Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 8,679, settled in 1950.
The best of Pukalani’s subject grades are an A− for health and a B for walkability; the weakest is a C− for hazard risk. Pukalani’s peak summer temperature is 75°F, below both Hawaii’s towns (85°F) and U.S. towns (85°F). Only 12 of Hawaii’s 125 towns score higher on hazard risk. On history, just 5 of Hawaii’s 125 towns do worse. The biggest park or preserve is Mayor Hannibal Taveras Community Center, at 24 acres. Pukalani 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).
Where Pukalani’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Hawaii), ordered by how far Pukalani is from typical.
Pukalani 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 →
The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1968 and 2 maps from 1954 on.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Pukalani. Close and well known come first.
8 mi National ParkHaleakala National Park854K visitors a year
11 mi Zoo & aquariumMaui Ocean Center
8 mi MuseumAlexander & Baldwin Sugar Museum
20 mi GardenKahanu Garden
6 mi GardenKula Botanical Garden
10 mi GardenMaui Nui Botanical GardensHaleakala National Park: Michael Oswald, Public domain · Maui Ocean Center: Richard N Horne, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Alexander & Baldwin Sugar Museum: Joel Bradshaw, Public domain · Kahanu Garden: dronepicr, CC BY 2.0 · Kula Botanical Garden: Forest and Kim Starr, CC BY 3.0 us · Maui Nui Botanical Gardens: Forest and Kim Starr, CC BY 3.0 us
Pukalani is unincorporated, so Maui 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.
Ordered by what stands out in Pukalani.
For adults in Pukalani, the share who feel lonely is 31%. This Hawaii town does better than the Hawaii average on 2 of 32 CDC measures and worse on 2. The share of adults in Pukalani who sleep under 7 hours is 40%, below the Hawaii town median (45%) but above the median of U.S. towns (36%).
| Pukalani | Hawaii towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 19% | 16% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 17% | 23% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 40% | 45% | 36% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 74% | 76% | 79% |
| What stands out | Pukalani | HI |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who get no exercise | 19.5% | 23% |
| Fewer adults sleeping under 7 hours | 40.4% | 45.7% |
| More smokers | 13.4% | 11% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
The Hawaii Department of Education school district runs its public schools. Its two schools are below. Enrollment at Pukalani’s public school: 455 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pukalani Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 455 | B |
| Kamehameha Schools Maui PrivateLargest high schoolGrades K–12 | Grades K–12 | 1,125 | – |
NCES · EDFacts
The average commute in Pukalani is 30 minutes. Commuting out is the norm in the town: 7% of working residents work locally. Between 2013 and 2023, jobs here rose by 987, to 1,974. Half of commuters travel less than 11 miles.
| Pukalani | Hawaii towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 30 minutes | 28 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $103,000 | $100,000 | $80,000 |
| Working residents who work in town | 7.5% | 3.6% | 8% |
| Below the poverty line | 11% | 9.5% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Pukalani’s FEMA risk score stands at 77 of 100. One declared disaster, in 2023, has brought federal aid to Pukalani households. FEMA puts 56% of the town’s expected hazard losses down to inland flooding, and 34% to earthquakes.
FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Among adults 25 and older in Pukalani, 36% hold a bachelor’s degree or more. No broad age group is more than 4 points off the Hawaii average. Its age of the median resident comes in at 43.9 years.
| Pukalani | Hawaii towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aged 65 or older | 23% | 20% | 18% |
| Under 18 | 20% | 22% | 22% |
| Median age | 43.9 years | 41.2 years | 40.5 years |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 36% | 31% | 29% |
47% women, 53% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±4.8 points. Across Hawaii, 49.8% of residents are women.
| Pukalani | HI | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 9.1% | 11.3% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 10.4% | 9.4% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 9% | 8.1% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 11.3% | 13.3% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 11.6% | 13.3% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 9.6% | 11.8% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 15.5% | 12.4% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 17.6% | 11.4% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 5.7% | 9% | 7% |
| No diploma | 4.6% | 6.8% | 10.4% |
| High school | 30.5% | 26.5% | 26% |
| Some college | 18.8% | 19.6% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 10.5% | 10.9% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 21.7% | 22.8% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 13.9% | 13.3% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
The density of trails for Pukalani comes to 0.2 miles per square mile. Walkers can cover 0.7 miles of trail in 1 park or preserve.
| Pukalani | Hawaii towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 4% | 12% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.2 miles per square mile | 0.6 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Mayor Hannibal Taveras Community Center | 0.5 mi | 24 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Pukalani’s rent at the middle of the market is $1,608 a month. In Pukalani, just over three in five households live in a home they own.
| Pukalani | Hawaii towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 61% | 71% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,608 a month | $2,017 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
1 within 15 miles of the center of Pukalani
About 2 of every 100 Pukalani residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Hawaii.
Census-designated place in Hawaii, United States
Pukalani is a census-designated place (CDP) in Maui County, Hawaiʻi, United States. The population was 8,299 at the 2020 census. The western volcano-slope region of Haleakalā, including nearby Makawao and Kula, is referred to as Upcountry Maui by locals, and is one of the four major population centers on Maui (the other three being Kahului, Lahaina and Kīhei, all of which are at sea level).
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
3 towns share a border with Pukalani.
| Town | HI rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pukalani | — | — | C | — | — | A− |
| Kula | — | — | D | — | — | A− |
| Haliimaile | — | — | C+ | — | — | B+ |
| Makawao | — | — | C− | — | — | A− |
Haliimaile has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Pukalani, Kula, Haliimaile and Makawao report no FBI crime data of their own. Pukalani, Kula and Makawao aren’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Pukalani with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Pukalani 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).
The typical home is worth about $974,000, 17% above 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.
2 notable people were born here, including Cyrus Nils Tavares and Nāpua Greig.
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