Wheeler Field · Photo: Photographer's Mate 2nd Class Rebecca J. Moat · Public domainWith 0.4 jobs for every working resident, most of Wheeler AFB works elsewhere
Only 1% work in Wheeler AFB itself; outside it, Urban Honolulu draws the most (33%, 16 miles). Employers in Wheeler AFB report 86 jobs, and 241 of its residents work somewhere. Jobs and income earn Wheeler AFB A; getting around on foot earns it B.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Wheeler AFB apart on work
Wheeler AFB and Urban Honolulu trade workers both ways
Urban Honolulu is the top workplace for Wheeler AFB residents (33%) and also where the most people who work in Wheeler AFB come from (14% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Commutes from Wheeler AFB are quick
The average trip to work takes 14 minutes, against 26 across Hawaii. That’s about 92 hours a year less on the road than the typical Hawaii worker. Time on the road ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2024, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey; with 241 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
How Wheeler AFB earns its Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty and job access, Wheeler AFB is better than 88% of U.S. towns. The poverty rate is its strongest input (1.3%, U.S. 12.5%); job access by car ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (ahead of 62% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income and job access by car.
Unemployment (4.9%) is left out: Wheeler AFB’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Wheeler AFB could be anywhere from A− to A.
Commuting out of Wheeler AFB: the destinations
Where Wheeler AFB clocks in
5% of workers
5% 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.
About 14 minutes to work from Wheeler AFB
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 4.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Wheeler AFB workers work from home, vs 10% across Hawaii. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,206 commuters (the 4% 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.
Who commutes out of Wheeler AFB, and who commutes in
On a workday 238 residents head out to work, 3 work right here, and 83 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 2024, primary jobs.
Making and building: 28% of jobs based in Wheeler AFB
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Wheeler AFB, 2014 → 2024: 227 → 86. 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 2024.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Wheeler AFB’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The commute from Wheeler AFB, by distance
About 27% 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 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Most trips from Wheeler AFB start in a car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Wheeler AFB is more walkable than 61% of U.S. towns. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 8.1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 10.0% across Hawaii, on an EPA index of 5.5.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,257 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 8.7 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 92% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 1.3% of Wheeler AFB households have no vehicle (Hawaii 8.2%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Wheeler AFB’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Wheeler AFB ranks: 388th of 5,148 U.S. towns of 1,500 to 2,800
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 68 | Maunawili HI | 2,024 | $177K | 1.6% | 1.6% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 386 | Penn Township PA | 2,307 | $97K | 4.2% | 2.4% | 6% | A |
| 387 | Rose Hills CA | 2,314 | $123K | 7.7% | 3.8% | <1% | A |
| 388 | Wheeler AFB HI | 2,097 | $92K | 1.3% | 4.9% | 1% | A |
| 389 | South Willard UT | 1,532 | $119K | 4.5% | 0.0% | 1% | A |
| 390 | Palo IA | 1,551 | $106K | 5.5% | 1.9% | 2% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 405 | Ko Olina HI | 1,670 | $133K | 6.8% | 0.8% | 9% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,167 | Omao HI | 1,528 | $102K | 3.1% | 7.6% | 1% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 5,148 | Lame Deer MT | 1,872 | $24K | 55.8% | 42.2% | 61% | 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 Wheeler AFB, the top three, the last and three more from Hawaii.
Around Wheeler AFB: the bordering towns
The biggest share goes to Wahiawa (5%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Wheeler AFB workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wheeler AFB | – | A | B | 14 min | $91,667 |
| Schofield Barracks | under 3% | B+ | A+ | 11 min | $80,388 |
| Wahiawa | 5% | B− | A | 32 min | $87,143 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Wheeler AFB’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 2024, 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 Wheeler AFB: questions
What is the median household income in Wheeler AFB?
$91,667 (±$9,516) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $100,389 across Hawaii and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Wheeler AFB?
1.3%, against 10.0% across Hawaii and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Wheeler AFB?
14 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Hawaii and 26 nationally. 4% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Wheeler AFB work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Urban Honolulu (33%, 16 mi), Wahiawa (5%, 2 mi), Pearl City (5%, 7 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Wheeler AFB walkable?
Wheeler AFB is more walkable than 61% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 5.5 out of 20, and 8% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Wheeler AFB without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 1% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Wheeler AFB, from the people who make the trip.
More of Wheeler AFB
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2024, 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.