The 10 Hawaii Cities With The Largest Asian Population For 2023


We used data and science to determine the cities in Hawaii with the largest Asian population.

Across most of America, the African American and Hispanic communities comprise "most of the minority". We're not totally sure that's a term, but it's an accurate reflection of the state of race in America.

Asians are a "minority of the minority", generally. But not everywhere.

There are now over 17 million people who identify as Asian living in America, making up 5.6% of the total population. According to the most recent American Community Survey, the Asian population in Hawaii is 534,056 - at 36.7% of the total population of Hawaii.

And, unlike African Americans that fall under one group in the Census, Asian Americans have many sub-groups -- Chinese, Filipino, and Indian being the three largest sub-groups.

So, what how does the Asian population stratify across Hawaii? Which cities and towns in Hawaii have seen the greatest increase in their Asian population?

Here are the cities in Hawaii with the largest Asian population in 2023:

  1. Ewa Villages
  2. Waipahu
  3. Waipio
  4. Royal Kunia
  5. Kahului
  6. Pearl City
  7. Halawa
  8. Mililani Mauka
  9. Urban Honolulu
  10. Ewa Beach

Which city in Hawaii had the largest Asian population? Ewa Villages took the number one over all spot for the largest Asian in Hawaii for 2023. 67.63% of Ewa Villages identify as Asian.

Read on below to see how we crunched the numbers and how your town ranked.

To see where Hawaii ranked as a state on diversity, we have a ranking of the most diverse states in America.

And if you already knew these places were Asian, check out the best places to live in Hawaii or the most diverse places in Hawaii.

The 10 Most Asian Cities In Hawaii For 2023

Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 6,657
% Asian: 67.63%
# Of Asian Residents: 4,502
Percent Change Since 2010: 34.07%
More on Ewa Villages: Real Estate | Data | Photos

Ewa Villages, HI

Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 39,927
% Asian: 66.56%
# Of Asian Residents: 26,577
Percent Change Since 2010: 0.54%
More on Waipahu: Real Estate | Data | Photos

Waipahu, HI

Source: Public domain
Overall SnackAbility

7.5
/10

Population: 10,989
% Asian: 56.62%
# Of Asian Residents: 6,222
Percent Change Since 2010: 5.28%
More on Waipio: Real Estate | Data | Photos

Waipio, HI

Overall SnackAbility

7
/10

Population: 14,390
% Asian: 55.3%
# Of Asian Residents: 7,958
Percent Change Since 2010: 3.31%
More on Royal Kunia: Real Estate | Data

Overall SnackAbility

7.5
/10

Population: 27,938
% Asian: 54.6%
# Of Asian Residents: 15,254
Percent Change Since 2010: 18.61%
More on Kahului: Real Estate | Data | Photos

Kahului, HI

Overall SnackAbility

8
/10

Population: 45,941
% Asian: 54.25%
# Of Asian Residents: 24,924
Percent Change Since 2010: 0.29%
More on Pearl City: Real Estate | Data

Source: Public Domain
Overall SnackAbility

7.5
/10

Population: 14,990
% Asian: 52.88%
# Of Asian Residents: 7,926
Percent Change Since 2010: 16.25%
More on Halawa: Real Estate | Data | Photos

Halawa, HI

Overall SnackAbility

7.5
/10

Population: 21,657
% Asian: 52.63%
# Of Asian Residents: 11,398
Percent Change Since 2010: 12.54%
More on Mililani Mauka: Real Estate | Data | Photos

Mililani Mauka, HI

Source: Public domain
Overall SnackAbility

8
/10

Population: 351,554
% Asian: 51.88%
# Of Asian Residents: 182,378
Percent Change Since 2010: -1.67%
More on Urban Honolulu: Real Estate | Data

Urban Honolulu, HI

Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 14,614
% Asian: 50.79%
# Of Asian Residents: 7,422
Percent Change Since 2010: 5.07%
More on Ewa Beach: Real Estate | Data | Photos

Ewa Beach, HI

Methodology: How We Determined The Cities In Hawaii With The Largest Asian Population For 2023

We still believe in the accuracy of data -- especially from the census. So that's where we went to get the breakdown of race across Hawaii.

That lead us to the Census's most recently available data, the 2017-2021 American Community Survey data from the US Census.

