Best PlacesKaneohe, HI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Kaneohe, 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.
Kaneohe ranks 543rd of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on clean air by a wide margin, and a weak job market ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Kaneohe
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.
Kaneohe's strengths and weaknesses
Where Kaneohe ranks high
- Air qualityBetter than 99% of cities
- Low property taxBetter than 99% of cities
- Crime safetyBetter than 93% of cities
- TransitBetter than 91% of cities
- Household income$138,035 median, better than 86% of cities
Where Kaneohe ranks low
- Local economyBetter than only 6% of cities
- State infrastructureBetter than only 6% of cities
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 10% of cities
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 18% of cities
- Cheap childcare$1,434 a month, better than only 21% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Kaneohe
A household needs to earn about $256,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Kaneohe home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $138,035, 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 Kaneohe's effective rate of 0.30%, 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 Kaneohe
Kaneohe 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 Kaneohe.
Who works in Kaneohe, and how
Work in Kaneohe centers on health care & social and public administration. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 82%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Kaneohe
Kaneohe has more parkland per resident than 96% of cities. The coast is about 3 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of Kaneohe and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Kaneohe, month by month
Kaneohe sees roughly 97 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 81, with lows near 70. The comfortable stretch runs January through March.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 81° | 75° | 70° |
| April | 82° | 77° | 72° |
| July | 85° | 80° | 75° |
| October | 86° | 80° | 75° |
Flying in and out of Kaneohe
Daniel K Inouye International sits about 10 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 10.5 million passengers in 2025, with 65 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Kaneohe
Schools across Kaneohe average a C+, better than 33% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Aikahi Elementary SchoolA · 67% proficient
- Maunawili Elementary SchoolA− · 62% proficient
- Red Hill Elementary SchoolB · 50% proficient
Top middle schools
- Moanalua Middle SchoolA− · 58% proficient
- Kailua Intermediate SchoolB+ · 49% proficient
- Governor Samuel Wilder King Intermediate SchoolC · 33% proficient
Top high schools
- Kalaheo High SchoolB+ · 52% proficient
- Kailua High SchoolB · 50% proficient
- Moanalua High SchoolB · 47% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Kaneohe school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Kaneohe 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 Kaneohe against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Kaneohe suits
Families
Schools land around the 33rd percentile and crime safety beats 93%.
Retirees
The weather beats 58% of cities and health care access beats 72%.
Common questions about living in Kaneohe
Is Kaneohe a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Kaneohe ranks 543rd of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on clean air, low property taxes, and low crime, and lowest on a weak job market and state infrastructure. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Kaneohe expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $1,052,805. The overall cost of living runs about 70% above the national average. Set against a $138,035 median income, cost of living beats 26% of cities.
Is Kaneohe safe?
Yes, Kaneohe is safer than 93% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $196 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Kaneohe?
July highs average about 85 degrees, and January highs near 81 with lows near 70. That works out to about 97 pleasant days a year, more than 58% of cities.
Is Kaneohe good for families?
Schools beat 33% of cities, crime safety beats 93%, and childcare runs $1,434 a month.
Compare Kaneohe with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Kaneohe. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Kaneohe 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.
Kaneohe detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Kaneohe: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Kaneohe: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Kaneohe: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Kaneohe: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Kaneohe 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.