Best PlacesKalaupapa, HI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Kalaupapa, 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.
Kalaupapa ranks 36,595th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on the weather by a wide margin, and cell coverage ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Kalaupapa
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.
Kalaupapa's strengths and weaknesses
Where Kalaupapa ranks high
- Nice weatherabout 214 pleasant days a year, better than 99% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 98% of towns
- QuietBetter than 97% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 97% of towns
- Short commute17.4 minutes each way, better than 94% of towns
Where Kalaupapa ranks low
- Cell coverageBetter than only 2% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 3% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 6% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 7% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 8% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Kalaupapa
A household needs to earn about $80,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Kalaupapa home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $72,120; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
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 Kalaupapa's effective rate of 0.24%, 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 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Kalaupapa
Kalaupapa runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Kalaupapa.
Who works in Kalaupapa, and how
Work in Kalaupapa centers on public administration and admin & support services. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 72%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 18%
Life in Kalaupapa
The coast is about 5 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across Kalaupapa, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Kalaupapa, month by month
Kalaupapa sees roughly 214 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 Kalaupapa
The nearest airport, Kalaupapa, is about 3 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Kahului, about 40 miles away.
The best schools in and around Kalaupapa
Schools across Kalaupapa average a D+, better than 9% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Kaunakakai Elementary SchoolD · 19% proficient
- Kilohana Elementary SchoolD− · 14% 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 Kalaupapa school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Kalaupapa 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 Kalaupapa against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Kalaupapa
Is Kalaupapa a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Kalaupapa ranks 36,595th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on the weather, clean air, and quiet, and lowest on cell coverage 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 Kalaupapa expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $331,288. The overall cost of living runs about 41% above the national average. Set against a $72,120 median income, cost of living beats 3% of towns.
Is Kalaupapa safe?
Kalaupapa is safer than 8% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $678 per resident a year.
Compare Kalaupapa with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Kalaupapa. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Kalaupapa 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.
Kalaupapa detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Kalaupapa: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Kalaupapa: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Kalaupapa: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Kalaupapa: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Kalaupapa 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.