Best PlacesKalae, HI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Kalae, 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.
Kalae ranks 37,365th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low property taxes by a wide margin, and the cost of living against local pay is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Kalae
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.
Kalae's strengths and weaknesses
Where Kalae ranks high
- Low property taxBetter than 98% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 98% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 168 pleasant days a year, better than 96% of towns
- Short commute17.7 minutes each way, better than 94% of towns
- QuietBetter than 92% of towns
Where Kalae ranks low
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 3% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 5% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 6% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 6% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Kalae
A household needs to earn about $76,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Kalae home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $65,736, 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 Kalae's effective rate of 0.19%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 7 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Kalae
Kalae 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 Kalae.
Who works in Kalae, and how
Work in Kalae centers on education and retail trade. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 80%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 8%
Life in Kalae
The coast is about 7 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across Kalae, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Kalae, month by month
Kalae sees roughly 168 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 81, with lows near 64. The comfortable stretch runs December through May.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 81° | 72° | 64° |
| April | 82° | 74° | 67° |
| July | 87° | 79° | 73° |
| October | 87° | 78° | 71° |
Flying in and out of Kalae
The nearest airport, Molokai, is about 1 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Kahului, about 48 miles away.
The best schools in and around Kalae
Schools across Kalae average a D+, better than 11% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Kualapuu School - Public Conversion CharterC · 33% proficient
- Maunaloa Elementary SchoolD− · 15% proficient
Top middle schools
- Molokai Middle SchoolD+ · 27% proficient
Top high schools
- Molokai High SchoolF · 10% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Kalae school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Kalae 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 Kalae against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Kalae
Is Kalae a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Kalae ranks 37,365th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low property taxes, clean air, and the weather, and lowest on the cost of living against local pay and a weak job market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Kalae expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $318,539. The overall cost of living runs about 46% above the national average. Set against a $65,736 median income, cost of living beats 3% of towns.
Is Kalae safe?
Kalae is safer than 10% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $639 per resident a year.
Compare Kalae with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Kalae. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Kalae 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.
Kalae detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Kalae: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Kalae: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Kalae: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Kalae: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Kalae 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.