Best PlacesManoa, Honolulu, HI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Manoa, Honolulu, 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.
Manoa, Honolulu ranks 378th of 5,983 U.S. neighborhoods on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on clean air by a wide margin, and state infrastructure ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Manoa, Honolulu
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.
Manoa, Honolulu's strengths and weaknesses
Where Manoa, Honolulu ranks high
- Air qualityBetter than 99% of neighborhoods
- Low property taxBetter than 99% of neighborhoods
- Local economyBetter than 97% of neighborhoods
- Healthcare accessBetter than 90% of neighborhoods
- Crime safetyBetter than 88% of neighborhoods
Where Manoa, Honolulu ranks low
- State infrastructureBetter than only 5% of neighborhoods
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 8% of neighborhoods
- Cell coverageBetter than only 11% of neighborhoods
- Cheap childcare$1,434 a month, better than only 25% of neighborhoods
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 28% of neighborhoods
What it costs to buy a home in Manoa, Honolulu
A household needs to earn about $329,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Manoa, Honolulu home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $133,486, 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 Manoa, Honolulu's effective rate of 0.34%, 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 Manoa, Honolulu
Manoa, Honolulu runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Manoa, Honolulu.
Who works in Manoa, Honolulu, and how
Work in Manoa, Honolulu centers on education and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 60%
- Work from home 16%
- Transit, walk, or bike 23%
Life in Manoa, Honolulu
Manoa, Honolulu has more parkland per resident than 67% of neighborhoods. The coast is about 3 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of Manoa, Honolulu and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Manoa, Honolulu, month by month
Manoa, Honolulu sees roughly 156 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 82, with lows near 67. The comfortable stretch runs December through March.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 82° | 75° | 67° |
| April | 84° | 77° | 70° |
| July | 89° | 81° | 75° |
| October | 88° | 80° | 73° |
Flying in and out of Manoa, Honolulu
Daniel K Inouye International sits about 7 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 Manoa, Honolulu
Schools across Manoa, Honolulu average a B, better than 77% of neighborhoods.
Top elementary schools
- Hokulani Elementary SchoolA+ · 77% proficient
- Manoa Elementary SchoolA+ · 76% proficient
- Noelani Elementary SchoolA+ · 76% proficient
Top middle schools
- Robert Louis Stevenson Middle SchoolB · 43% proficient
- William P Jarrett Middle SchoolC · 35% proficient
- President George Washington Middle SchoolC · 33% proficient
Top high schools
- President Theodore Roosevelt High SchoolB+ · 51% proficient
- President William Mckinley High SchoolB− · 42% proficient
- Kaimuki High SchoolD · 22% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Manoa, Honolulu school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Manoa, Honolulu 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 Manoa, Honolulu against the other 5,982 neighborhoods.
Who Manoa, Honolulu suits
Retirees
The weather beats 78% of neighborhoods and health care access beats 90%.
Common questions about living in Manoa, Honolulu
Is Manoa, Honolulu a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Manoa, Honolulu ranks 378th of 5,983 neighborhoods. It scores highest on clean air, low property taxes, and a strong job market, and lowest on state infrastructure and state finances. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Manoa, Honolulu expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $1,342,764. The overall cost of living runs about 66% above the national average. Set against a $133,486 median income, cost of living beats 51% of neighborhoods.
Is Manoa, Honolulu safe?
Yes, Manoa, Honolulu is safer than 88% of neighborhoods. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $272 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Manoa, Honolulu?
July highs average about 89 degrees, and January highs near 82 with lows near 67. That works out to about 156 pleasant days a year, more than 78% of neighborhoods.
Is Manoa, Honolulu good for families?
Schools beat 77% of neighborhoods, crime safety beats 88%, and childcare runs $1,434 a month.
Compare Manoa, Honolulu with other neighborhoods
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Manoa, Honolulu. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Manoa, Honolulu 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.
Manoa, Honolulu detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Manoa, Honolulu: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Manoa, Honolulu: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Manoa, Honolulu: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Manoa, Honolulu: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Manoa, Honolulu 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.