What do 1.4 million Hawaii residents know that we don’t? Besides surfing and hula dancing, Hawaiians know precisely where the best places to live in Hawaii are located.
Luckily, we uncovered their secrets and identified the top ten best places to live in Hawaii for 2026.
How’d we do this? We used Saturday Night Science to compare the 49 Hawaii places with 5,000 or more residents. We considered home prices, household income, education, and safety, among other quality-of-life factors.
Hawaii’s best places are home to Kona Coffee, macadamia nuts, and Hawaiian Airlines.
$176,250 median income · $1,191,427 median home · #1 best place in Hawaii
If you’re searching for one of the best place to live in Hawaii, Heeia earns the title of #1 for 2026. Located along the windward shore of O’ahu near Kaneohe Bay, this community of 5,144 residents quietly outperforms places twice its size on every measure that matters.
The numbers back up the ranking. Median household income clocks in at $176,250, unemployment sits at a mere 2.4%, and a poverty rate of 3.3% ranks among the lowest in the state. Not too shabby for one of the best Hawaii suburbs that most mainlanders have never even heard of.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$138,942 median income · $980,878 median home · #2 best place in Hawaii
Located in
Honolulu County, Hawaii
Aloha and welcome to Mililani Mauka, the 2nd best place to live in Hawaii for the second year running. Located smack dab in the center of O’ahu, Mililani Mauka doesn’t need to rely on beaches to get the best out of island living. It’s the only community in Hawaii to ever be named an All-American City. Folks here know the importance of fresh food; you can take a tour of Mari’s Gardens, Hawaii’s largest aquaponic and hydroponic farm, or pick up all the best locally-grown produce at the Mililani Farmer’s Market.
GreatSchools gave schools in the area an average score of 8.5/10, so you know that students get all the resources they need here. A ridiculously low poverty rate of 3.3% ranks as the 6th lowest in the state and the median household income of $138,942/year ranks as the 6th highest in Hawaii. Housing is kind of pricey, but that’s pretty much a given in Hawaii. Homes sell for around $980,878 and a typical rental will set you back around $2,350/month.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$149,767 median income · $893,620 median home · #3 best place in Hawaii
Located in
Honolulu County, Hawaii
A neighbor of Ewa Gentry, Ocean Pointe comes in as the 3rd best place to live in Hawaii. With a median age of 33, Ocean Pointe is the youngest place on our list. The young-uns must be doing something right, because Ocean Pointe is Hawaii’s fastest-growing city, with the population exploding by 130% in the past decade. People are attracted by the safe environment, top-quality schools, and great employment opportunities. Poverty and unemployment hover around 4% and a typical household brings home around $149,767/year.
If that all sounds great, but you can’t live without working on your golf swing, fear not; there’s a great golf course in Ocean Pointe. If golf causes you more stress than it alleviates, you’ll probably prefer spending time in the turquoise water at Oneula Beach Park.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$120,525 median income · $699,549 median home · #4 best place in Hawaii
Located in
Honolulu County, Hawaii
Waikele, a census-designated place in Waipahu, comes in as the 4th best place to live in Hawaii for 2026. This region of O’ahu has a rich history of sugar plantations, which you can learn more about at Hawaii Plantation Village. If that sounds boring, just leave whoever you’re with and walk down the street to Waikele Premium Outlets, the only outlet center in the state and a shopaholics paradise.
Folks in Waikele are not to be trifled with when it comes time for a pub quiz; about half of the adult population has a college degree, and 15% of residents have a master’s degree, PhD, or professional degree to boot. Waikele’s poverty rate of 3.7% ranks as the 7th lowest in Hawaii and the unemployment rate here hovers around a measly 2%. Perhaps the best part of Waikele, though, is that it’s affordable (by Hawaii standards, at least). While the cost of living is way higher than the national average, it’s slightly cheaper than the statewide average. In any case, you won’t find cheaper homes anywhere on this list then Waikele’s $699,549.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$135,438 median income · $903,944 median home · #5 best place in Hawaii
Located in
Honolulu County, Hawaii
Just north of Kaneohe, you’ll find the 5th best place to call home in Hawaii, Ahuimanu. High above Kaneohe Bay, you can visit Friendship Garden, a quiet corner of paradise. That’s just the sort of thing you’d expect to find in the nicest place in Hawaii. Being the sort of place where neighbors have your back earned Ahuimanu that title.
