Kilauea School · Photo: Joel Bradshaw · Public domainHouseholds in Kilauea earn more than those in 70% of U.S. towns
About one in seven stay in Kilauea for work; outside it, Princeville is the main destination (16%, 5 miles). Below the poverty line: 18.5% of residents, next to 10.0% for Hawaii as a whole. The two grades for Kilauea are C+ for jobs and income and B+ for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Kilauea, in brief
Kilauea trades workers with the towns around it
Kilauea has about as many jobs (917) as working residents (1,013), but they are mostly different people: 847 residents leave for work each day while 751 people come in. Only 18% of the jobs in Kilauea are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Kilauea has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Kilauea went from 642 in 2014 to 917 in 2024, +43%. 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; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
Income, poverty and work: Kilauea’s grade explained
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Kilauea is better than 35% of U.S. towns, #72 of 93 in Hawaii. Household income holds Kilauea’s grade up ($91,984, U.S. $80,734); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 8% of U.S. towns). It also does well on unemployment.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Kilauea could be anywhere from D to B+.
Who works in Kilauea, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 847 residents head out to work, 166 work right here, and 751 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 (0.91 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.
The 917 jobs based in Kilauea
917 jobs are based in Kilauea.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Kilauea, 2014 → 2024: 642 → 917. 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 Kilauea’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Commuting out of Kilauea: the destinations
Where Kilauea clocks in
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.
About 23 minutes each way, quicker than most of Hawaii
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Kilauea workers work from home, vs 10% across Hawaii. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,312 commuters (the 17% 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.
Half of Kilauea commutes less than 10 miles
About 27% 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 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Getting around Kilauea: mostly by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Kilauea is more walkable than 69% of U.S. towns, #51 of 93 in Hawaii.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,576 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). 1.3% of Kilauea households have no vehicle (Hawaii 8.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Kilauea’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Kilauea is 2,948th of 4,562 U.S. towns of 2,200 to 4,200
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 526 | Waikapu HI | 3,591 | $123K | 4.8% | 1.8% | 2% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,176 | Whitmore Village HI | 4,105 | $105K | 11.2% | 2.9% | 2% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,314 | Eleele HI | 2,522 | $118K | 6.1% | 2.7% | 6% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,946 | Chester Township PA | 4,068 | $58K | 16.3% | 6.8% | 2% | C+ |
| 2,947 | Lackawannock Township PA | 2,465 | $58K | 11.1% | 7.8% | 6% | C+ |
| 2,948 | Kilauea HI | 3,146 | $92K | 18.5% | 3.4% | 16% | C+ |
| 2,949 | Westmoreland TN | 2,879 | $59K | 13.9% | 3.4% | 3% | C+ |
| 2,950 | Jefferson Township IN | 2,389 | $74K | 6.5% | 8.4% | 3% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,562 | 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 Kilauea, the top three, the last and three more from Hawaii.
Kilauea and its neighbors
The biggest share goes to Kalihiwai (2%).
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Kilauea workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kilauea | – | C+ | B+ | 23 min | $91,984 |
| Kalihiwai | 2% | — | — | 28 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Kalihiwai: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Kilauea’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 Kilauea: questions
What is the median household income in Kilauea?
$91,984 (±$26,421) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $100,389 across Hawaii and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Kilauea?
18.5%, against 10.0% across Hawaii and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Kilauea?
23 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Hawaii and 26 nationally. 17% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Kilauea work?
16% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Princeville (16%, 5 mi), Urban Honolulu (13%, 117 mi), Hanalei (9%, 6 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Kilauea walkable?
Kilauea is more walkable than 69% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 7.3 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Kilauea without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 1% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Kilauea, from the people who make the trip.
More of Kilauea
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.