Best PlacesHilo, HI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Hilo, 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.
Hilo ranks 1,246th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on clean air by a wide margin, and distance from a big city ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Hilo
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.
Hilo's strengths and weaknesses
Where Hilo ranks high
- Air qualityBetter than 99% of cities
- Local economyBetter than 99% of cities
- Low property taxBetter than 98% of cities
- Heat safetyBetter than 96% of cities
- Short commute20.4 minutes each way, better than 85% of cities
Where Hilo ranks low
- Big-city accessBetter than only 1% of cities
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 4% of cities
- State infrastructureBetter than only 6% of cities
- Cell coverageBetter than only 9% of cities
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 10% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Hilo
A household needs to earn about $122,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Hilo home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $88,041, 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 Hilo's effective rate of 0.35%, 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 Hilo
Hilo runs older 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 Hilo.
Who works in Hilo, and how
Work in Hilo centers on education and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 84%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 7%
Life in Hilo
Hilo has more restaurants and bars per resident than 86% of cities and more parkland per resident than 91% of cities. The coast is about 5 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Hilo and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Hilo, month by month
Hilo sees roughly 150 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 82, with lows near 64. The comfortable stretch runs November through May.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 82° | 72° | 64° |
| April | 82° | 74° | 67° |
| July | 85° | 77° | 70° |
| October | 85° | 76° | 69° |
Flying in and out of Hilo
The nearest airport, Hilo International, is about 3 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Kahului, about 120 miles away.
The best schools in and around Hilo
Schools across Hilo average a C+, better than 37% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Ernest Bowen Desilva Elementary SchoolA− · 56% proficient
- Kaumana Elementary SchoolB− · 43% proficient
- Waiakea Elementary SchoolC+ · 36% proficient
Top middle schools
- Hilo Intermediate SchoolC · 35% proficient
- Waiakea Intermediate SchoolC · 31% proficient
- Keaau Middle SchoolD · 19% proficient
Top high schools
- Waiakea High SchoolB+ · 53% proficient
- Hilo High SchoolC+ · 40% proficient
- Keaau High SchoolC− · 28% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Hilo school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Hilo 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 Hilo against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Hilo suits
Families
Schools land around the 37th percentile and crime safety beats 55%.
Common questions about living in Hilo
Is Hilo a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Hilo ranks 1,246th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on clean air, a strong job market, and low property taxes, and lowest on distance from a big city and disaster risk. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Hilo expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $497,999. The overall cost of living runs about 28% above the national average. Set against a $88,041 median income, cost of living beats 10% of cities.
Is Hilo safe?
Yes, Hilo is safer than 55% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $365 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Hilo?
July highs average about 85 degrees, and January highs near 82 with lows near 64. That works out to about 150 pleasant days a year, more than 83% of cities.
Is Hilo good for families?
Schools beat 37% of cities, crime safety beats 55%, and childcare runs $918 a month.
Compare Hilo with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Hilo. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Hilo 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.
Hilo detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Hilo: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Hilo: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Hilo: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Hilo: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Hilo 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.