Ahuimanu’s poverty rate of 6.4% ranks as the 17th lowest in the state, and residents earn the 8th highest median household income at $135,438/year. The high school dropout rate in Ahuimanu is the 4th lowest in Hawaii, so you know that the importance of education is instilled in the CDP’s youth. While homes are quite pricey, you can find a place to rent in Ahuimanu for $2,635/month, 35% cheaper than the average rent in Hawaii.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$159,518 median income · $1,203,141 median home · #6 best place in Hawaii
Located in
Honolulu County, Hawaii
A census-designated place located in eastern (duh) Honolulu, East Honolulu is a place jam-packed with entertainment. Everyone who comes here hikes Diamond Head State Monument, a dormant volcano crater with epic coastal views. There’s Hanauma Bay for the snorkelers and Pearl Harbor National Memorial for anyone who wants to learn more about the history of the event.
Word to the wise: East Honolulu is far from cheap. The cost of living here is twice as high as the national index, and housing is four times as high. Rent here is among the highest in the state at $3,313/month, and the median home price is the 5th highest in Hawaii at $1,203,141. Luckily, East Honolulu is also one of Hawaii’s richest cities, with a median household income of $159,518, the 2nd highest in the state. Those big paychecks are the result of big brains; over 65% of residents have a college degree, and 25% have a master’s degree or higher. Poverty and unemployment rates hover at around 3%, so everyone gets a piece of the pie here. As a bonus, 97.9% of residents have health insurance, the 15th highest rate in Hawaii.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$122,422 median income · $848,850 median home · #7 best place in Hawaii
West Loch Estate is a CDP about 25 minutes northwest of Honolulu. If you’re looking to get out into nature, head over to Kapapapuhi Point Park. And if you have an itch to hit the links, there’s a gorgeous golf course in town.
West Loch Estate has an incredibly low poverty rate of 8.3%, which ranks as the 24th best in Hawaii. 99.1% of residents have health insurance, the 5th highest rate statewide. Homes are fairly cheap (again, by Hawaii standards) at $848,850. West Loch Estate is also the 5th most densely populated place in Hawaii, so you’ll never be far from the action. Safe streets and good schools are the finishing touches that make West Loch Estate a wonderful place to call home.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$140,308 median income · $838,396 median home · #8 best place in Hawaii
Located in
Honolulu County, Hawaii
Located on O’ahu’s south shore 15 minutes northwest of Honolulu, Aiea is the 8th best place to live in Hawaii. Besides being a favorite of consonant-haters, Aiea also has a lot to offer anyone who loves to shop or hike. Pearlridge Center is the second-largest shopping center in the state, and the Aiea Loop Trail supplies magnificent views of the sea and the Wai’anae Range.
Like East Honolulu, you’ll want a nest egg or a lucrative job lined up before moving to Aiea, seeing as it’s one of the most expensive places in Hawaii. The median rent of $2,844/month is super steep, and the median home price of $838,396 is the 32nd highest in the state. Aiea is also the oldest spot on this list, with a median age of 45, so most residents probably do have some substantial savings. If you don’t, no worries, because the median household income in Aiea is the 5th highest in Hawaii at $140,308/year.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$125,613 median income · $1,091,198 median home · #9 best place in Hawaii
Located in
Honolulu County, Hawaii
Yet another O’ahu island locale, Kaneohe comes in as the 9th best place to live in the Aloha State. An idyllic little slice of island living at its finest, Kaneohe packs plenty of action into a peaceful setting. Byodo-In Temple is a positively gorgeous and serene place at the foot of the Ko’olau Mountains. The Ho’omaluhia Botanical Gardens has tropical plants from around the world, but if you want to see purely natural beauty, spend some time at He’eia State Park. From there, you can pay a visit to Oahu’s only barrier reef at Kaneohe Bay.
Homes in Kaneohe are the 8th priciest in the state at $1,091,198. Besides housing, though, the cost of living in Kaneohe is on par with the rest of Hawaii. Plus, locals enjoy the 12th highest median household income in Hawaii at $125,613/year.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$110,400 median income · $1,044,211 median home · #10 best place in Hawaii
Located in
Honolulu County, Hawaii
Halawa is located on Oahu about 10 miles northwest of Honolulu. It’s also one of the best places to live in Hawaii for 2026.
There’s plenty to do in Halawa. While the beach is an obvious choice, you will also find the University of Hawaii Warriors football stadium in town. The town borders Pearl Harbor which offers people that live here great views of the harbor and surrounding area. As a bit of history, the controversial H-3 Freeway that destroyed historical and sacred Kanaka Maoli sites runs through the middle of town.