Specifically, we looked at table B03002: Hispanic OR LATINO ORIGIN BY RACE. Here are the category names as defined by the Census:

  • Hispanic or Latino
  • White alone*
  • Black or African American alone*
  • American Indian and Alaska Native alone*
  • Asian alone*
  • Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander alone*
  • Some other race alone*
  • Two or more races*
* Not Hispanic or latino

Our particular column of interest here was the number of people who identified as Asian alone.

We limited our analysis to non-CDPs with a population greater than 5,000 people. That left us with 51 cities.

We then calculated the percent of residents that are Asian. The percentages ranked from 67.6% to 4.2%.

Finally, we ranked each city based on the percent of Asian population with a higher score being more Asian than a lower score. Ewa Villages took the distinction of being the most Asian, while Nanakuli was the least Asian city. You can download the data here.

Read on for more information on how the cities in Hawaii ranked by population of Asian residents or, for a more general take on diversity in America, head over to our ranking of the most diverse cities in America.

Summary: Asian Populations Across Hawaii

If you're looking for a breakdown of Asian populations across Hawaii according to the most recent data, this is an accurate list.

If you're curious enough, here are the least Asian places in Hawaii:

  1. Nanakuli
  2. Schofield Barracks
  3. Hickam Housing

For more Hawaii reading, check out:

Table: Asian Population By City In Hawaii

Rank City % Asian Population
1 Ewa Villages 67.63% 6,657
2 Waipahu 66.56% 39,927
3 Waipio 56.62% 10,989
4 Royal Kunia 55.3% 14,390
5 Kahului 54.6% 27,938
6 Pearl City 54.25% 45,941
7 Halawa 52.88% 14,990
8 Mililani Mauka 52.63% 21,657
9 Urban Honolulu 51.88% 351,554
10 Ewa Beach 50.79% 14,614
11 Waimalu 48.16% 13,818
12 Waikele 47.62% 7,495
13 East Honolulu 47.0% 50,076
14 West Loch Estate 46.82% 6,239
15 Ewa Gentry 46.72% 28,125
16 Aiea 46.14% 9,527
17 Mililani Town 45.49% 27,974
18 Waipio Acres 44.48% 5,618
19 Wahiawa 42.52% 17,357
20 Lihue 42.06% 8,371
21 Kaneohe 39.4% 34,509
22 Waihee-Waiehu 36.38% 11,059
23 Lahaina 34.77% 13,261
24 Ocean Pointe 33.83% 16,676
25 Wailuku 33.06% 15,670
26 Ahuimanu 31.14% 8,943
27 Hilo 31.06% 46,559
28 Pukalani 30.68% 7,315
29 Makakilo 29.95% 20,862
30 Kapaa 29.81% 11,516
31 Kapolei 28.46% 23,248
32 Waimea Cdp (Hawaii County) 25.52% 10,422
33 Kihei 23.28% 22,840
34 Kula 23.24% 7,495
35 Hawaiian Paradise Park 22.27% 11,942
36 Kailua Cdp (Honolulu County) 19.92% 40,402
37 Kailua Cdp (Hawaii County) 19.29% 21,460
38 Waikoloa Village 18.66% 7,519
39 Makawao 16.09% 7,670
40 Napili-Honokowai 15.87% 6,762
41 Laie 15.1% 6,436
42 Wailua Homesteads 14.26% 6,634
43 Waimanalo 13.42% 5,371
44 Haiku-Pauwela 10.87% 9,347
45 Makaha 9.98% 9,710
46 Wailea 9.75% 6,546
47 Maili 9.15% 13,245
48 Waianae 8.73% 14,152
49 Hickam Housing 7.79% 10,022
50 Schofield Barracks 5.54% 18,255
51 Nanakuli 4.16% 12,587

How Is The Area In ?

Editor's Note: We updated this article for 2023. This is our tenth time ranking the cities in Hawaii with the largest Asian population.
About Chris Kolmar

Chris Kolmar has been in the real estate business for almost ten years now. He originally worked for Movoto Real Estate as the director of marketing before founding HomeSnacks.

He believes the key to finding the right place to live comes down to looking at the data, reading about things to do, and, most importantly, checking it out yourself before you move.

If you've been looking for a place to live in the past several years, you've probably stumbled upon his writing already.

You can find out more about him on LinkedIn or his website.