The 10 Cheapest Places To Live In Hawaii For 2022

The 10 Cheapest Places To Live In Hawaii For 2022

We finish our list of cheapest places to live in Hawaii in Hawaiian Paradise Park. You won’t need to save up your coconuts very long to buy a home in Hawaiian Paradise Park, because the median home price here is $307,400, the lowest in the state by a very wide margin. And folks in Hawaiian Paradise Park pay the smallest percentage of their income on homes statewide.

The only thing Hawaiian Paradise Park doesn’t have going for it is affordable rent, which keeps it from a higher position on this list. In any case, if you do settle down here, chances are you’ll have an awesome time sitting around a campfire at Kaloli Point, with all the mangoes and turtles your heart desires right at your feet.

The biggest city to make this list and the third biggest city in Hawaii, Hilo ranks as the second cheapest place to live in the state. Hilo is a major tourist destination thanks to being the principal city on the Island of Hawai’i. Nature-lovers will definitely want to hit Akaka Falls State Park, while those with an interest in science or history will have a great day out at the Imiloa Astronomy Center. For both sets of people and everyone in between, Hilo has the second cheapest homes for sale in Hawaii, with a median price tag of $341,500. Talk about a sweet deal!

We’re taking a long swim up to O’ahu island to get to our third cheapest place in Hawaii, Waianae. As the only place on this list with a median rent under $1,000/month, Wainae is a great place to try Hawaii out to see if it’s right for you. And if you lock down a job here, know that the median income is $67,466, which gives Wainae the seventh best rent to income ratio in the state.

And from snorkeling with the turtles at Makaha Beach to just chilling on the soft sand at Pokai Bay, we’re pretty sure money troubles won’t be on your mind here. If you do decide to settle down in Waianae, you’re in luck, because it has the fourth cheapest homes in Hawaii.

Aloha and welcome to Waihee-Waiehu, the most affordable place to live in Hawaii for 2022. Homes in Waihee-Waiehu go for about $572,900 and the mediant rent is $1,446/month. While those numbers may seem a tad high, keep in mind that the median income in Waihee-Waiehu is $109,077, so residents have plenty of cash leftover after housing is paid for. In fact, residents of Waihee-Waiehu pay the eighth lowest percentage of their income on homes, and the third lowest on rent. Waihee-Waiehu is also home to the Waihee Ridge Trail, which will take you into the clouds to overlook the lush rainforest valley below.

Waihee-Waiehu is located in the east coast of western Maui.

Waimea comes in as the fifth least expensive place in Hawaii. While Waimea has all the usual island-y things to do, it also hosts a number of farmer’s markets that pull folks from near and far. Homes in Waimea go for about $462,800, the eighth lowest in the state. Even more importantly, with a median income of $95,667, Waimea residents enjoy the second best home price to income ratio in Hawaii. On the flip side, Waimea is less affordable for renters, so you’re best off buying here.

Waimea is located in the northern part of the Island of Hawai’i.

Another O’ahu city and a neighbor of Ewa Beach, Kapolei ranks as the sixth least expensive place in Hawaii. Kapolei is the second fastest-growing city in Hawaii, with an incredible 40% population growth in the last 5 years. And it’s not hard to see why; Kapolei residents pay the seventh smallest proportion of their income on homes statewide. And as far as bang for your buck goes, having the Ko Olina Lagoons in your backyard is a big plus.

Beaches, sun, and the pristine waters of the Pacific Ocean. Access to those usually costs a pretty penny. Nanakuli, Hawaii, lets you get that with a little bit of a bargain. The town represents the number 7 most affordable spot to live in the state.

Nanakuli is located on the island Oahu, about a 40-minute drive down the coast from Honolulu, the state capital and its biggest city. The 11,379 residents of the town can enjoy Nanakuli Beach Park or head inland to the Nanakuli Forest Preserve. And they get these natural wonders on the cheap.

The median home value in the area sits at $392,800. We know…that sounds high. But this is Hawaii, where property is expensive. That figure actually represents the fifth lowest mark in the state. The median rent comes in at $1,552 per month. The overall cost of living is about 50% above the national average, but that’s actually pretty good for the state. Hawaii as a whole runs about 75% more expensive that the U.S. standard.

Looking at other aspects of the economy, the median income stands at $77,448, while the unemployment rate hovers at 11.47%.