On the stats side of things, the town ranks as the 11th best in Hawaii for home values, an indicator that people are willing to pay to live in Halawa. The town also ranks well on proxies for things to do — population and population density. And if you ever get bored on a weekend in Halawa you can simply drive down to Honolulu.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
The receipts
Compare the top ten
Pick a metric. The bars rescale. The red line is Hawaii’s statewide median.
Hawaii statewide median: $100,389
Hawaii statewide median: $832,967
Hawaii statewide median: 4.9%
On the map
Mapping The Best And Worst Places To Live in Hawaii
Saturday Night Science
Methodology: How We Calculated The Best Cities To Live In Hawaii
Before we even started to collect data on the best places to live in Hawaii, we had to answer a tough question: Is it fair to pit cities with populations over 100,000 against places with a population of 18?
We firmly decided no, that just isn’t fair.
So, to create our ranking, we broke the best places to live into three tiers:
- Cities — Populations over 5,000
- Towns — Populations between 1,000 and 5,000
- Small Towns — Populations below 1,000
We then decided no matter how much anyone loves their town, the best cities to live in Hawaii have more of everything, and therefore, you need over 5,000 people to truly be ‘the best.’
Now that we had our set of the best possible cities, it was time to rank them using Saturday Night Science.
We ranked each place in Hawaii across a number of criteria from one to 49, with one being the best.
We then took the average rank across all criteria, crowning the city posting the lowest overall score, the “Best Place To Live In Hawaii.”
The criteria we looked to determine the best places were:
- Median Home Values
- Median Income
- Population Density (Higher is better)
- Unemployment Rate
- Commute Time
- Crime
- Education Levels
- Health Insurance Coverage
- Poverty rates
Sources of criteria include the New Census Data, FBI Crime Data, and Zillow. We updated this article for 2026. This report is our eleventh time ranking Hawaii’s best places to live.
If your city or town isn’t among the top 10, jump down to the bottom of the post to see a detailed chart of the best places in Hawaii. Otherwise, buckle up for a ride down good living lane with Heeia at the end of the cul-de-sac.
The full plate
Best Places To Live In Hawaii Table
Click any column to sort. Search by city name.
| Rank | City | Best Score | Population | Unemployment Rate | Home Value | Median Income | Rent | Total Crime /100k |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Heeia | 13.35 | 5,144 | 2.4% | $1,191,427 | $176,250 | 3,191 | |
| 2 | Mililani Mauka | 14.15 | 21,278 | 2.3% | $980,878 | $138,942 | 3,191 | |
| 3 | Ocean Pointe | 15.85 | 17,085 | 2.2% | $893,620 | $149,767 | 3,191 | |
| 4 | Waikele | 16.20 | 7,528 | 1.3% | $699,549 | $120,525 | 3,191 | |
| 5 | Ahuimanu | 16.65 | 8,452 | 2.6% | $903,944 | $135,438 | 3,191 | |
| 6 | East Honolulu | 18.30 | 51,360 | 4.5% | $1,203,141 | $159,518 | 3,191 | |
| 7 | West Loch Estate | 19.15 | 5,544 | 3.1% | $848,850 | $122,422 | 3,191 | |
| 8 | Aiea | 19.25 | 9,087 | 3.8% | $838,396 | $140,308 | 3,191 | |
| 9 | Kaneohe | 20.20 | 37,355 | 4.5% | $1,091,198 | $125,613 | 3,191 | |
| 10 | Halawa | 20.40 | 14,385 | 2.6% | $1,044,211 | $110,400 | 3,191 | |
| 11 | Wailuku | 20.40 | 16,926 | 3.1% | $924,156 | $102,942 | 3,191 | |
