Kailua CDP (Honolulu County), Heeia, East Honolulu: These cities aren’t just some of the best places to live in Hawaii. They are also home to some of the richest people in the Aloha State.
Kailua CDP (Honolulu County) in particular houses the richest residents in the state thanks, in part, to a median household income of $148,582 and a ridiculously low poverty rate of 4.0%.
If you’re thinking of moving to one of these towns, you’ll probably need to start saving. The richest places in Hawaii share common characteristics such as having a genius level populous, sky high home prices, and a Pleasantville level of married couples.
How did we come up with these mega wealthy cities? We analyzed Census data from the 2020-2024 American Community Survey for the 80 places in Hawaii with more than 3,000 people.
$148,582 median income · 4.0% poverty · #4 income in Hawaii
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$176,250 median income · 3.3% poverty · #1 income in Hawaii
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$159,518 median income · 5.3% poverty · #2 income in Hawaii
Located in
Honolulu County, Hawaii
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$142,045 median income · 6.9% poverty · #5 income in Hawaii
Located in
Honolulu County, Hawaii
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$125,202 median income · 12.2% poverty · #17 income in Hawaii
Located in
Honolulu County, Hawaii
Laie is a census-designated place located in the Koolauloa District on the island of Oahu in Honolulu County, Hawaii, United States. In Hawaiian, lie means “ie leaf”. The population was 6,138 at the 2010 census.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$125,613 median income · 9.7% poverty · #16 income in Hawaii
Located in
Honolulu County, Hawaii
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$138,942 median income · 3.3% poverty · #7 income in Hawaii
Located in
Honolulu County, Hawaii
Mililani Mauka is a census-designated place in Honolulu County, Hawaii on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, United States. As of the 2010 Census, the CDP had a population of 21,039.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$149,767 median income · 2.1% poverty · #3 income in Hawaii
Located in
Honolulu County, Hawaii
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$135,438 median income · 6.4% poverty · #10 income in Hawaii
Located in
Honolulu County, Hawaii
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$116,581 median income · 14.9% poverty · #25 income in Hawaii
Located in
Honolulu County, Hawaii
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: 10.0%
Hawaii statewide median: 4.9%
On the map
Where the money lives in Hawaii
Saturday Night Science
How we determined the richest places in Hawaii for 2026
The first thing most people reach for is personal income. After all, rich people have really high salaries. But one statistic doesn’t capture what it means to be one of the “richest places,” so we applied Saturday Night Science to two measures from the 2020-2024 American Community Survey:
- Median household income
- Median home value
Median household income is the most digestible way to understand how rich a place is, and home values are a measure of accumulated wealth. The two combine to define a “Rich City.”
