A job hub: Maalaea has 2.2 jobs per working resident, and 385 people come in to work
25% of workers have no commute at all; Hawaii has 10%. Employers in Maalaea report 388 jobs, against 178 working residents. Only 2% work in Maalaea itself; outside it, Lahaina draws the most (15%, 12 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Who commutes out of Maalaea, and who commutes in
On a workday 175 residents head out to work and 3 work right here.
About 420 people are in Maalaea on a workday afternoon, 100% more 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.
The towns that send workers to Maalaea
Where Maalaea clocks in
15% of workers
11% 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.
Jobs in Maalaea: what the 388 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Maalaea, 2013 → 2023: 480 → 388. 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 Maalaea’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The daily trip from Maalaea: about 36 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 11.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Maalaea workers work from home, vs 10% across Hawaii. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 49 commuters (the 25% 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.
Miles to work from Maalaea
About 35% 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.
Next door to Maalaea
The biggest share goes to Kihei (7%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
Darker towns draw more of Maalaea’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 Maalaea: questions
What is the median household income in Maalaea?
$72,500 (±$17,207) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $100,389 across Hawaii and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Maalaea?
14.8%, against 10.0% across Hawaii and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Maalaea?
36 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Hawaii and 26 nationally. 25% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Maalaea work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Lahaina (15%, 12 mi), Urban Honolulu (13%, 94 mi), Kahului (11%, 4 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Maalaea without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 12% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Maalaea, from the people who make the trip.
More of Maalaea
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.