Photo: No machine-readable author provided. Caracas1830 assumed (based on copyright claims). · CC BY-SA 2.5Koloa has fewer jobs than working residents: 0.4 for each
Employers in Koloa report 468 jobs, against 1,076 working residents. For jobs and income Koloa is better than 33% of U.S. towns (C); for walkability it is more walkable than 62% of U.S. towns (B). A typical one-way commute lasts 21 minutes, where Hawaii has 26 and the U.S. 26.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Koloa stands out on work
A big share show a job far from home
38% 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 ↓
The better-paid jobs are outside Koloa
63% of Koloa residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 45% of the jobs based in Koloa pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 97% leave town for their job. The jobs ↓
Koloa has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Koloa went from 338 in 2013 to 468 in 2023, +38%. The jobs ↓
Commutes from Koloa are quick
The average trip to work takes 21 minutes, against 26 across Hawaii. That’s about 38 hours a year less on the road than the typical Hawaii worker. Time on the road ↓
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; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
Where Koloa’s Jobs & income grade comes from
The poverty rate holds Koloa’s grade up (7.1%, U.S. 12.5%); unemployment pulls it down (7.8%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on household income.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Koloa could be anywhere from D to B.
Half of Koloa commutes less than 8 miles
About 38% 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.
The kinds of work in Koloa
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Koloa, 2013 → 2023: 338 → 468. 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 Koloa’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 21 minutes each way, quicker than most of Hawaii
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Koloa workers work from home, vs 10% across Hawaii. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,131 commuters (the 6% 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.
The daily flow of workers through Koloa
On a workday 1,039 residents head out to work, 37 work right here, and 431 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,300 people are in Koloa on a workday afternoon, 21% 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.
22% of working residents work in Poipu
Where Koloa clocks in
15% 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.
Few in Koloa walk, bike or ride to work
How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 4.7% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 10.0% across Hawaii, on an EPA index of 6.5.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,204 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). 7.7% of Koloa households have no vehicle (Hawaii 8.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 2% of Koloa’s commuters take a bus or train.
Koloa places 3,186th of 4,882 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 2,000 to 3,900
| # | 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% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 82 | Maunawili HI | 2,024 | $177K | 1.6% | 1.6% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 466 | Wheeler AFB HI | 2,097 | $92K | 1.3% | 4.9% | 2% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 536 | Waikapu HI | 3,591 | $123K | 4.8% | 1.8% | 2% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 3,184 | Monroe Township PA | 2,029 | $67K | 7.3% | 3.2% | 4% | C |
| 3,185 | Mono Vista CA | 3,675 | $86K | 7.0% | 7.6% | 4% | C |
| 3,186 | Koloa HI | 2,907 | $78K | 7.1% | 7.8% | 3% | C |
| 3,187 | Middletown IN | 2,248 | $56K | 12.7% | 5.2% | 4% | C |
| 3,188 | Jamestown OH | 2,121 | $57K | 16.4% | 4.3% | 9% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 4,882 | Cibecue AZ | 2,228 | $26K | 57.2% | 13.3% | 12% | 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 Koloa, the top three, the last and three more from Hawaii.
Bordering towns draw 22% of Koloa’s workers
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
The biggest share goes to Poipu. Darker towns draw more of Koloa’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 Koloa: questions
What is the median household income in Koloa?
$77,868 (±$21,051) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $100,389 across Hawaii and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Koloa?
7.1%, against 10.0% across Hawaii and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Koloa?
21 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Hawaii and 26 nationally. 6% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Koloa work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Poipu (22%, 1 mi), Urban Honolulu (18%, 111 mi), Lihue (15%, 8 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Koloa walkable?
Koloa is more walkable than 62% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 6.5 out of 20, and 5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Koloa without a car?
2% of commuters take transit and 8% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Koloa, from the people who make the trip.
More of Koloa
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.