More people are out of work in Lawai (9.1%) than in 92% of U.S. towns
Lawai grades C for jobs and income and C+ for walkability. Working from home is the commute for 22% of workers, next to 10% for Hawaii as a whole. Measured by household income, Lawai is ahead of 80% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Lawai, in a few figures
A lot of Lawai works from home
22% of Lawai workers work from home, against 10% across Hawaii. Time on the road ↓
A big share show a job far from home
31% 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 ↓
Commutes from Lawai are quick
The average trip to work takes 19 minutes, against 26 across Hawaii. That’s about 54 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 2024, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey; with 840 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Why Lawai gets the Jobs & income grade it does
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Lawai is better than 33% of U.S. towns, #76 of 93 in Hawaii. Household income holds Lawai’s grade up ($104,286, U.S. $80,734); unemployment pulls it down.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Lawai could be anywhere from D to A−.
How long Lawai spends getting to work: about 19 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Lawai workers work from home, vs 10% across Hawaii. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 905 commuters (the 22% 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 Lawai goes to work
About 31% 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 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
In and out of Lawai on a workday
On a workday 811 residents head out to work, 29 work right here, and 258 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,200 people are in Lawai on a workday afternoon, 20% fewer than live here.
0.34 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute 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.
21% of working residents work in Poipu
Where Lawai 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.
Goods, not services: 35% of the jobs in Lawai
287 jobs are based in Lawai.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Lawai, 2014 → 2024: 187 → 287. 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 Lawai’s own residents hold wherever they work.
For most of Lawai, work means a drive
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Lawai is more walkable than 44% of U.S. towns, #67 of 93 in Hawaii. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 5.2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 10.0% across Hawaii, on an EPA index of 4.5.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,154 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). 1.0% of Lawai households have no vehicle (Hawaii 8.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 5% of Lawai’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 1,900 to 3,700, Lawai ranks 3,190th of 4,969 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 73 | Maunawili HI | 2,024 | $177K | 1.6% | 1.6% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 441 | Wheeler AFB HI | 2,097 | $92K | 1.3% | 4.9% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 507 | Waikapu HI | 3,591 | $123K | 4.8% | 1.8% | 2% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 3,188 | Pearisburg VA | 2,873 | $76K | 11.9% | 4.2% | 17% | C |
| 3,189 | Pittsford VT | 2,859 | $70K | 11.3% | 4.2% | 11% | C |
| 3,190 | Lawai HI | 2,718 | $104K | 9.9% | 9.1% | 3% | C |
| 3,191 | Midway GA | 2,387 | $81K | 17.6% | 4.2% | 4% | C |
| 3,192 | Reno TX | 3,575 | $72K | 11.2% | 5.5% | 2% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 4,969 | Cibecue AZ | 2,228 | $26K | 57.2% | 13.3% | 0% | 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 Lawai, the top three, the last and three more from Hawaii.
Lawai and its neighbors
The biggest share goes to Kalaheo (3%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
Darker towns draw more of Lawai’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 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 Lawai: questions
What is the median household income in Lawai?
$104,286 (±$24,856) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $100,389 across Hawaii and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Lawai?
9.9%, against 10.0% across Hawaii and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Lawai?
19 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Hawaii and 26 nationally. 22% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Lawai work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Poipu (21%, 4 mi), Urban Honolulu (17%, 114 mi), Lihue (15%, 10 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Lawai walkable?
Lawai is more walkable than 44% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 4.5 out of 20, and 5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Lawai without a car?
5% of commuters take transit and 1% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Lawai, from the people who make the trip.
More of Lawai
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.