After collecting the data for all 80 places in Hawaii with more than 3,000 people, we ranked each place from 1 to 80 on both criteria, then averaged the two ranks into a “Rich Score.” The place with the lowest Rich Score, Kailua CDP (Honolulu County), is crowned the richest city in Hawaii for 2026.
The full plate
All 80 richest cities in Hawaii, ranked
Click any column to sort. Search by city name.
| Rank | City | Rich Score | Population | Median income | Median home value | Poverty | Unemployment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kailua CDP (Honolulu County) | 4.50 | 39,640 | $148,582 | $1,343,805 | 4.0% | 3.8% |
| 2 | Heeia | 5.50 | 5,144 | $176,250 | $1,191,427 | 3.3% | 2.4% |
| 3 | East Honolulu | 5.50 | 51,360 | $159,518 | $1,203,141 | 5.3% | 4.5% |
| 4 | Kahaluu | 6.50 | 5,619 | $142,045 | $1,204,531 | 6.9% | 5.5% |
| 5 | Laie | 12.00 | 5,699 | $125,202 | $1,292,971 | 12.2% | 6.1% |
| 6 | Kaneohe | 14.00 | 37,355 | $125,613 | $1,091,198 | 9.7% | 4.5% |
| 7 | Mililani Mauka | 14.50 | 21,278 | $138,942 | $980,878 | 3.3% | 2.3% |
| 8 | Ocean Pointe | 16.50 | 17,085 | $149,767 | $893,620 | 2.1% | 2.2% |
| 9 | Ahuimanu | 19.50 | 8,452 | $135,438 | $903,944 | 6.4% | 2.6% |
| 10 | Waimanalo | 19.50 | 6,054 | $116,581 | $1,078,074 | 14.9% | 5.1% |
| 11 | Mililani Town | 21.00 | 27,668 | $127,363 | $917,147 | 3.2% | 3.7% |
| 12 | Kalaheo | 22.00 | 4,435 | $110,607 | $1,067,490 | 11.4% | 5.3% |
| 13 | Halawa | 23.00 | 14,385 | $110,400 | $1,044,211 | 9.3% | 2.6% |
| 14 | Pupukea | 23.00 | 4,679 | $100,368 | $1,425,504 | 14.8% | 7.7% |
| 15 | Holualoa | 23.00 | 3,434 | $115,972 | $1,002,277 | 6.2% | 5.0% |
| 16 | Kula | 23.50 | 6,791 | $100,433 | $1,320,090 | 12.3% | 2.6% |
| 17 | Haleiwa | 23.50 | 4,948 | $97,780 | $1,664,042 | 9.7% | 4.0% |
| 18 | Pearl City | 24.50 | 44,547 | $118,112 | $944,249 | 5.8% | 2.8% |
| 19 | Aiea | 25.00 | 9,087 | $140,308 | $838,396 | 5.3% | 3.8% |
| 20 | Royal Kunia | 25.00 | 13,555 | $135,361 | $856,096 | 4.7% | 6.2% |
| 21 | Waikapu | 25.50 | 3,591 | $122,917 | $877,936 | 4.8% | 1.8% |
| 22 | Haiku-Pauwela | 26.00 | 9,178 | $101,396 | $1,085,805 | 8.3% | 5.7% |
| 23 | Kilauea | 26.50 | 3,146 | $91,984 | $1,720,904 | 18.5% | 3.4% |
| 24 | Kapolei | 27.00 | 22,232 | $128,324 | $848,166 | 6.3% | 6.7% |
| 25 | Ewa Gentry | 28.00 | 26,563 | $135,684 | $810,036 | 2.9% | 3.6% |
| 26 | Waimanalo Beach | 28.00 | 4,505 | $127,450 | $846,070 | 6.8% | 4.4% |
| 27 | Makawao | 28.50 | 7,353 | $96,444 | $1,103,697 | 10.2% | 3.4% |
| 28 | Wailea | 29.00 | 6,352 | $90,000 | $1,523,582 | 14.0% | 6.0% |
| 29 | Pukalani | 30.00 | 8,679 | $102,976 | $966,583 | 10.6% | 9.7% |
| 30 | Makakilo | 30.00 | 20,735 | $118,550 | $860,861 | 9.2% | 4.3% |
| 31 | Kahului | 30.50 | 28,288 | $98,077 | $1,035,498 | 8.7% | 3.5% |
| 32 | West Loch Estate | 30.50 | 5,544 | $122,422 | $848,850 | 8.3% | 3.1% |
| 33 | Ewa Beach | 31.50 | 14,376 | $124,323 | $836,184 | 4.9% | 4.4% |
| 34 | Puhi | 31.50 | 4,362 | $137,292 | $696,273 | 8.5% | 2.8% |
| 35 | Waihee-Waiehu | 32.00 | 10,988 | $126,735 | $771,321 | 6.0% | 4.0% |
| 36 | Wailuku | 32.50 | 16,926 | $102,942 | $924,156 | 4.6% | 3.1% |
| 37 | Hauula | 33.50 | 3,548 | $115,865 | $852,251 | 8.1% | 4.1% |
| 38 | Napili-Honokowai | 33.50 | 7,308 | $105,565 | $872,476 | 8.1% | 6.3% |
| 39 | Waipahu | 35.00 | 40,482 | $103,895 | $868,669 | 12.0% | 4.1% |
| 40 | Waikele | 38.00 | 7,528 | $120,525 | $699,549 | 3.7% | 1.3% |
| 41 | Kahaluu-Keauhou | 39.00 | 5,150 | $96,212 | $880,417 | 8.6% | 3.9% |
| 42 | Lahaina | 40.00 | 10,162 | $88,889 | $981,024 | 11.5% | 5.8% |
