Punaluu has 0.4 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
Punaluu has 53 jobs for 129 working residents. Hardly any stay in Punaluu for work; outside it, Urban Honolulu is the main destination (29%, 18 miles). Working residents average 32 minutes each way (Hawaii 26, U.S. 26).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Who leaves, who stays, who comes in
On a workday 129 residents head out to work, none work right here, and 53 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Out of Punaluu to work: where people go
Where Punaluu 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.
Jobs in Punaluu: what the 53 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Punaluu, 2013 → 2023: 178 → 53. 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 Punaluu’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Punaluu’s commute takes about 32 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Punaluu workers work from home, vs 10% across Hawaii. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 413 commuters (the 13% 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.
The distance from Punaluu to work
About 43% 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.
Punaluu and its neighbors
Jobs & commute next door
Darker towns draw more of Punaluu’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 Punaluu: questions
What is the median household income in Punaluu?
$86,953 (±$14,217) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $100,389 across Hawaii and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Punaluu?
17.1%, against 10.0% across Hawaii and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Punaluu?
32 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Hawaii and 26 nationally. 13% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Punaluu work?
0% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Urban Honolulu (29%, 18 mi), Hilo (5%, 224 mi), Waipahu (5%, 16 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Punaluu without a car?
10% of commuters take transit and 16% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Punaluu, from the people who make the trip.
More of Punaluu
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.