Best PlacesKapaia, HI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Kapaia, 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.
Kapaia ranks 3,033rd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on clean air by a wide margin, and civic engagement ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Kapaia
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.
Kapaia's strengths and weaknesses
Where Kapaia ranks high
- Air qualityBetter than 99% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than 97% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 97% of towns
- Household income$138,297 median, better than 96% of towns
- BikingBetter than 96% of towns
Where Kapaia ranks low
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 1% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 5% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 6% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than only 10% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 20% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Kapaia
A household needs to earn about $155,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Kapaia home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $138,297, 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 Kapaia's effective rate of 0.25%, 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 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Kapaia
Kapaia'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 Kapaia.
Who works in Kapaia, and how
Work in Kapaia centers on health care & social and hospitality & food. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 96%
- Work from home 1%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Kapaia
The coast is about 1 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across Kapaia, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Kapaia, month by month
Kapaia sees roughly 115 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 86 degrees. January highs sit near 80, with lows near 66. The comfortable stretch runs December through April.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 80° | 73° | 66° |
| April | 81° | 75° | 69° |
| July | 86° | 80° | 75° |
| October | 85° | 78° | 72° |
Flying in and out of Kapaia
The nearest airport, Lihue, is about 2 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Daniel K Inouye International, about 103 miles away.
The best schools in and around Kapaia
Schools across Kapaia average a B−, better than 54% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- King Kaumualii Elementary SchoolB+ · 52% proficient
- Elsie H Wilcox Elementary SchoolB− · 41% proficient
Top middle schools
- Chiefess Kamakahelei Middle SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
Top high schools
- Kauai High SchoolB− · 41% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Kapaia school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Kapaia 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 Kapaia against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Kapaia
Is Kapaia a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Kapaia ranks 3,033rd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on clean air, population health, and low property taxes, and lowest on civic engagement and an overheated housing market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Kapaia expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $639,900. The overall cost of living runs about 39% above the national average. Set against a $138,297 median income, cost of living beats 68% of towns.
Is Kapaia safe?
Kapaia is safer than 53% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $325 per resident a year.
Compare Kapaia with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Kapaia. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Kapaia 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.
Kapaia detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Kapaia: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Kapaia: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Kapaia: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Kapaia: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Kapaia 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.