Leilani Estates’ household incomes are among the lowest in the country
Measured by household income, Leilani Estates is among the lowest-earning towns in the country. 29.0% of residents are in poverty, next to 10.0% for Hawaii as a whole. For jobs and income Leilani Estates is near the bottom of U.S. towns (D−); for walkability it is more walkable than 23% of U.S. towns (C−).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs & income in Leilani Estates: the grade in detail
On income, poverty and job access, Leilani Estates is near the bottom of U.S. towns. All three inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Leilani Estates’ grade.
Unemployment (21.5%) is left out: Leilani Estates’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A firm grade. At either end of the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Leilani Estates stays D−.
Leilani Estates by day and by night
On a workday 75 residents head out to work, none work right here, and 60 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (0.80 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
25% of working residents work in Hilo
Where Leilani Estates clocks in
Lines 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.
78% of the jobs in Leilani Estates pay over $3,333 a month
60 jobs are based in Leilani Estates.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Leilani Estates, 2013 → 2023: 55 → 60. 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 Leilani Estates’s own residents hold wherever they work.
From Leilani Estates, about 28 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Leilani Estates workers work from home, vs 10% across Hawaii. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 437 commuters (the 12% 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 distance from Leilani Estates to work
About 73% 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.
Most trips from Leilani Estates start in a car
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 499 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). 8.3% of Leilani Estates households have no vehicle (Hawaii 8.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Leilani Estates’ commuters take a bus or train.
Leilani Estates and other U.S. towns of 1,000 to 2,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 367 | Ko Olina HI | 1,670 | $133K | 6.8% | 0.8% | 3% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 450 | Mahinahina HI | 1,027 | $163K | 1.8% | 6.3% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 618 | Kaanapali HI | 1,170 | $129K | 4.5% | 17.6% | 27% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 6,296 | Covelo CA | 1,286 | $35K | 36.5% | 22.4% | 27% | D− |
| 6,297 | Towaoc CO | 1,078 | $23K | 62.0% | 13.1% | 29% | D− |
| 6,298 | Leilani Estates HI | 1,490 | $30K | 29.0% | 21.5% | 0% | D− |
| 6,299 | Fort Totten ND | 1,038 | $20K | 39.8% | 0.0% | 12% | D− |
| 6,300 | Boley OK | 1,087 | $26K | 53.4% | 3.8% | 6% | D− |
| … | |||||||
| 6,308 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 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 Leilani Estates, the top three, the last and three more from Hawaii.
How Leilani Estates compares with the towns next door
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Leilani Estates workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Leilani Estates | – | D− | C− | 28 min | $30,192 |
| Kamaili | under 2% | — | — | 27 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Kamaili: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Leilani Estates’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 Leilani Estates: questions
What is the median household income in Leilani Estates?
$30,192 (±$17,177) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $100,389 across Hawaii and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Leilani Estates?
29.0%, against 10.0% across Hawaii and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Leilani Estates?
28 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Hawaii and 26 nationally. 12% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Leilani Estates work?
0% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Hilo (25%, 19 mi), Urban Honolulu (21%, 229 mi), Kaiminani (11%, 73 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Leilani Estates walkable?
Leilani Estates is more walkable than 23% of U.S. towns (Walkability C−): an EPA walkability index of 3.2 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Leilani Estates without a car?
0% 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 Leilani Estates, from the people who make the trip.
More of Leilani Estates
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.