Household incomes in Nanawale Estates are among the lowest of any U.S. town
Measured by household income, Nanawale Estates is among the lowest-earning towns in the country. Poverty touches 53.0% of residents, where Hawaii as a whole has 10.0%. For jobs and income Nanawale Estates is near the bottom of U.S. towns (D−); for walkability it is more walkable than 54% of U.S. towns (B−).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Nanawale Estates and work: the main findings
Nanawale Estates is a place people come home to
There are 45 jobs based in Nanawale Estates, about one for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. Day and night ↓
39% of Nanawale Estates works in Hilo
171 working residents, 39%, have their main job in Hilo, 17 miles away. That’s 39 times as many as work in Nanawale Estates itself. The commute map ↓
Nanawale Estates workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 36 minutes each way, against 26 across Hawaii. Over a year that’s about 276 hours of commuting, 77 more than the state’s typical 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 441 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
The four measures behind Nanawale Estates’ grade
On income, poverty and job access, Nanawale Estates is near the bottom of U.S. towns. All three inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Nanawale Estates’ grade.
Unemployment (4.4%) is left out: Nanawale 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, Nanawale Estates stays D−.
Who leaves Nanawale Estates for work, and who comes in
On a workday 436 residents head out to work, 5 work right here, and 40 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,300 people are in Nanawale Estates on a workday afternoon, 23% fewer than live here.
0.10 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.
39% of working residents work in Hilo
Where Nanawale 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.
Commuting from Nanawale Estates: about 36 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 11.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Nanawale Estates workers work from home, vs 10% across Hawaii. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 451 commuters (the 1% 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.
What Nanawale Estates’ employers do
45 jobs are based in Nanawale Estates.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Nanawale Estates, 2014 → 2024: 32 → 45. 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 Nanawale Estates’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Near or far: the trip to work from Nanawale Estates
About 34% 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.
Driving is how Nanawale Estates gets around
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 457 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). 9.0% of Nanawale Estates households have no vehicle (Hawaii 8.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 10% of Nanawale Estates’ commuters take a bus or train.
How Nanawale Estates compares with U.S. towns of 1,200 to 2,300
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 1% | A+ |
| 2 | Plandome NY | 1,482 | $250K | 0.9% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Hewlett Harbor NY | 1,332 | $250K | 1.9% | 7.2% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 80 | Maunawili HI | 2,024 | $177K | 1.6% | 1.6% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 370 | Wheeler AFB HI | 2,097 | $92K | 1.3% | 4.9% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 383 | Ko Olina HI | 1,670 | $133K | 6.8% | 0.8% | 9% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 5,756 | Cibecue AZ | 2,228 | $26K | 57.2% | 13.3% | 0% | D− |
| 5,757 | Dolan Springs AZ | 1,341 | $26K | 41.1% | 30.0% | 6% | D− |
| 5,758 | Nanawale Estates HI | 1,692 | $27K | 53.0% | 4.4% | 1% | D− |
| 5,759 | Lame Deer MT | 1,872 | $24K | 55.8% | 42.2% | 61% | D− |
| 5,760 | Paraje NM | 1,333 | $33K | 61.7% | 0.0% | 7% | 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 Nanawale Estates, the top three, the last and three more from Hawaii.
Nanawale Estates and the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Pahoa (8%).
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Nanawale Estates workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nanawale Estates | – | D− | B− | 36 min | $26,683 |
| Pahoa | 8% | D− | C+ | 28 min | $56,042 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Nanawale 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 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 Nanawale Estates: questions
What is the median household income in Nanawale Estates?
$26,683 (±$8,326) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $100,389 across Hawaii and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Nanawale Estates?
53.0%, against 10.0% across Hawaii and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Nanawale Estates?
36 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Hawaii and 26 nationally. 1% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Nanawale Estates work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Hilo (39%, 17 mi), Urban Honolulu (13%, 228 mi), Pahoa (8%, 2 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Nanawale Estates walkable?
Nanawale Estates is more walkable than 54% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 4.5 out of 20, and 10% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Nanawale Estates without a car?
10% of commuters take transit and 9% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Nanawale Estates, from the people who make the trip.
More of Nanawale Estates
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.