LaieHI
A town of 5,699, settled in 1901.
Is Laie a good place to live?
Laie’s best subject grades are an A+ for walkability and an A− for health; its weakest is a D− for hazard risk. 5% of residents are 65 or older in Laie, below both Hawaii’s towns (20%) and U.S. towns (18%). No town in Hawaii scores higher than Laie on walkability. Homes are expensive, about $1.3 million for a typical one and 12.1 times the Urban Honolulu metro’s $106K median household income. Laie is home to Brigham Young University-Hawaii. Laie 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 Laie stand out
Where Laie beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
Jobs vs. working residents
41% of Laie is in college
How Laie grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Hawaii), ordered by how far Laie is from typical.
Laie 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).
How TownRatings grades towns →
USS Missouri and 46 more within 40 miles
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Laie. Close and well known come first.
Big draw20 mi MuseumUSS Missouri
20 mi MuseumUSS Arizona Memorial
19 mi Stadium & arenaAloha Stadium
28 mi MountainDiamond Head
in town MuseumPolynesian Cultural Center
26 mi BeachWaikīkīPhoto credits
USS Missouri: Camera Operator: EM2 KENNETH D. MEHL (Released to Public), Public domain · USS Arizona Memorial: DoD photo by: PH3(AW/SW) JAYME PASTORIC, USN, Public domain · Aloha Stadium: This photo was taken and originally uploaded by Bobak to English Wikipedia. Uplo, CC BY 3.0 · Diamond Head: Unknown, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Polynesian Cultural Center: Gh5046 at en.wikipedia, Public domain · Waikīkī: Frank Schulenburg, CC BY-SA 4.0
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Moving to Laie: who provides what
Laie is unincorporated, so Honolulu County and regional agencies provide most services.
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 Laie.
A college town: 36% of residents are 18 to 24
College graduates make up 45% of adults 25 and older, against 36% across Hawaii. Adults 18 to 34 are just over half of residents (21% statewide); adults 35 to 64 are 22% of residents (38% statewide). The age of the median resident in Laie is 23.3 years.
| Laie | Hawaii towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median age | 23.3 years | 41.3 years | 40.5 years |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 45% | 31% | 29% |
Ages · share of residents
Education · adults 25 and older
Women and men · all residents
56% women, 44% men
About 79 men for every 100 women (the survey’s margin: ±4.9 points). Across Hawaii, 49.8% of residents are women. Among residents 18 to 24, 68% are women (HI 45%). Median age: women 22.6, men 24.3.
| Laie | HI | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 8.4% | 11.3% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 13.9% | 9.4% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 35.6% | 8.1% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 15.1% | 13.3% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 8.6% | 13.3% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 9.1% | 11.8% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 4.3% | 12.4% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 3.8% | 11.4% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 1.2% | 9% | 7% |
| No diploma | 3.8% | 6.8% | 10.4% |
| High school | 16.8% | 26.5% | 26% |
| Some college | 28.4% | 19.6% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 6.1% | 10.9% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 28.2% | 22.8% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 16.7% | 13.3% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
The schools Laie’s kids attend
Its one school is below. The Hawaii Department of Education school district runs its public schools. Enrollment at Laie’s public school: 662 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Laie Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–6 | Grades PK–6 | 662 | A |
NCES · EDFacts
A job hub: Laie has 7.3 jobs for every working resident and draws in 1,537 commuters
Between 2013 and 2023, jobs in Laie dropped by 810, to 1,583. In Laie, about one in five working residents works in town. The typical journey to work for Laie comes to 16 minutes. The top destinations are Urban Honolulu (23%), Hilo (6%) and Ko Olina (3%).
| Laie | Hawaii towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 16 minutes | 28 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Working residents who work in town | 21% | 3.6% | 8% |
| Median household income | $125,000 | $100,000 | $80,000 |
| Below the poverty line | 12% | 9.5% | 9.6% |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Laie earns a D for cost of living
A typical home in Laie is worth about $1,288,000, up 5.7% in a year, 55% above the Hawaii typical home. Just over two in five households are owner-occupiers in the town. Its going rate for rent is $2,339 a month.
| Laie | Hawaii towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 41% | 71% | 73% |
| Median rent | $2,339 a month | $2,009 a month | $1,185 a month |
Typical home value
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
The biggest natural risk in Laie is tsunamis, at a very high overall level
FEMA expects more storm and flood damage in Laie than in 94% of U.S. communities. Households in the town have drawn federal disaster aid in 4 declared disasters, most recently in 2026. 56% of the town’s expected losses from natural hazards come from tsunamis, followed by inland flooding at 35%.
FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Residents of Laie are healthier than 78% of U.S. towns
Only 7 of the 93 Hawaii towns we compare have a lower share of adults who have diabetes than Laie. This Hawaii town does better than the Hawaii average on 8 of 32 CDC measures and worse on 13. The share of adults in Laie who sleep under 7 hours: 50%.
| Laie | Hawaii towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 23% | 19% | 16% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 50% | 45% | 36% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 23% | 31% | 35% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 38% | 32% | 33% |
| What stands out | Laie | HI |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 3.9% | 6.7% |
| Fewer adults with heart disease | 3.9% | 6.2% |
| More adults in frequent mental distress | 20% | 14.5% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
The climate in Laie brings mild winters and pleasant summers
July afternoons reach 82°, January nights drop to 66° and snow is almost unheard of.
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
2.4% of Laie is conserved land
1.5 miles of trail in 3 parks and preserves. For Laie, the concentration of trails is 0.7 miles per square mile.
| Laie | Hawaii towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 2.4% | 12% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.7 miles per square mile | 0.5 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Mālaekahana State Recreation Area | — | 5 |
| 2. La'ie Point State Wayside | — | 4 |
| 3. Laie Park | — | 4 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Everything we know about Laie
Colleges nearby
1 within 15 miles of the center of Laie
College town 41 of every 100 Laie residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Hawaii.
Every workday, about 1,537 people come to Laie for work
Where Laie’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
Famous people from Laie
10 notable people were born in Laie.
About Laie
Census-designated place in Hawaii, United States
Lāʻie (pronounced [laːˈʔie]) is a census-designated place (CDP) located in the Koolauloa District on the island of Oʻahu in Honolulu County, Hawaii, United States. The population was 5,963 at the 2020 census.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Area
- 2.2 sq mi
- Elevation
- 9 ft
- ZIP code
- 96762
- Area code
- 808
Questions about Laie
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Laie, HI a good place to live?
Laie 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 Laie, HI expensive?
Yes. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades D.
What is Laie, HI known for?
10 notable people were born here, including Manti Te'o and Joseph Kekuku.