R.W. Meyer Sugar Mill, State Route 47
Kualapuu’s story
Kualapuu in pictures
The archive holds 1 old photo or paper.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
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KualapuuHI
A town of 2,535.
U.S. Coast Guard Molokai Light · Photo: Boucher, Jack E. · Public domain
Population
2,535
Census survey, 2020–24
Median home value
$318K
Census ACS
Household income
$63K
median
Median age
37.8
years
Jobs based here
129
A commuter town
Is Kualapuu a good place to live?
The best of Kualapuu’s subject grades are an A− for cost of living and the outdoors; the weakest is a D for hazard risk. 32% of residents are under 18 in Kualapuu, against 22% in Hawaii’s towns and 22% across U.S. towns. On health, just 5 of Hawaii’s 125 towns do worse. The median household income is $63K, and 20% of residents live below the poverty line. Kualapuu’s trail density is 1.3 miles per square mile, above both Hawaii’s towns (0.5) and U.S. towns (0.4). Only 6 of Hawaii’s 125 towns score higher on history. Kualapuu has no overall grade: it has no figures for safety and schools, and an overall grade needs at least three of the four big subjects (cost of living, safety, schools and health).
What makes Kualapuu stand out
Where Kualapuu beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
A commuter town
92% of working residents leave Kualapuu for work
Where Kualapuu’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
129jobs based in Kualapuu
8%of working residents work in town
49 mimedian commute distance
Census LEHD 2023
How Kualapuu grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Hawaii), ordered by how far Kualapuu is from typical.
Kualapuu has no overall grade: it has no figures for safety and schools, and an overall grade needs at least three of the four big subjects (cost of living, safety, schools and health).
Hazard riskinland flooding tops the listDOpen →Jobs & income129 jobs based hereDOpen →Cost of livingTypical home $318K, 3.3 years of the Kahului metro’s $97K median household incomeA−Open →HealthLess healthy than 81% of U.S. towns; Molokai General Hospital 15 miles awayC−Open →WalkabilityEPA walkability 4.7 of 20; 5.2% of households have no car; 2.7% of workers walk, bike or ride transitCOpen →
Character Graded, but not part of the overall grade.
Described, not graded Taste, not quality: snow or an older crowd is neither good nor bad.
ClimateMild winters, 87° summer afternoons–Open →Who lives hereMedian age 37.8; 21% of adults have a four-year degree–Open →
How TownRatings grades towns →
Getting set up
Moving to Kualapuu: who provides what
Kualapuu is unincorporated, so Maui County and regional agencies provide most services.
PowerMaui Electric Co Ltd42.0¢/kWh · EIA 2025HIFLD · EIA
WaterKalae water systemNo health-based violations in 5 years · EPAEPA
Internet3 providers87% of addresses get 100/20 MbpsFCC
Trash & county servicesMaui CountyMaui County provides services here
Register to voteOnlineIn Hawaii you can register online up to and including Election Day, in person up to and including Election Day, or by mail (postmarked 10 days before).vote.govWho runs elections hereMaui County ClerkMaui County; contacts on the Handbook page.FVAP, Jun 2025
ZIP codes96729, 9675796729 64% · 96757 36%Census 2020
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Nov 18, 2024.
The data
Ordered by what stands out in Kualapuu.
Natural hazardsHazard risk grade D
Top of a very high hazard risk in Kualapuu: inland flooding
Storm and flood damage is expected to run higher than in 89% of U.S. communities. Expected losses in Kualapuu break down as 65% from inland flooding and 14% from wildfires. Federal disaster aid has reached households in Kualapuu after 2 declared disasters, most recently in 2026.
