPA index of 5.7.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,607 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). 3.5% of Kekaha households have no vehicle (Hawaii 8.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Kekaha’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Kekaha is 3,247th of 4,430 U.S. towns of 2,600 to 5,100
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 561 | Waikapu HI | 3,591 | $123K | 4.8% | 1.8% | 2% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,107 | Waimanalo Beach HI | 4,505 | $127K | 6.8% | 4.4% | 0% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,179 | Puhi HI | 4,362 | $137K | 8.5% | 2.8% | 5% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,245 | Boscawen NH | 4,255 | $77K | 17.0% | 6.2% | 6% | C |
| 3,246 | Goshen Township OH | 2,904 | $53K | 17.8% | 2.1% | 5% | C |
| 3,247 | Kekaha HI | 3,768 | $84K | 18.9% | 3.6% | 4% | C |
| 3,248 | Redwood OR | 3,721 | $68K | 10.8% | 6.3% | <1% | C |
| 3,249 | Pocomoke City MD | 4,421 | $53K | 15.3% | 3.0% | 15% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 4,430 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | 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 Kekaha, the top three, the last and three more from Hawaii.
The towns next door employ 16% of Kekaha
Jobs & commute next door
The biggest share goes to Waimea. Darker towns draw more of Kekaha’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 Kekaha: questions
What is the median household income in Kekaha?
$84,375 (±$24,108) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $100,389 across Hawaii and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Kekaha?
18.9%, against 10.0% across Hawaii and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Kekaha?
26 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Hawaii and 26 nationally. 2% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Kekaha work?
4% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Urban Honolulu (21%, 128 mi), Waimea (16%, 3 mi), Lihue (9%, 23 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Kekaha walkable?
Kekaha is more walkable than 41% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 5.7 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Kekaha without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Kekaha, from the people who make the trip.
More of Kekaha
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.