Best PlacesKahakuloa, HI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Kahakuloa, 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.
Kahakuloa ranks 3,919th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a strong job market by a wide margin, and an overheated housing market is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Kahakuloa
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.
Kahakuloa's strengths and weaknesses
Where Kahakuloa ranks high
- Local economyBetter than 99% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 99% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 193 pleasant days a year, better than 99% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than 97% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 95% of towns
Where Kahakuloa ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 2% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 4% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 6% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 7% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than only 10% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Kahakuloa
A household needs to earn about $233,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Kahakuloa home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $128,811, 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 Kahakuloa's effective rate of 0.29%, 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 Kahakuloa
Kahakuloa'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 Kahakuloa.
Who works in Kahakuloa, and how
Work in Kahakuloa centers on hospitality & food and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Kahakuloa
The coast is about 43 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across Kahakuloa, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Kahakuloa, month by month
Kahakuloa sees roughly 193 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 83, with lows near 63. The comfortable stretch runs December through April.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 83° | 73° | 63° |
| April | 85° | 75° | 66° |
| July | 90° | 80° | 71° |
| October | 90° | 79° | 69° |
Flying in and out of Kahakuloa
Kahului sits about 12 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 3.4 million passengers in 2025, with 32 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Kahakuloa
Schools across Kahakuloa average a C, better than 36% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- King Kamehameha Iii Elementary SchoolB− · 42% proficient
- Waihee Elementary SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Top middle schools
- Iao Intermediate SchoolC− · 29% proficient
- Lahaina Intermediate SchoolC− · 29% proficient
Top high schools
- Henry Perrine Baldwin High SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
- Lahainaluna High SchoolC · 33% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Kahakuloa school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Kahakuloa 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 Kahakuloa against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Kahakuloa
Is Kahakuloa a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Kahakuloa ranks 3,919th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on a strong job market, clean air, and the weather, and lowest on an overheated housing market and cell coverage. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Kahakuloa expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $957,208. The overall cost of living runs about 58% above the national average. Set against a $128,811 median income, cost of living beats 54% of towns.
Is Kahakuloa safe?
Yes, Kahakuloa is safer than 72% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $273 per resident a year.
Compare Kahakuloa with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Kahakuloa. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Kahakuloa 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.
Kahakuloa detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Kahakuloa: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Kahakuloa: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Kahakuloa: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Kahakuloa: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Kahakuloa 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.