Household incomes in Ko Olina top those of 92% of U.S. towns
About one in ten stay in Ko Olina for work; outside it, Urban Honolulu is the main destination (41%, 18 miles). Below the poverty line: 6.8% of residents, next to 10.0% for Hawaii as a whole. Ko Olina grades A 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
Ko Olina and work: the main findings
Ko Olina fills up on a workday
Ko Olina has 4,368 jobs, 7.1 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 5,400 people are in town, 3 times the 1,700 who live here. Day and night ↓
41% of Ko Olina works in Urban Honolulu
254 working residents, 41%, have their main job in Urban Honolulu, 18 miles away. That’s 5 times as many as work in Ko Olina itself. The commute map ↓
Nearly all the work in Ko Olina is services
97% of the jobs based here are in services, such as health care, schools and offices. Only 0% are in factories, building or farms. 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; with 619 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
The figures behind Ko Olina’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty and job access, Ko Olina is better than 88% of U.S. towns. Household income is its strongest input ($132,636, U.S. $80,734); the poverty rate ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns. It also does well on the poverty rate and job access by car.
Unemployment (0.8%) is left out: Ko Olina’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Ko Olina could be anywhere from A− to A+.
How a workday changes Ko Olina
On a workday 561 residents head out to work, 58 work right here, and 4,310 people come in from elsewhere.
About 5,400 people are in Ko Olina on a workday afternoon, 224% more than live here.
7.1 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
Who travels to work in Ko Olina, and from where
Where Ko Olina clocks in
5% 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.
Mostly services: health care, schools and offices
4,368 jobs are based in Ko Olina.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Ko Olina, 2014 → 2024: 3,904 → 4,368. 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 Ko Olina’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 33 minutes each way, longer than most of Hawaii
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Ko Olina workers work from home, vs 10% across Hawaii. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 804 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.
How far it is to work from Ko Olina
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.
Few in Ko Olina walk, bike or ride to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Ko Olina is more walkable than 72% of U.S. towns.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 902 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 15% 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 6.5 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 88% 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). 1.1% of Ko Olina households have no vehicle (Hawaii 8.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 4% of Ko Olina’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Ko Olina ranks: 383rd of 5,760 U.S. towns of 1,200 to 2,300
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 1% | A+ |
| 2 | Plandome NY | 1,482 | $250K | 0.9% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Hewlett Harbor NY | 1,332 | $250K | 1.9% | 7.2% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 80 | Maunawili HI | 2,024 | $177K | 1.6% | 1.6% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 370 | Wheeler AFB HI | 2,097 | $92K | 1.3% | 4.9% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 381 | Curtice OH | 1,535 | $104K | 3.8% | 0.0% | 1% | A |
| 382 | Marion Township IN | 1,260 | $91K | 3.5% | 2.4% | 2% | A |
| 383 | Ko Olina HI | 1,670 | $133K | 6.8% | 0.8% | 9% | A |
| 384 | Rivanna VA | 2,211 | $146K | 4.6% | 8.1% | 2% | A |
| 385 | Folly Beach SC | 2,081 | $102K | 4.0% | 2.1% | 9% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,173 | Omao HI | 1,528 | $102K | 3.1% | 7.6% | 1% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 5,760 | Paraje NM | 1,333 | $33K | 61.7% | 0.0% | 7% | 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 Ko Olina, the top three, the last and three more from Hawaii.
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 Ko Olina: questions
What is the median household income in Ko Olina?
$132,636 (±$14,396) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $100,389 across Hawaii and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Ko Olina?
6.8%, against 10.0% across Hawaii and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Ko Olina?
33 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Hawaii and 26 nationally. 11% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Ko Olina work?
9% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Urban Honolulu (41%, 18 mi), Kapolei (5%, 3 mi), Waipahu (3%, 8 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Ko Olina walkable?
Ko Olina is more walkable than 72% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 6.3 out of 20, and 11% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Ko Olina without a car?
4% of commuters take transit and 1% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Ko Olina, from the people who make the trip.
More of Ko Olina
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.