Photo: The Eloquent Peasant · CC BY-SA 4.0Makaha has higher unemployment (10.0%) than 94% of U.S. towns
Transit is limited for a town this walkable: about 7.7 trips an hour stop near the typical resident at the evening peak, against 16.6 in Urban Honolulu. Jobs and income earn Makaha D; getting around on foot earns it A. Only 1% work in Makaha; the top destination outside it is Urban Honolulu (24%, 26 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Makaha, in a few figures
Makaha workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 47 minutes each way, against 26 across Hawaii. Over a year that’s about 360 hours of commuting, 161 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
Makaha and Urban Honolulu trade workers both ways
Urban Honolulu is the top workplace for Makaha residents (24%) and also where the most people who work in Makaha come from (30% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
A big share show a job far from home
36% 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; with 521 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Makaha’s Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Makaha is better than 7% of U.S. towns, #89 of 93 in Hawaii. Household income holds Makaha’s grade up ($64,970, U.S. $80,734); unemployment pulls it down.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Makaha could be anywhere from D− to C−.
Commuting from Makaha: about 47 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 15 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Makaha workers work from home, vs 10% across Hawaii. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 3,004 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.
Commuting out of Makaha: the destinations
Where Makaha clocks in
7% 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.
Short hops and long hauls from Makaha
About 36% 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.
The daily flow of workers through Makaha
On a workday 514 residents head out to work, 7 work right here, and 429 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 (0.84 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.
The 436 jobs based in Makaha
436 jobs are based in Makaha.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Makaha, 2013 → 2023: 399 → 436. 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 Makaha’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Makaha is easy on foot, hard by bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Makaha is more walkable than 90% of U.S. towns, #19 of 93 in Hawaii.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 3,397 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 74% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 24% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 7.7 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 90% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 19.6% of Makaha households have no vehicle (Hawaii 8.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 13% of Makaha’s commuters take a bus or train.
U.S. towns of 7,000 to 14,000, and where Makaha sits
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 2 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Ladue MO | 8,934 | $250K | 1.1% | 1.7% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 83 | Waikele HI | 7,528 | $121K | 3.7% | 1.3% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 338 | East Kapolei HI | 7,551 | $119K | 5.3% | 2.5% | 2% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 420 | Aiea HI | 9,087 | $140K | 5.3% | 3.8% | 2% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 2,775 | Somerset KY | 12,695 | $35K | 27.2% | 8.7% | 47% | D |
| 2,776 | Brownsville TN | 9,301 | $43K | 25.7% | 8.6% | 37% | D |
| 2,777 | Makaha HI | 10,066 | $65K | 25.0% | 10.0% | 1% | D |
| 2,778 | Albion MI | 7,474 | $40K | 25.2% | 13.5% | 17% | D |
| 2,779 | Nevada MO | 8,404 | $43K | 27.8% | 5.7% | 42% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 2,878 | 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 Makaha, the top three, the last and three more from Hawaii.
The towns around Makaha
The biggest share goes to Waianae (7%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
Darker towns draw more of Makaha’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 Makaha: questions
What is the median household income in Makaha?
$64,970 (±$8,321) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $100,389 across Hawaii and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Makaha?
25.0%, against 10.0% across Hawaii and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Makaha?
47 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Hawaii and 26 nationally. 12% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Makaha work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Urban Honolulu (24%, 26 mi), Waianae (7%, 2 mi), Hilo (6%, 237 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Makaha walkable?
Makaha is more walkable than 90% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 8.4 out of 20, and 14% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Makaha without a car?
13% of commuters take transit and 20% of households have no car. 24% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Makaha, from the people who make the trip.
More of Makaha
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.