Best PlacesMakawao, HI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Makawao, 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.
Makawao ranks 6,033rd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on clean air by a wide margin, and state finances rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Makawao
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.
Makawao's strengths and weaknesses
Where Makawao ranks high
- Air qualityBetter than 99% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 217 pleasant days a year, better than 99% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 98% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 92% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than 91% of towns
Where Makawao ranks low
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 6% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 8% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than only 10% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 13% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,076 a month, better than only 20% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Makawao
A household needs to earn about $228,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Makawao home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $97,357, 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 Makawao'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 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 Makawao
Makawao 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 Makawao.
Who works in Makawao, and how
Work in Makawao centers on construction and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 85%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Makawao
Makawao has more parkland per resident than 87% of towns. The coast is about 10 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of Makawao and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Makawao, month by month
Makawao sees roughly 217 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 83, with lows near 63. The comfortable stretch runs December through April.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 83° | 73° | 63° |
| April | 85° | 75° | 66° |
| July | 90° | 80° | 71° |
| October | 90° | 79° | 69° |
Flying in and out of Makawao
Kahului sits about 8 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 3.4 million passengers in 2025, with 32 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Makawao
Schools across Makawao average a C+, better than 40% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Pukalani Elementary SchoolB− · 42% proficient
- Makawao Elementary SchoolC · 32% proficient
- Paia Elementary SchoolD · 20% proficient
Top middle schools
- Samuel Enoka Kalama Intermediate SchoolC− · 28% proficient
Top high schools
- King Kekaulike High SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Makawao school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Makawao 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 Makawao against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Makawao
Is Makawao a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Makawao ranks 6,033rd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on clean air, the weather, and low property taxes, and lowest on state finances 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 Makawao expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $951,763. The overall cost of living runs about 45% above the national average. Set against a $97,357 median income, cost of living beats 22% of towns.
Is Makawao safe?
Yes, Makawao is safer than 81% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $248 per resident a year.
Compare Makawao with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Makawao. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Makawao 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.
Makawao detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Makawao: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Makawao: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Makawao: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Makawao: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Makawao 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.