Holy Ghost Catholic Church · Photo: Joel Bradshaw · Public domainKula has 0.3 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
Employers in Kula report 1,111 jobs for 3,214 working residents. Jobs and income earn Kula B−; getting around on foot earns it B. Measured by household income, Kula is ahead of 77% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs and commuting in Kula: the gist
Kula’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Kula is Urban Honolulu, 104 miles away as the crow flies. 21% of working residents (675) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
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 ↓
Kula has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Kula went from 735 in 2013 to 1,111 in 2023, +51%. The jobs ↓
The better-paid jobs are outside Kula
65% of Kula residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 47% of the jobs based in Kula pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 93% leave town for their job. The jobs ↓
Kula empties out on a workday
About 4,700 people are in Kula on a workday afternoon, 31% fewer than the 6,800 who live here: 3,000 head out to work and 890 come in. Day and night ↓
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.
Breaking down the Jobs & income grade for Kula
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Kula is better than 53% of U.S. towns, #49 of 93 in Hawaii. Household income holds Kula’s grade up ($100,433, U.S. $80,734); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 15% of U.S. towns). It also does well on unemployment.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Kula could be anywhere from C to B+.
Miles to work from Kula
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.
In Kula, 31% of jobs are in factories, building or farming
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Kula, 2013 → 2023: 735 → 1,111. 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 Kula’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Who commutes out of Kula, and who commutes in
On a workday 2,990 residents head out to work, 224 work right here, and 887 people come in from elsewhere.
About 4,700 people are in Kula on a workday afternoon, 31% 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.
21% of working residents work in Urban Honolulu
Where Kula clocks in
14% 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 commute of about 30 minutes in Kula
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Kula workers work from home, vs 10% across Hawaii. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,627 commuters (the 16% 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.
Few in Kula walk, bike or ride to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Kula is more walkable than 57% of U.S. towns, #63 of 93 in Hawaii. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 10.4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 10.0% across Hawaii, on an EPA index of 4.8.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 3,112 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). 3.0% of Kula households have no vehicle (Hawaii 8.2%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Kula’s commuters take a bus or train.
Kula is 1,720th of 3,168 U.S. towns of 4,800 to 9,200 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 87 | Waikele HI | 7,528 | $121K | 3.7% | 1.3% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 158 | Heeia HI | 5,144 | $176K | 3.3% | 2.4% | 0% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 325 | East Kapolei HI | 7,551 | $119K | 5.3% | 2.5% | 2% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,718 | Marshall MI | 6,800 | $76K | 5.7% | 6.9% | 25% | B− |
| 1,719 | Bloomer Township MI | 6,567 | $86K | 9.1% | 2.5% | 4% | B− |
| 1,720 | Kula HI | 6,791 | $100K | 12.3% | 2.6% | 7% | B− |
| 1,721 | Forestbrook SC | 7,479 | $81K | 6.8% | 7.1% | 1% | B− |
| 1,722 | Flagler Beach FL | 5,595 | $85K | 8.4% | 2.8% | 11% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,168 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | 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 Kula, the top three, the last and three more from Hawaii.
Work in the towns next to Kula
The biggest share goes to Pukalani (4%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Kula workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kula | – | B− | B | 30 min | $100,433 |
| Keokea | under 2% | C | C | 39 min | $114,250 |
| Pukalani | 4% | C+ | B | 30 min | $102,976 |
| Olinda | under 2% | — | — | 31 min | — |
| Makawao | 3% | B | B | 28 min | $96,444 |
Same-state neighbors only. Olinda: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Kula’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 Kula: questions
What is the median household income in Kula?
$100,433 (±$16,425) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $100,389 across Hawaii and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Kula?
12.3%, against 10.0% across Hawaii and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Kula?
30 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Hawaii and 26 nationally. 16% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Kula work?
7% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Urban Honolulu (21%, 104 mi), Kahului (14%, 10 mi), Wailuku (10%, 13 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Kula walkable?
Kula is more walkable than 57% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 4.8 out of 20, and 10% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Kula without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Kula, from the people who make the trip.
More of Kula
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.