The 10 Best Small Towns In Hawaii For 2026

You’ve seen these lists before. Best places to live in Hawaii. Best sururbs in Hawaii. Best counties in Hawaii.

Etc., etc., etc.

But they all focus on major cities and towns in the Aloha State, and no one pays attention to the little guy.

Well, that’s all about to change as we put together a list of the superb small towns in Hawaii based on numbers–not opinions or hearsay.

We’ll dive right into our methodology in the next section, but first, we thought you might want to know which places in Hawaii ranked the best based on Saturday Night Science.

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Table Of Contents: Top Ten | Methodology | Summary | Table

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The 15 Best Small Towns To Live In Hawaii For 2026

1. Maunawili
2. Ko Olina
3. Poipu
4. Princeville
5. Waikapu
6. Kaaawa
7. Mahinahina
8. Puhi
9. Eleele
10. Kalaheo
11. Kaanapali
12. Lanai City
13. Holualoa
14. Waimanalo Beach
15. Hauula

What’s the best small town in Hawaii? Maunawili is the best small town in Hawaii based on the most recent Census data. If you live in one of these small towns like Maunawili, chances are, you’re not surprised. After all, you know how great you have it.

But for the rest of you–keep reading, and we’ll get to just why these small towns made our list.

For more reading on the Aloha State check out:

• Best Places To Live In Hawaii
• Cheapest Places To Live In Hawaii
• Worst Places To Live In Hawaii

The 15 Best Small Towns In Hawaii For 2026

1. Maunawili

Source: Wikipedia User Zhong54 | CC BY-SA 3.0

Overall SnackAbility

7
/10

Population: 2,024
Median Income: $177,143 (1st Best)
Median Home Value: $1,500,253 (4th Best)
Unemployment Rate: 1.6%

2. Ko Olina

Overall SnackAbility

7
/10

Population: 1,670
Median Income: $132,636 (5th Best)
Median Home Value: $924,889 (18th Best)
Unemployment Rate: 0.8%

3. Poipu

Overall SnackAbility

7.5
/10

Population: 1,175
Median Income: $143,333 (3rd Best)
Median Home Value: $1,101,886 (10th Best)
Unemployment Rate: 1.3%

4. Princeville

Source: Public domain

Overall SnackAbility

7
/10

Population: 2,020
Median Income: $102,109 (19th Best)
Median Home Value: $1,415,106 (6th Best)
Unemployment Rate: 4.2%

5. Waikapu

Overall SnackAbility

7.5
/10

Population: 3,591
Median Income: $122,917 (9th Best)
Median Home Value: $877,935 (19th Best)
Unemployment Rate: 1.8%

6. Kaaawa

Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 1,328
Median Income: $131,750 (6th Best)
Median Home Value: $1,056,685 (12th Best)
Unemployment Rate: 0.9%

7. Mahinahina

Overall SnackAbility

/10

Population: 1,027
Median Income: $162,813 (2nd Best)
Median Home Value: $1,215,648 (9th Best)
Unemployment Rate: 6.3%

8. Puhi

Overall SnackAbility

7.5
/10

Population: 4,362
Median Income: $137,292 (4th Best)
Median Home Value: $696,273 (33rd Best)
Unemployment Rate: 2.8%

9. Eleele

Overall SnackAbility

7
/10

Population: 2,522
Median Income: $118,438 (10th Best)
Median Home Value: $843,104 (24th Best)
Unemployment Rate: 2.7%

10. Kalaheo

Overall SnackAbility

7.5
/10

Population: 4,435
Median Income: $110,607 (14th Best)
Median Home Value: $1,067,489 (11th Best)
Unemployment Rate: 5.3%

11. Kaanapali

Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 1,170
Median Income: $129,167 (7th Best)
Median Home Value: $1,937,930 (1st Best)
Unemployment Rate: 17.6%

12. Lanai City

Source: Public domain

Overall SnackAbility

7.5
/10

Population: 3,393
Median Income: $92,167 (29th Best)
Median Home Value: $711,796 (32nd Best)
Unemployment Rate: 2.2%

13. Holualoa

Source: Wikipedia User Travisthurston | CC BY-SA 3.0

Overall SnackAbility

7
/10

Population: 3,434
Median Income: $115,972 (11th Best)
Median Home Value: $1,002,277 (17th Best)
Unemployment Rate: 5.0%

14. Waimanalo Beach

Source: Wikipedia User The original uploader was Pixel23 at English Wikipedia | CC BY-SA 1.0

Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 4,505
Median Income: $127,450 (8th Best)
Median Home Value: $846,070 (22nd Best)
Unemployment Rate: 4.4%

15. Hauula

Source: Wikipedia User Travis.Thurston | CC BY-SA 3.0

Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 3,548
Median Income: $115,865 (12th Best)
Median Home Value: $852,250 (21st Best)
Unemployment Rate: 4.1%

Next 10 Cities

Methodology: How We Determined The Coolest Towns In Hawaii

We threw a lot of criteria at this report to get the best, most complete results of the best small towns in Hawaii possible.

Using the most recent data from the Census’s 2020-2024 American Community Survey, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and Saturday Night Science, this is the criteria we used:

• Population Density (Higher is better)
• Lowest Unemployment Rates
• Housing costs (Higher is better. More demand.)
• Adjusted Median Income (Higher is better)
• Highly Educated Adults (Higher is better)
• Insurance Rates (Higher is better)
• Commute Times (Lower is better)

We looked at places with populations lower than 5,000 people and greater than 1,000, of which there were many – 63 to be exact.

We then ranked each place in each category with scores from 1 to 63, averaged them out, and the lowest scores went to our Best Small Towns in Hawaii. Top of that list — Maunawili.

This is our eleventh time ranking the best small places to live in Hawaii.

Summary: Science Can Tackle Any Issue, Even Small Ones

We said it once, and we’ll say it again — this list: it’s just science. We did the research, crunched the numbers, and it turns out these 15 small towns in Hawaii are the best in which to live.

And who can argue with that?

The best small towns in Hawaii are Maunawili, Ko Olina, Poipu, Princeville, Waikapu, Kaaawa, Mahinahina, Puhi, Eleele, and Kalaheo.

If you’re curious, here are the worst small towns in Hawaii:

1. Hawaiian Ocean View
2. Hawaiian Beaches
3. Fern Forest

For more Hawaii reading, check out:

Best Small Towns In Hawaii