Best PlacesKunia, HI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Kunia, 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.
Kunia ranks 13,950th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on the weather by a wide margin, and civic engagement ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Kunia
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.
Kunia's strengths and weaknesses
Where Kunia ranks high
- Nice weatherabout 197 pleasant days a year, better than 99% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than 98% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 98% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 98% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 98% of towns
Where Kunia ranks low
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 4% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,434 a month, better than only 5% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 6% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 7% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 7% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Kunia
A household needs to earn about $216,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Kunia home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $124,156, 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 Kunia'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, 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 Kunia
Kunia runs younger 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 Kunia.
Who works in Kunia, and how
Work in Kunia centers on finance & insurance and hospitality & food. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 83%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 12%
Life in Kunia
The coast is about 15 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across Kunia, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Kunia, month by month
Kunia sees roughly 197 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 84 degrees. January highs sit near 78, with lows near 62. The comfortable stretch runs October through June.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 78° | 69° | 62° |
| April | 80° | 72° | 64° |
| July | 84° | 76° | 69° |
| October | 83° | 75° | 67° |
Flying in and out of Kunia
Daniel K Inouye International sits about 14 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 Kunia
Schools across Kunia average a C+, better than 52% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Mililani Waena Elementary SchoolA− · 56% proficient
- Sergeant Samuel K Solomon Elementary SchoolC+ · 40% proficient
- Kaleiopuu Elementary SchoolC− · 26% proficient
Top middle schools
- Major Sheldon Wheeler Middle SchoolA− · 55% proficient
- Mililani Middle SchoolA− · 53% proficient
- Waipahu Intermediate SchoolC · 33% proficient
Top high schools
- Mililani High SchoolB+ · 54% proficient
- Waipahu High SchoolB− · 43% proficient
- Leilehua High SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Kunia school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Kunia 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 Kunia against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Kunia
Is Kunia a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Kunia ranks 13,950th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on the weather, population health, and clean air, and lowest on civic engagement and childcare costs. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Kunia expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $900,000. The overall cost of living runs about 77% above the national average. Set against a $124,156 median income, cost of living beats 15% of towns.
Is Kunia safe?
Yes, Kunia is safer than 60% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $298 per resident a year.
Compare Kunia with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Kunia. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Kunia 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.
Kunia detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Kunia: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Kunia: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Kunia: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Kunia: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Kunia 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.