| 12 | Hickam Housing | 20.45 | 9,425 | 8.2% | $0 | $121,667 | 3,191 | |
| 13 | Waipio | 20.45 | 10,870 | 2.9% | $744,022 | $109,877 | 3,191 | |
| 14 | Lihue | 20.75 | 7,901 | 0.7% | $864,447 | $92,850 | 3,191 | |
| 15 | Schofield Barracks | 21.95 | 16,270 | 13.1% | $0 | $80,388 | 3,191 | |
| 16 | Laie | 22.00 | 5,699 | 6.1% | $1,292,971 | $125,202 | 3,191 | |
| 17 | Makawao | 22.45 | 7,353 | 3.4% | $1,103,697 | $96,444 | 3,191 | |
| 18 | Royal Kunia | 22.80 | 13,555 | 6.2% | $856,096 | $135,361 | 3,191 | |
| 19 | Ewa Beach | 23.45 | 14,376 | 4.4% | $836,184 | $124,323 | 3,191 | |
| 20 | Kapaa | 23.80 | 11,094 | 2.3% | $948,644 | $89,477 | 3,191 | |
| 21 | Ewa Gentry | 23.90 | 26,563 | 3.6% | $810,036 | $135,684 | 3,191 | |
| 22 | Napili-Honokowai | 24.10 | 7,308 | 6.3% | $872,476 | $105,565 | 3,191 | |
| 23 | Kahaluu-Keauhou | 24.30 | 5,150 | 3.9% | $880,417 | $96,212 | 3,191 | |
| 24 | Makakilo | 24.75 | 20,735 | 4.3% | $860,861 | $118,550 | 3,191 | |
| 25 | Pukalani | 25.05 | 8,679 | 9.7% | $966,583 | $102,976 | 3,191 | |
| 26 | Waimanalo | 25.20 | 6,054 | 5.1% | $1,078,074 | $116,581 | 3,191 | |
| 27 | Waihee-Waiehu | 25.20 | 10,988 | 4.0% | $771,321 | $126,735 | 3,191 | |
| 28 | Kahaluu | 25.50 | 5,619 | 5.5% | $1,204,531 | $142,045 | 3,191 | |
| 29 | Kapolei | 25.70 | 22,232 | 6.7% | $848,166 | $128,324 | 3,191 | |
| 30 | Ewa Villages | 26.20 | 7,415 | 2.0% | $861,258 | $88,813 | 3,191 | |
| 31 | Kahului | 26.50 | 28,288 | 3.5% | $1,035,498 | $98,077 | 3,191 | |
| 32 | Wailea | 26.65 | 6,352 | 6.0% | $1,523,582 | $90,000 | 3,191 | |
| 33 | Kihei | 27.70 | 21,567 | 6.2% | $1,013,506 | $87,772 | 3,191 | |
| 34 | Wailua Homesteads | 27.95 | 5,431 | 3.8% | $936,504 | $89,717 | 3,191 | |
| 35 | Kula | 28.30 | 6,791 | 2.6% | $1,320,090 | $100,433 | 3,191 | |
| 36 | Waipio Acres | 28.40 | 5,332 | 5.1% | $748,389 | $94,861 | 3,191 | |
| 37 | Waimalu | 28.40 | 13,061 | 6.7% | $593,430 | $89,232 | 3,191 | |
| 38 | Urban Honolulu | 28.95 | 345,482 | 4.8% | $768,465 | $86,504 | 3,191 | |
| 39 | Waipahu | 29.25 | 40,482 | 4.1% | $868,669 | $103,895 | 3,191 | |
| 40 | Wahiawa | 29.70 | 17,996 | 3.8% | $858,314 | $87,143 | 3,191 | |
| 41 | Lahaina | 29.90 | 10,162 | 5.8% | $981,024 | $88,889 | 3,191 | |
| 42 | Iroquois Point | 30.40 | 5,158 | 12.7% | $0 | $109,561 | 3,191 | |
| 43 | Hawaiian Paradise Park | 30.60 | 13,203 | 2.8% | $453,759 | $88,348 | 3,191 | |
| 44 | Haiku-Pauwela | 31.00 | 9,178 | 5.7% | $1,085,805 | $101,396 | 3,191 | |
| 45 | Maili | 31.15 | 11,570 | 9.6% | $635,918 | $111,542 | 3,191 | |
| 46 | Hilo | 31.25 | 50,404 | 6.9% | $548,368 | $81,779 | 3,191 | |
| 47 | Waianae | 37.70 | 12,918 | 8.8% | $574,227 | $81,733 | 3,191 | |
| 48 | Nanakuli | 38.25 | 12,383 | 11.2% | $485,029 | $86,597 | 3,191 | |
| 49 | Makaha | 41.05 | 10,066 | 10.0% | $391,120 | $64,970 | 3,191 |
Source: U.S. Census ACS 2020-2024, FBI UCR, Zillow research. 49 places with more than 5,000 residents.
Summary
Summary: The Best Places In Hawaii
If you’re looking at areas in Hawaii with the best economic situations, where there’s lower than average crime, and a lot to do, this is an accurate list.
The best places to live in Hawaii are Heeia, Mililani Mauka, Ocean Pointe, Waikele, Ahuimanu, East Honolulu, West Loch Estate, Aiea, Kaneohe, and Halawa.
Heeia made a strong showing to take in the overall number one spot for the best place to live in Hawaii for 2026.
