Best PlacesKahului, HI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in the Kahului metro, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Distance to the water drives a lot of the difference between one part and the next. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Photo by ideatrendz, CC BY-SA 2.0, via commons
Kahului ranks 119th of 387 U.S. metro areas on the BestNeighborhood index. The coast is about 4 minutes away. Its strengths are clean air and low property taxes. The cost shows up in an overheated housing market, the cost of living against local pay, and state finances.
The best neighborhoods in the Kahului metro
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.
The best areas in Kahului
The towns and districts of the Kahului metro, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood in each, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the metro.
Lanai City
Downtown Kahului
Fewer homes sit empty, though it is noisier.
Makawao & Kula
Fewer households have young kids and biking is worse.
Kihei
Streets are more walkable, though prices have run up more.
Kaunakakai
Commutes are shorter, though crime runs higher.
Lahaina
Local pay stretches less far and fewer adults hold degrees.
Haiku-Pauwela & Paia
More residents vote, though homes cost more.
Scores across Kahului run from about the 15th to the 91st percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Kahului's strengths and weaknesses
Kahului lands in the middle because its strengths and weaknesses roughly balance. Clean air is the standout, in the top 1% of metro areas. Low property taxes and a strong job market follow.
The one real hole is an overheated housing market, near the bottom of the country. The cost of living against local pay and state finances also cost it ground. Cost swings more from one part of Kahului to another than it does between Kahului and its neighbors, which the map below shows.
Where Kahului ranks high
- Air qualityBetter than 99% of metro areas
- Low property taxBetter than 99% of metro areas
- Local economyBetter than 99% of metro areas
- Nice weatherabout 170 pleasant days a year, better than 93% of metro areas
- QuietBetter than 91% of metro areas
Where Kahului ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 1% of metro areas
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 1% of metro areas
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 5% of metro areas
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 5% of metro areas
- State infrastructureBetter than only 7% of metro areas
What it costs to buy a home in Kahului
A household needs to earn about $221,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Kahului home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $101,730, 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 Kahului's effective rate of 0.20%, 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 Kahului
Kahului 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 Kahului.
Who works in Kahului, and how
Work in Kahului centers on hospitality & food and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 83%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Kahului
Kahului has more restaurants and bars per resident than 83% of metro areas and less parkland per resident than most metro areas. The coast is about 4 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Kahului and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Kahului growing, and who is moving in?
Kahului has held roughly flat in population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Honolulu, HI.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Kahului go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Kahului, month by month
Kahului sees roughly 170 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 Kahului
Kahului sits about 3 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 Kahului
Schools across Kahului average a C+, better than 33% of metro areas.
Top elementary schools
- Pomaikai Elementary SchoolB · 48% proficient
- Puu Kukui Elementary SchoolB− · 43% proficient
- King Kamehameha Iii Elementary SchoolB− · 42% proficient
Top middle schools
- Lokelani Intermediate SchoolC+ · 36% proficient
- Maui Waena Intermediate SchoolC · 35% proficient
- Iao Intermediate SchoolC− · 29% proficient
Top high schools
- Maui High SchoolB+ · 58% proficient
- 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 Kahului school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Kahului 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 Kahului against the other 386 metro areas.
Who Kahului suits
Families
Schools land around the 33rd percentile and crime safety beats 70%.
Retirees
The weather beats 93% of metro areas and it is quieter than 91%.
Common questions about living in Kahului
Is Kahului a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Kahului ranks 119th of 387 metro areas. It scores highest on clean air, low property taxes, and a strong job market, and lowest on an overheated housing market and the cost of living against local pay. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Kahului expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $920,866. The overall cost of living runs about 51% above the national average. Set against a $101,730 median income, cost of living beats 1% of metro areas.
Is Kahului safe?
Yes, Kahului is safer than 70% of metro areas. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $350 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Kahului?
July highs average about 90 degrees, and January highs near 83 with lows near 63. That works out to about 170 pleasant days a year, more than 93% of metro areas.
What are the best neighborhoods in Kahului?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Lanai City, Downtown Kahului, and Makawao & Kula. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Kahului good for families?
Schools beat 33% of metro areas, crime safety beats 70%, and childcare runs $1,076 a month.
Is Kahului good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 1% of metro areas, though advertised internet speeds beat only 41% of metro areas. About 11% of workers already work from home.
Compare Kahului with other metro areas
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Kahului. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Kahului 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.
Kahului detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Kahului: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Kahului: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Kahului: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Kahului: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Kahului 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.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- 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.