Photo: Christopher P. Becker aka Polihale at en.wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0Unemployment in Lihue (0.7%) is lower than in 96% of U.S. towns
Measured by household income, Lihue is ahead of 71% of U.S. towns. For jobs and income Lihue is better than 77% of U.S. towns (A−); for walkability it is more walkable than 92% of U.S. towns (A). About one in three stay in Lihue for work; outside it, Urban Honolulu is the main destination (22%, 107 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Lihue
Lihue’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Lihue is Urban Honolulu, 107 miles away as the crow flies. 22% of working residents (1,176) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Commutes from Lihue are quick
The average trip to work takes 17 minutes, against 26 across Hawaii. That’s about 69 hours a year less on the road than the typical Hawaii worker. Time on the road ↓
Lihue is where the jobs are
Lihue has 9,033 jobs, 1.7 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 12,000 people are in town, 46% more than the 7,900 who live here. Day and night ↓
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 ↓
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.
Why Lihue gets the Jobs & income grade it does
Unemployment holds Lihue’s grade up; job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 33% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Lihue could be anywhere from B− to A.
Where in the region Lihue works
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.
Time on the road from Lihue: about 17 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Lihue workers work from home, vs 10% across Hawaii. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 3,336 commuters (the 5% 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 workday shuffle in and out of Lihue
On a workday 3,622 residents head out to work, 1,766 work right here, and 7,267 people come in from elsewhere.
About 12,000 people are in Lihue on a workday afternoon, 46% more than live here.
1.7 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
The daily trip into Lihue
Where Lihue 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.
67% of the jobs in Lihue pay over $3,333 a month
9,033 jobs are based in Lihue.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Lihue, 2013 → 2023: 8,202 → 9,033. 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 Lihue’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Lihue is easy on foot, hard by bus
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 3,513 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). 5.7% of Lihue households have no vehicle (Hawaii 8.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 4% of Lihue’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Lihue is 888th among 3,069 U.S. towns of 5,500 to 10,700
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 96 | Waikele HI | 7,528 | $121K | 3.7% | 1.3% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 335 | East Kapolei HI | 7,551 | $119K | 5.3% | 2.5% | 2% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 416 | Aiea HI | 9,087 | $140K | 5.3% | 3.8% | 2% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 886 | Brighton Township PA | 8,791 | $115K | 6.0% | 4.9% | 6% | A− |
| 887 | Middlesex Township PA | 7,513 | $114K | 7.0% | 4.3% | 6% | A− |
| 888 | Lihue HI | 7,901 | $93K | 6.3% | 0.7% | 33% | A− |
| 889 | Whispering Pines NC | 5,505 | $126K | 5.3% | 3.3% | 3% | A− |
| 890 | Sultan WA | 7,230 | $95K | 5.8% | 1.0% | 7% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,069 | 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 Lihue, the top three, the last and three more from Hawaii.
How Lihue compares with the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Puhi (5%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
Darker towns draw more of Lihue’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 Lihue: questions
What is the median household income in Lihue?
$92,850 (±$28,137) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $100,389 across Hawaii and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Lihue?
6.3%, against 10.0% across Hawaii and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Lihue?
17 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Hawaii and 26 nationally. 5% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Lihue work?
33% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Urban Honolulu (22%, 107 mi), Poipu (6%, 9 mi), Puhi (5%, 2 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Lihue walkable?
Lihue is more walkable than 92% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 9.4 out of 20, and 10% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Lihue without a car?
4% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Lihue, from the people who make the trip.
More of Lihue
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.