Hawaii County vs Kalawao County

A side-by-side comparison of Hawaii County and Kalawao County: population, income, housing, and more.

Hawaii County and Kalawao County are counties in Hawaii. This page compares them across population, income, housing, education, commuting, and how each has changed since 2019.

Hawaii County has the higher population (203,684 vs 43 in Kalawao County). Kalawao County has the higher median household income ($86,250 vs $77,215 in Hawaii County). Since 2019, Hawaii County's population has grown faster (+2.1% vs -34.8%).

Population, income & housing

	Hawaii County	Kalawao County
Population	203,684	43
Median age	44.1 yrs	39.9 yrs
Median household income	$77,215	$86,250
Median home value	$486,400	—
Median gross rent	$1,411	$1,300
Housing units	89,786	95
Homeownership rate	73.1%	0.0%
Bachelor's degree or higher	30.9%	32.6%
Unemployment rate	6.2%	0.0%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Hawaii County	Kalawao County
Population	199,459 → 203,684 (+2.1%)	66 → 43 (-34.8%)
Median household income	$62,409 → $77,215 (+23.7%)	$69,375 → $86,250 (+24.3%)
Median home value	$350,000 → $486,400 (+39.0%)	—
Median gross rent	$1,180 → $1,411 (+19.6%)	$1,063 → $1,300 (+22.3%)

Hawaii County

Population

199,459203,684

Median household income

$62,409$77,215

Median home value

$350,000$486,400

Median gross rent

$1,180$1,411

Kalawao County

Population

6643

Median household income

$69,375$86,250

Median gross rent

$1,063$1,300

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Hawaii County	Kalawao County
Under 5	5.3%	0.0%
5 to 17	15.6%	0.0%
18 to 24	6.6%	0.0%
25 to 34	11.2%	18.6%
35 to 44	12.6%	39.5%
45 to 54	11.6%	4.7%
55 to 64	14.1%	11.6%
65 to 74	14.7%	2.3%
75 and over	8.5%	23.3%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Hawaii County	Kalawao County
White (non-Hispanic)	30.0%	16.3%
Black or African American	0.7%	0.0%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.1%	11.6%
Asian	20.8%	32.6%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	11.3%	18.6%
Some other race	0.6%	0.0%
Two or more races	25.0%	11.6%
Hispanic or Latino	11.5%	9.3%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Hawaii County	Kalawao County
No high school diploma	6.9%	25.6%
High school graduate	29.6%	25.6%
Some college or associate's	32.5%	16.3%
Bachelor's degree	19.0%	16.3%
Graduate or professional degree	11.9%	16.3%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Hawaii County	Kalawao County
Drove alone	68.5%	46.7%
Carpooled	15.9%	0.0%
Public transit	0.8%	33.3%
Walked	1.9%	16.7%
Bicycle	0.3%	0.0%
Worked from home	10.9%	3.3%
Other means	1.8%	0.0%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Hawaii County	Kalawao County
1-unit, detached	77.3%	93.7%
1-unit, attached	3.4%	2.1%
2 to 4 units	4.7%	1.1%
5 to 19 units	8.7%	1.1%
20 or more units	5.3%	0.0%
Mobile home & other	0.6%	2.1%

Poverty & households

	Hawaii County	Kalawao County
Poverty rate	14.6%	31.7%
Average household size	2.76	1.23
Mean commute (minutes)	28	—
Median year structure built	1988	1938