Mililani Mauka, East Honolulu, West Loch Estate: 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.
Mililani Mauka in particular houses the richest residents in the state thanks, in part, to a median household income of $115,551 and a ridiculously low poverty rate of 2.072381722604125%.
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 2016-2020 American Community Survey for the 53 places in Hawaii with more than 5,000 people.
Here are the 10 richest places in Hawaii for 2022:
For more on how we calculated the top ten, read on or skip to the end for the full list of the richest cities in Hawaii.
Rich people not your cup of tea? Feel free to check out some more reading about Hawaii:
The 10 Richest Cities In Hawaii For 2022
1. Mililani Mauka
/10
Population: 19,808
Rank Last Year: 1 (No Change)
Median Income: $115,551
Unemployment Rate: 1.5%
Poverty Rate: 2.1%
More on Mililani Mauka: Real Estate | Photos
2. East Honolulu
/10
Population: 47,132
Rank Last Year: 2 (No Change)
Median Income: $139,487
Unemployment Rate: 2.8%
Poverty Rate: 3.1%
More on East Honolulu: Real Estate | Photos
3. West Loch Estate
/10
Population: 6,685
Rank Last Year: 4 (Up 1)
Median Income: $109,965
Unemployment Rate: 0.7%
Poverty Rate: 3.7%
More on West Loch Estate: Real Estate
4. Ahuimanu
/10
Population: 8,254
Rank Last Year: 5 (Up 1)
Median Income: $109,750
Unemployment Rate: 1.4%
Poverty Rate: 3.6%
More on Ahuimanu: Real Estate | Photos
5. Aiea
/10
Population: 9,730
Rank Last Year: 11 (Up 6)
Median Income: $114,961
Unemployment Rate: 2.9%
Poverty Rate: 3.4%
More on Aiea: Real Estate | Photos
6. Ocean Pointe
/10
Population: 15,688
Rank Last Year: 9 (Up 3)
Median Income: $118,264
Unemployment Rate: 3.1%
Poverty Rate: 4.3%
More on Ocean Pointe: Real Estate | Photos
7. Ewa Gentry
/10
Population: 26,358
Rank Last Year: 6 (Down 1)
Median Income: $112,385
Unemployment Rate: 3.5%
Poverty Rate: 3.1%
More on Ewa Gentry: Real Estate | Photos
8. Waikele
/10
Population: 7,246
Rank Last Year: 3 (Down 5)
Median Income: $103,389
Unemployment Rate: 0.1%
Poverty Rate: 5.5%
More on Waikele: Real Estate | Photos
9. Kaneohe
/10
Population: 33,540
Rank Last Year: 12 (Up 3)
Median Income: $116,118
Unemployment Rate: 3.9%
Poverty Rate: 4.5%
More on Kaneohe: Real Estate | Photos
10. Mililani Town
/10
Population: 27,459
Rank Last Year: 10 (No Change)
Median Income: $104,409
Unemployment Rate: 2.6%
Poverty Rate: 4.9%
More on Mililani Town: Real Estate | Photos
Methodology: How We Determined The Richest Places In Hawaii For 2022
The first thing that comes to most people’s minds when they think about determining the richest places is to simply identify personal incomes. After all, rich people have really high salaries.
However, we don’t believe that one statistic wholly encompasses what it means to be one of the “richest places”. So we looked at this set of criteria from the newly released 2016-2020 American Community Survey:
- Poverty Level
- Median Household Income
- Unemployment Rate
Median household income is the most digestible way to understand how rich a place really is. The unemployment rate tries to capture the prospects for more people to become rich. If more people are employed, the richer the future looks.
After we collected the data for all 53 places with more than 5,000 people in Hawaii, we ranked each place from 1 to 53 for each of the criteria, with 1 being the richest.
We then averaged all the rankings for a place into a “Rich Score” with the place having the lowest overall Rich Score, Mililani Mauka, crowned the “Richest City In Hawaii For 2022”. You can download the data here.
You can learn more about the top ten below or skip to the end to see the rankings for all 53 places.
Summary: The Wealthiest Places In Hawaii For 2022
Like we said earlier, when we set out to identify the richest places in Hawaii, we weren’t sure what we’d encounter, but it ended up being some of the best places to live in Hawaii.
When you look at the data, the cities and places mentioned above meet the criteria for being at the very top of the income ladder for everyone that lives there.
If you’re curious enough, here are the poorest cities in Hawaii, according to data:
Poorest: Makaha
2nd Poorest: Waianae
3rd Poorest: Hilo
For more Hawaii reading, check out:
