Best PlacesMauna Loa, HI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Mauna Loa, 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.
Mauna Loa ranks 37,852nd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on the weather by a wide margin, and a weak job market ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Mauna Loa
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.
Mauna Loa's strengths and weaknesses
Where Mauna Loa ranks high
- Nice weatherabout 186 pleasant days a year, better than 98% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 98% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 98% of towns
- Short commute16.9 minutes each way, better than 95% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 91% of towns
Where Mauna Loa ranks low
- Local economyBetter than only 1% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 3% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 5% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 6% of towns
- School gradeD, better than only 8% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Mauna Loa
A household needs to earn about $73,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Mauna Loa home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $55,673, 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 Mauna Loa'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, 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 Mauna Loa
Mauna Loa runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Mauna Loa.
Who works in Mauna Loa, and how
Work in Mauna Loa centers on education and retail trade. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 71%
- Work from home 13%
- Transit, walk, or bike 16%
Life in Mauna Loa
The coast is about 12 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across Mauna Loa, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Mauna Loa, month by month
Mauna Loa sees roughly 186 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 81, with lows near 64. The comfortable stretch runs December through May.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 81° | 72° | 64° |
| April | 82° | 74° | 67° |
| July | 87° | 79° | 73° |
| October | 87° | 78° | 71° |
Flying in and out of Mauna Loa
The nearest airport, Molokai, is about 9 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Daniel K Inouye International, about 46 miles away.
The best schools in and around Mauna Loa
Schools across Mauna Loa average a D, better than 8% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Maunaloa Elementary SchoolD− · 15% proficient
Top middle schools
- Molokai Middle SchoolD+ · 27% proficient
Top high schools
- Molokai High SchoolF · 10% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Mauna Loa school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Mauna Loa 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 Mauna Loa against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Mauna Loa
Is Mauna Loa a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Mauna Loa ranks 37,852nd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on the weather, low property taxes, and clean air, and lowest on a weak job market and the cost of living against local pay. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Mauna Loa expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $304,800. The overall cost of living runs about 34% above the national average. Set against a $55,673 median income, cost of living beats 3% of towns.
Is Mauna Loa safe?
Mauna Loa is safer than 17% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $547 per resident a year.
Compare Mauna Loa with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Mauna Loa. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Mauna Loa 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.
Mauna Loa detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Mauna Loa: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Mauna Loa: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Mauna Loa: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Mauna Loa: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Mauna Loa 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.