Best Places96859, HI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 96859, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The coast is close, and the measures below put a number on how close. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
96859 ranks 1,187th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on clean air by a wide margin, and noise is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 96859
BestNeighborhood is the only ranking that scores 40 measures of daily life neighborhood by neighborhood and lets you re-weight every one of them yourself.
96859's strengths and weaknesses
Where 96859 ranks high
- Air qualityBetter than 98% of zip codes
- Local economyBetter than 98% of zip codes
- Household income$159,500 median, better than 97% of zip codes
- TransitBetter than 96% of zip codes
- Low property taxBetter than 95% of zip codes
Where 96859 ranks low
- QuietBetter than only 1% of zip codes
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 7% of zip codes
- State infrastructureBetter than only 8% of zip codes
- Cheap childcare$1,434 a month, better than only 9% of zip codes
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 17% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 96859
A household needs to earn about $259,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 96859 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $159,500, so buying stretches a typical household.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment, a 6.6% 30-year fixed rate, and a 28% share of income going to the payment. The rate is the 2026-07-23 30-year fixed average, series MORTGAGE30US from the St. Louis Fed, which publishes Freddie Mac's weekly survey. Against the median home value, property tax uses 96859's effective rate of 0.32%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in 96859
96859 runs younger than the country, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 96859.
Who works in 96859, and how
Work in 96859 centers on education and public administration. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 83%
- Work from home 3%
- Transit, walk, or bike 14%
Life in 96859
The coast is about 5 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across 96859, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 96859, month by month
96859 sees roughly 165 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 82, with lows near 67. The comfortable stretch runs December through March.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 82° | 75° | 67° |
| April | 84° | 77° | 70° |
| July | 89° | 81° | 75° |
| October | 88° | 80° | 73° |
Flying in and out of 96859
Daniel K Inouye International sits about 3 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 10.5 million passengers in 2025, with 65 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around 96859
Schools across 96859 average a B+, better than 79% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Moanalua Elementary SchoolA− · 60% proficient
Top middle schools
- Moanalua Middle SchoolA− · 58% proficient
Top high schools
- Moanalua High SchoolB · 47% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 96859 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
96859 measure by measure
Cards are ordered by how much each measure matters to you, so the ones you weighted highest come first. Expand to see every measure. Percentages compare 96859 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 96859
Is 96859 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 96859 ranks 1,187th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on clean air, a strong job market, and high incomes, and lowest on noise and state finances. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 96859 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $1,059,500. The overall cost of living runs about 57% above the national average. Set against a $159,500 median income, cost of living beats 68% of zip codes.
Is 96859 safe?
Yes, 96859 is safer than 74% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $246 per resident a year.
Compare 96859 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 96859. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 96859 represents the same real quantity as a 60 anywhere else, and the ranking is a weighted average of those absolutes. The map colors come from a national scale calibrated against a population weighted random sample of 5,000 neighborhoods. That absolute scoring is what no other places-to-live ranking does: it puts a single neighborhood, a town, a metro, and a state on one scale, so the same 40 measures answer both which metro to move to and which street inside it to buy on. Read the full methodology.
96859 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 96859: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 96859: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 96859: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 96859: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
96859 detail on related sites:
- CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
- ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
- CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.
Federal and public data:
- U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey: income, home value, rent, vacancy, commute time and mode, educational attainment, home age, age structure, household type, industry, and race.
- NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
- FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
- FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
- U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
- FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
- CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
- National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
- FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
- Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.
Your priorities
Move a slider to say how much a measure matters. Zero turns it off.