Waimanalo, Hawaii, is located on the windward side of the island of Oahu. Like much of the rest of the island, it has a resort atmosphere. There are beaches and golf courses to wile away the hours. All this paradise comes at a price, of course. But don’t worry: Waimanalo represents the number 8 most reasonable place to put down roots in Hawaii.

The median home value in the community stands at $635,900. That would be the cost of a mansion in most other parts of the country, but it’s about par for the region. The median rent in the area comes in at $1,327 per month.

The housing figures become more understandable when you consider the high incomes enjoyed by Waimanalo’s 5,599 residents. The median income sits at a sizable $109,620. As a result, the community ranks number 1.0 in the state in terms of its income-to-rent ratio.

If you get tired of swimming, sun bathing, and hitting the links, you still have leisure-time options in Waimanalo. Take a half-hour drive through the middle of the island and you’ll arrive at Honolulu, the state’s capital and its biggest city.

One of a series of affluent housing developments built on the western side of Pearl Harbor, Ewa Gentry, Hawaii, provides access to the good life. A short drive from some of the world’s most beautiful beaches and surrounded by high-quality golf courses, life in the community might seem beyond reach. But comparatively speaking, putting down roots in Ewa Gentry is relatively reasonable. The community stands as the number 9 most affordable spot in Hawaii.

First, let’s put that statement into context. Hawaii itself is extremely expensive, with the state as a whole costing about 75% more than the national average. Ewa Gentry is in line with this, with a cost of living about 70% above the U.S. standard.

The town becomes more affordable when you take the overall economy into account. The median income in the area comes in at an eye-popping $112,385. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate is a puny 3.47%. Given these numbers, a median home value of $594,500 suddenly seems downright reasonable. In fact, Ewa Gentry has the number 9.0 best home price-to-income ratio in the state.

We’ll just keep on swimming west to the island of Kauai to reach Kapaa, the tenth most affordable place to call home in Hawaii.

You’d have a tough time believing that you’re living in one of the most expensive states in America if you just moved to Kapaa. For starters, the median rent in Kapaa is $1,541, well below the statewide average. And taking into account Kapaa’s median income of $92,571, residents pay the tenth smallest percentage of their salaries on rent statewide. For awesome views of Mount Waialeale and jungle valleys, definitely check out the Kuilau Ridge Trail in Kapaa.

Cheapest Places To Live In Hawaii FAQs

What county in Hawaii has the lowest cost of living?

The county in Hawaii with the lowest cost of living is Maui County. The average living wage in Maui County is $103,095 according to MIT data. Maui County has the lowest cost of living because it has relatively less expensive childcare and housing costs compared to Hawaii as a whole. Childcare costs $15,986 a year in Maui County for two children compared to the Hawaii average of $17,959. Housing costs, defined as a blend of the average rent and average mortgage payment, are $21,264 per year in Maui County compared to $23,334 on average in Hawaii.

What is the cost of living in Hawaii?

The cost of living in Hawaii is 20.0% higher than the US average. According to MIT, the required living wage for a family of four with two working parents in Hawaii is $107,702 vs the national average for a family of four with two working parents of $89,744. The median income of a Hawaii household is $83,173.

What is the cheapest housing market in Hawaii?

The cheapest housing market in Hawaii is Hickam Housing. The average home value in Hickam Housing is $0, the lowest in the state. The average home value in Hawaii is $636,400, almost nan times higher than Hickam Housing.

Methodology: How We Determined The Most Affordable Places To Live In The Aloha State For 2022

The two most important things to think about when it comes to being able to afford if you can live comes down to:

1. How much do money do I make?
2. How much do I have spend to live there?

You need to understand your costs in the context of how much money you make.

For example, if the median household earns $100,000 and spends $40,000 on housing it’s actually cheaper to live there than a place with a median income of $50,000 and housing costs of $21,000. You might spend more on housing, but you have more money overall to play with.

With that example in mind, we derived several statistics from the latest Census American Community Survey 2016-2020 around incomes and costs. They are:

• Median Home Price / Median Income (lower is better)
• Median Income / Median Rent (Higher is better)
• Median Home Price

We added simply median home price because high home prices generally correlate with higher expenses for all costs related to homes (heating, electricity, etc).

You can then compare these metrics in each of the places in Hawaii to figure out which is the least expensive.

What you are left with is a “Cost of Living Index” by taking the average rank of each of these metrics for each city.

So we used that cost of living index in order to rank all of the 51 places in Hawaii that have more than 5,000 people.

The place with the lowest cost of living in Hawaii according to the data is Hawaiian Paradise Park. You can download the data here.