89risk score of 100
FEMA risk score
Inland floodingWildfireEarthquakes
2
federal disasters paid out here
FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Schools
The schools Kualapuu’s kids attend
Two of its 4 schools are below, each with the reason it’s listed. The Hawaii Department of Education school district runs its public schools. The largest public high school is Molokai High School, with 344 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kualapuu School - Public Conversion CharterLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–6 | Grades PK–6 | 291 | B |
| Molokai High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 344 | D |
NCES · EDFacts
HealthC−
A larger share of adults have diabetes in Kualapuu than in most of Hawaii or the rest of the country
Among 93 Hawaii towns, just 3 have a higher share of adults who have obesity than Kualapuu. The share of adults in Kualapuu who have been diagnosed with depression: 17%. In Kualapuu, 29% of adults worry about having enough food, and 48% sleep under 7 hours.
19%healthier than U.S. townsC−Health Grade
| Kualapuu | Hawaii towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 12% | 12% |
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 29% | 18% | 14% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 48% | 45% | 36% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 13% | 14% |
32 measures vs. Hawaii
0 better10 too close to call22 worse
| What stands out | Kualapuu | HI |
|---|---|---|
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 17.9% | 8.5% |
| More adults facing a utility shut-off | 11.8% | 5.8% |
| More adults without reliable transportation | 13.7% | 7.5% |
Molokai General Hospital
15 mi away · emergency room
3 of 3
care shortages: primary care, dental, mental health
4th
percentile among HI towns
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Work & commuteJobs & income grade D
With 0.3 jobs for every working resident, most of Kualapuu’s workers commute out
Kualapuu’s mean commuting time is 18 minutes. Most people who work leave Kualapuu to do it: just 8% work in town. The top destinations are Urban Honolulu (32%), Kaunakakai (20%) and Wailuku (4%). Only 3 of the 93 Hawaii towns we compare have a lower typical household income than Kualapuu.
8%work in town
| Kualapuu | Hawaii towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 18 minutes | 28 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $63,000 | $100,000 | $80,000 |
| Work from home | 12% | 8.1% | 11% |
| Working residents who work in town | 7.8% | 3.6% | 8% |
Where working residents work
In Kualapuu8%
Urban Honolulu32%
Kaunakakai20%
Wailuku4%
Kahului2%
49 mi
median commute distance
129
jobs based in Kualapuu
A commuter town
jobs vs. working residents
C
Walkability grade: more walkable than 34% of U.S. towns
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Climate
Kualapuu: mild winters and pleasant summers
July afternoons reach 86°, January nights drop to 64° and snow is almost unheard of.
87°summer high
Typical low → high °F
Winter65–79°
Spring67–81°
Summer73–86°
Fall71–85°
87°
typical summer high
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
14.9%conserved
14.9%
conserved · 2,793 of 18,805 acres
39 mi
of trails · 1.3 per sq mi
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Keep exploring
Everything we know about Kualapuu
17pages on Kualapuu
The big questions
Out and about
After high school
Colleges nearby
None within 15 miles of Kualapuu; the nearest are
University of Hawaii Maui CollegeCommunity college · Public · Kahului42.2 mi$3,284 in-state tuitionKapiolani Community CollegeCommunity college · Public · Honolulu47.9 mi$3,284 in-state tuitionUniversity of Hawaii at ManoaUniversity or college · Public · Honolulu49.4 mi$12,186 in-state tuition
About 4 of every 100 Kualapuu residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Hawaii.
About Kualapuu
Census-designated place in Hawaii, United States
Kualapuʻu is a census-designated place (CDP) on the island of Molokai in Maui County, Hawaiʻi, United States. The population was 2,110 at the 2020 census. Kualapuʻu can be literally translated as "hill overturned", but is thought to be a corruption of Puʻuʻuala: "sweet potato hill". The present settlement is a former pineapple cannery village once associated with Del Monte Foods.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Area
- 29 sq mi
- Elevation
- 843 ft
- ZIP code
- 96757
- Area code
- 808
Questions about Kualapuu
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Kualapuu, HI a good place to live?
Kualapuu has no overall grade: it has no figures for safety and schools, and an overall grade needs at least three of the four big subjects (cost of living, safety, schools and health).
Is Kualapuu, HI expensive?
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 A−.