PahalaHI
A town of 1,768, settled in 1900.
Is Pahala a good place to live?
The best of Pahala’s subject grades is an A− for cost of living; the weakest is a D− for hazard risk. Pahala’s average trip to work is 46 minutes, above both the Hawaii town median (28 minutes) and the median of U.S. towns (25 minutes). On cost of living, just 7 of Hawaii’s 125 towns do better. Pahala has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
What makes Pahala stand out
Where Pahala beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
Typical home value
How Pahala grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Hawaii), ordered by how far Pahala is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Mauna Loa and 11 more within 40 miles
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Pahala. Close and well known come first.
Big draw21 mi MountainMauna Loa
Big draw20 mi MountainKīlauea
in town National ParkHawai'i Volcanoes National Park1.9M visitors a year
24 mi MountainKama‘ehuakanaloa Seamount
5 mi BeachPunalu'u Beach
24 mi Ancient siteKa LaePhoto credits
Mauna Loa: Gordon Joly, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Kīlauea: Hawaii Land Cover Analysis project, NOAA Coastal Services Center, Public domain · Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park: Jos-uit-boston at Dutch Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Kama‘ehuakanaloa Seamount: John Smith and Brooks Bays, Public domain · Punalu'u Beach: Diego Delso, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Ka Lae: Holly Cheng, CC BY-SA 3.0
Moving to Pahala: who provides what
Pahala is unincorporated, so Hawaii County and regional agencies provide most services.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Nov 18, 2024.
The data
Ordered by what stands out in Pahala.
Pahala’s typical home value is about $295K
In Pahala, 78% of households live in a home they own.
Typical home value
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
The schools Pahala’s kids attend
The Hawaii Department of Education school district runs its public schools. The largest public high school is Kau High & Pahala Elementary School, with 488 students. Its one school is below.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kau High & Pahala Elementary SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades PK–12 | Grades PK–12 | 488 | D |
NCES · EDFacts
The biggest natural risk in Pahala is earthquakes, at a very high overall level
Households in Pahala have drawn federal disaster aid in 3 declared disasters, most recently in 2026. On expected storm and flood damage, Pahala sits above 100% of U.S. communities. Expected losses in Pahala break down as 57% from earthquakes and 32% from inland flooding.
FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Pahala has mild winters and pleasant summers
July afternoons reach 84°, January nights drop to 65° and snow is almost unheard of.
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
A job hub: Pahala has 1.3 jobs for every working resident and draws in 165 commuters
In Pahala, the income of the median household is $72,000, against $100,000 in Hawaii’s towns and $80,000 across U.S. towns. Jobs in Pahala grew by 64 from 2013 to 2023, reaching 165. Half commute less than 44 miles. The top destinations are Urban Honolulu (21%), Hilo (15%) and Captain Cook (4%).
| Pahala | Hawaii towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $72,000 | $100,000 | $80,000 |
| Below the poverty line | 11% | 9.7% | 9.6% |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Pahala is less healthy than 57% of U.S. towns
For adults in Pahala, the share who had a checkup this year is 75%. On the CDC’s 32 measures, Pahala is ahead of Hawaii on 1 and behind on 20. 15% of adults locally have diabetes; 15% binge drink. Only 9 of the 94 Hawaii towns we compare have a higher share of adults who worry about having enough food than Pahala.
| Pahala | Hawaii towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 26% | 18% | 14% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 12% | 12% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 19% | 16% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 24% | 18% | 19% |
| What stands out | Pahala | HI |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer binge drinkers | 14.6% | 17.4% |
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 13.8% | 8.5% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Everything we know about Pahala
Colleges nearby
None within 15 miles of Pahala; the nearest are
About 6 of every 100 Pahala residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Hawaii.
Questions about Pahala
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Pahala, HI expensive?
Not for the area. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades A−.