PuhiHI
Settled in 1932, this town now has 4,362 residents.
Is Puhi a good place to live?
Puhi’s best subject grade is an A for health; its weakest is a C− for hazard risk. Puhi’s January low is 66°F, against 64°F in Hawaii’s towns and 22°F across U.S. towns. On hazard risk, just 10 of Hawaii’s 125 towns do better. 21% of the land in Puhi is conserved, above both Hawaii’s towns (12%) and U.S. towns (4.3%). Puhi is home to Kauai Community College. Puhi has 1 place on the National Register. Puhi has no overall grade: it has no figures for safety and schools, and an overall grade needs at least three of the four big subjects (cost of living, safety, schools and health).
What makes Puhi stand out
Where Puhi beats most towns.
Puhi has grown 16% from 2010 to 2020
2,906 counted in 2010 and 3,380 in 2020.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts
How Puhi grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Hawaii), ordered by how far Puhi is from typical.
Puhi has no overall grade: it has no figures for safety and schools, and an overall grade needs at least three of the four big subjects (cost of living, safety, schools and health).
How TownRatings grades towns →
Moving to Puhi: who provides what
Puhi is unincorporated, so Kauai 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 Puhi.
Puhi is healthier than 85% of U.S. towns
31% of Puhi adults feel lonely. Against the Hawaii average, Puhi comes out ahead on 5 CDC measures out of 32, and behind on 3. Among adults locally, 73% had a checkup this year and 43% sleep under 7 hours.
| Puhi | Hawaii towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 17% | 23% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 73% | 76% | 79% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 43% | 45% | 36% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 29% | 31% | 35% |
| What stands out | Puhi | HI |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 5.4% | 6.7% |
| Fewer adults with heart disease | 5.1% | 6.2% |
| Fewer women getting mammograms | 70.9% | 78.3% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
The schools Puhi’s kids attend
The Hawaii Department of Education school district runs its public schools. Its one school is below. 177 students attend Puhi’s public school.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kawaikini - NCPCSLargest public high schoolGrades K–12 | Grades K–12 | 177 | C− |
NCES · EDFacts
Top of a very high hazard risk in Puhi: inland flooding
The risk rating from FEMA for Puhi comes to 81 of 100. Expected losses in Puhi break down as 74% from inland flooding and 14% from tsunamis.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
With only 0.6 jobs per working resident, most people in Puhi work out of town
Only 5% of working residents stay in Puhi for work; the rest commute out. The town’s typical journey to work stands at 17 minutes. It had 1,417 jobs in 2023, up 676 from 2013. Half commute less than 7 miles.
| Puhi | Hawaii towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 17 minutes | 28 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $137,000 | $100,000 | $80,000 |
| Below the poverty line | 8.5% | 9.7% | 9.6% |
| Working residents who work in town | 5.4% | 3.6% | 8% |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Puhi has set aside 20.6% of its land for conservation
In Puhi, the trail network density is 1.1 miles per square mile.
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
In Puhi, expect mild winters and pleasant summers
July afternoons reach 85°, January nights drop to 66° and snow is almost unheard of.
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
A home in Puhi sells for about $825K at the median
Puhi’s going rate for rent comes in at $2,443 a month. The share of households in Puhi who live in a home they own: 79%.
| Puhi | Hawaii towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $2,443 a month | $2,009 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 79% | 71% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Nā Pali Coast State Park and 10 more within 40 miles
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Puhi. Close and well known come first.
22 mi State parkNā Pali Coast State Park
18 mi LandmarkRussian Fort Elizabeth
19 mi Canyon & gorgeWaimea Canyon State Park
22 mi BeachHanakapiai Beach
8 mi GardenAllerton Garden9 mi GardenNational Tropical Botanical GardenPhoto credits
Nā Pali Coast State Park: Jmblanco74, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Russian Fort Elizabeth: en:User:Mel29, Public domain · Waimea Canyon State Park: Aaronbernstein, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Hanakapiai Beach: Jeff Kubina, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Allerton Garden: Daderot., CC BY-SA 3.0
Everything we know about Puhi
Colleges nearby
1 within 15 miles of the center of Puhi
About 4 of every 100 Puhi residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Hawaii.
Kauai Community College calls Puhi home
About Puhi
Census-designated place in Hawaii, United States
Puhi (literally, "blow" in Hawaiian) is a census-designated place (CDP) in Kauaʻi County, Hawaiʻi, United States. The population was 3,380 at the 2020 census, up from 1,186 at the 2000 census.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Area
- 0.9 sq mi
- Elevation
- 344 ft
- Area code
- 808
Puhi’s neighbors
One town shares a border with Puhi.
Puhi and Lihue report no FBI crime data of their own. Puhi and Lihue aren’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Puhi with a neighbor →
Questions about Puhi
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Puhi, HI a good place to live?
Puhi has no overall grade: it has no figures for safety and schools, and an overall grade needs at least three of the four big subjects (cost of living, safety, schools and health).
Is Puhi, HI expensive?
Yes. The typical home is worth about $701,000, 16% below the Hawaii typical home. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C−.