| 43 | Waialua | 40.00 | 3,050 | $88,269 | $1,016,405 | 10.0% | 7.9% |
| 44 | Whitmore Village | 40.50 | 4,105 | $104,900 | $823,834 | 11.2% | 2.9% |
| 45 | Kapaa | 40.50 | 11,094 | $89,477 | $948,644 | 7.5% | 2.3% |
| 46 | Wailua Homesteads | 41.00 | 5,431 | $89,717 | $936,504 | 9.9% | 3.8% |
| 47 | Waipio | 41.50 | 10,870 | $109,877 | $744,022 | 5.7% | 2.9% |
| 48 | Kihei | 41.50 | 21,567 | $87,772 | $1,013,506 | 7.4% | 6.2% |
| 49 | Lihue | 42.50 | 7,901 | $92,850 | $864,447 | 6.3% | 0.7% |
| 50 | Captain Cook | 44.50 | 3,419 | $108,675 | $685,600 | 4.4% | 8.2% |
| 51 | Maili | 44.50 | 11,570 | $111,542 | $635,918 | 11.3% | 9.6% |
| 52 | Ewa Villages | 48.00 | 7,415 | $88,813 | $861,258 | 15.3% | 2.0% |
| 53 | Hickam Housing | 49.75 | 9,425 | $121,667 | $0 | 1.9% | 8.2% |
| 54 | Waipio Acres | 50.00 | 5,332 | $94,861 | $748,389 | 6.6% | 5.1% |
| 55 | Waimea CDP (Hawaii County) | 51.00 | 9,286 | $100,198 | $672,449 | 12.3% | 5.4% |
| 56 | Wahiawa | 51.50 | 17,996 | $87,143 | $858,314 | 16.3% | 3.8% |
| 57 | Lanai City | 52.00 | 3,393 | $92,167 | $711,796 | 6.7% | 2.2% |
| 58 | Anahola | 52.50 | 3,067 | $100,688 | $526,225 | 10.4% | 3.0% |
| 59 | Iroquois Point | 55.25 | 5,158 | $109,561 | $0 | 14.9% | 12.7% |
| 60 | Urban Honolulu | 58.50 | 345,482 | $86,504 | $768,465 | 11.9% | 4.8% |
| 61 | Kurtistown | 59.50 | 3,151 | $96,165 | $376,874 | 4.8% | 3.9% |
| 62 | Waikoloa Village | 60.00 | 7,543 | $81,703 | $796,733 | 12.4% | 8.3% |
| 63 | Waimalu | 60.00 | 13,061 | $89,232 | $593,430 | 6.8% | 6.7% |
| 64 | Kailua CDP (Hawaii County) | 61.50 | 21,818 | $88,211 | $662,522 | 14.3% | 4.0% |
| 65 | Hanamaulu | 63.00 | 4,972 | $82,358 | $682,475 | 6.2% | 4.4% |
| 66 | Kekaha | 63.00 | 3,768 | $84,375 | $677,908 | 18.9% | 3.6% |
| 67 | Hawaiian Acres | 63.00 | 3,872 | $91,120 | $316,073 | 23.6% | 2.0% |
| 68 | Hawaiian Paradise Park | 64.00 | 13,203 | $88,348 | $453,759 | 10.4% | 2.8% |
| 69 | Nanakuli | 66.00 | 12,383 | $86,597 | $485,029 | 18.2% | 11.2% |
| 70 | Kalaeloa | 66.25 | 3,342 | $90,313 | $0 | 22.0% | 6.9% |
| 71 | Waianae | 67.00 | 12,918 | $81,733 | $574,227 | 16.2% | 8.8% |
| 72 | Hilo | 67.00 | 50,404 | $81,779 | $548,368 | 14.5% | 6.9% |
| 73 | Kaunakakai | 71.00 | 4,360 | $76,131 | $416,333 | 13.7% | 6.7% |
| 74 | Orchidlands Estates | 72.50 | 3,027 | $73,936 | $383,079 | 13.9% | 1.8% |
| 75 | Makaha | 73.00 | 10,066 | $64,970 | $391,120 | 25.0% | 10.0% |
| 76 | Mountain View | 74.00 | 3,756 | $69,299 | $333,445 | 20.9% | 7.7% |
| 77 | Schofield Barracks | 75.75 | 16,270 | $80,388 | $0 | 2.6% | 13.1% |
| 78 | Hawaiian Ocean View | 76.50 | 4,431 | $45,043 | $315,874 | 25.4% | 17.2% |
| 79 | Ainaloa | 77.00 | 4,094 | $58,918 | $226,631 | 26.7% | 17.8% |
| 80 | Hawaiian Beaches | 77.50 | 3,947 | $29,295 | $270,707 | 40.4% | 8.8% |
Source: U.S. Census ACS 2020-2024, Zillow research. 80 cities with more than 3,000 residents.
Kailua CDP (Honolulu County) is the richest place in Hawaii for 2026
When we set out to identify the richest places in Hawaii, we weren’t sure what we’d find, but it ended up being some of the best places to live in the state. The richest cities in Hawaii are Kailua CDP (Honolulu County), Heeia, and East Honolulu, and when you look at the data they sit at the very top of the income ladder for everyone who lives there.
Breaking into the top ten takes a median household income of at least $116,581. If you’re curious about the other end of the ledger, the poorest places are listed to the right.
