Household incomes in Puhi top those of 93% of U.S. towns
Working from home is the commute for 2% of workers, next to 10% for Hawaii as a whole. 8.5% of residents are in poverty, against 10.0% across Hawaii. For jobs and income Puhi is better than 73% of U.S. towns (B+); for walkability it is more walkable than 63% of U.S. towns (B).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Puhi in brief
Puhi has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Puhi went from 741 in 2013 to 1,417 in 2023, +91%. The jobs ↓
Commutes from Puhi 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 ↓
Puhi and Lihue trade workers both ways
Lihue is the top workplace for Puhi residents (33%) and also where the most people who work in Puhi come from (18% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
A big share show a job far from home
37% 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 ↓
Few Puhi workers work from home
Only 2% of workers work from home, against 10% across Hawaii. Almost everyone here travels to a job. Time on the road ↓
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; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
Puhi’s Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
Household income holds Puhi’s grade up ($137,292, U.S. $80,734); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 36% of U.S. towns). It also does well on the poverty rate and unemployment.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Puhi could be anywhere from B− to A.
68% of the jobs in Puhi pay over $3,333 a month
1,417 jobs are based in Puhi.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Puhi, 2013 → 2023: 741 → 1,417. 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 Puhi’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The daily trip from Puhi: about 17 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Puhi workers work from home, vs 10% across Hawaii. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,164 commuters (the 2% 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.
33% of working residents work in Lihue
Where Puhi clocks in
33% 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.
How far it is to work from Puhi
About 37% 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 commute in and out of Puhi
On a workday 2,262 residents head out to work, 128 work right here, and 1,289 people come in from elsewhere.
About 3,400 people are in Puhi on a workday afternoon, 22% fewer than live here.
0.59 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 2023, primary jobs.
The commute in Puhi is mostly behind the wheel
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 2,203 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). 9.1% of Puhi households have no vehicle (Hawaii 8.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 2% of Puhi’s commuters take a bus or train.
Puhi next to U.S. towns of 3,100 to 5,900: 1,107th of 3,908 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 152 | Heeia HI | 5,144 | $176K | 3.3% | 2.4% | 0% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 525 | Waikapu HI | 3,591 | $123K | 4.8% | 1.8% | 2% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 610 | West Loch Estate HI | 5,544 | $122K | 8.3% | 3.1% | 0% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,105 | New London NH | 4,411 | $108K | 0.9% | 3.8% | 22% | B+ |
| 1,106 | Barnstead NH | 5,038 | $112K | 3.4% | 2.9% | 6% | B+ |
| 1,107 | Puhi HI | 4,362 | $137K | 8.5% | 2.8% | 5% | B+ |
| 1,108 | Kahaluu HI | 5,619 | $142K | 6.9% | 5.5% | 1% | B+ |
| 1,109 | Goshen CT | 3,298 | $152K | 4.5% | 5.3% | 6% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,908 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | 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 Puhi, the top three, the last and three more from Hawaii.
Bordering towns draw 33% of Puhi’s workers
Jobs & commute next door
The biggest share goes to Lihue. Darker towns draw more of Puhi’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 Puhi: questions
What is the median household income in Puhi?
$137,292 (±$9,948) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $100,389 across Hawaii and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Puhi?
8.5%, against 10.0% across Hawaii and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Puhi?
17 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Hawaii and 26 nationally. 2% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Puhi work?
5% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Lihue (33%, 2 mi), Urban Honolulu (18%, 108 mi), Poipu (7%, 7 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Puhi walkable?
Puhi is more walkable than 63% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 7.1 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Puhi without a car?
2% 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 Puhi, from the people who make the trip.
More of Puhi
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.