Best PlacesHonomakau, HI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Honomakau, 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.
Honomakau ranks 17,372nd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on the weather by a wide margin, and disaster risk is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Honomakau
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.
Honomakau's strengths and weaknesses
Where Honomakau ranks high
- Nice weatherabout 234 pleasant days a year, better than 99% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 99% of towns
- QuietBetter than 93% of towns
- Household income$118,836 median, better than 93% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 89% of towns
Where Honomakau ranks low
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 4% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 6% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 7% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than only 10% of towns
- Short commute35.4 minutes each way, better than only 13% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Honomakau
A household needs to earn about $208,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Honomakau home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $118,836, 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 Honomakau's effective rate of 0.40%, 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 Honomakau
Honomakau's age mix sits close to the national median, 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 Honomakau.
Who works in Honomakau, and how
Work in Honomakau centers on education and hospitality & food. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Honomakau
The coast is about 10 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across Honomakau, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Honomakau, month by month
Honomakau sees roughly 234 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 83, with lows near 69. The comfortable stretch runs February.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 83° | 76° | 69° |
| April | 84° | 78° | 71° |
| July | 87° | 81° | 75° |
| October | 87° | 81° | 74° |
Flying in and out of Honomakau
The nearest airport, Waimea-Kohala, is about 17 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Kahului, about 62 miles away.
The best schools in and around Honomakau
Schools across Honomakau average a C−, better than 21% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Kohala Elementary SchoolC− · 27% proficient
Top middle schools
- Kohala Middle SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Top high schools
- Kohala High SchoolC− · 30% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Honomakau school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Honomakau 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 Honomakau against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Honomakau
Is Honomakau a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Honomakau ranks 17,372nd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on the weather, clean air, and quiet, and lowest on disaster risk and state finances. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Honomakau expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $842,347. The overall cost of living runs about 49% above the national average. Set against a $118,836 median income, cost of living beats 37% of towns.
Is Honomakau safe?
Honomakau is safer than 42% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $375 per resident a year.
Compare Honomakau with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Honomakau. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Honomakau 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.
Honomakau detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Honomakau: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Honomakau: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Honomakau: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Honomakau: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Honomakau 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.