Best PlacesPapa, HI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Papa, 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.
Papa ranks 37,769th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on heat safety by a wide margin, and long commutes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Papa
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.
Papa's strengths and weaknesses
Where Papa ranks high
- Heat safetyBetter than 99% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 99% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 177 pleasant days a year, better than 98% of towns
- QuietBetter than 97% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 89% of towns
Where Papa ranks low
- Short commute43.2 minutes each way, better than only 3% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 3% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 6% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 6% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 6% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Papa
A household needs to earn about $165,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Papa home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $70,339, 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 Papa's effective rate of 0.39%, 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 Papa
Papa runs older than the country, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Papa.
Who works in Papa, and how
Work in Papa centers on admin & support services and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 57%
- Work from home 36%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Papa
The coast is about 24 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across Papa, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Papa, month by month
Papa sees roughly 177 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 59 degrees. January highs sit near 53, with lows near 36. No month averages between 55 and 75 degrees.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 53° | 43° | 36° |
| April | 54° | 44° | 37° |
| July | 59° | 49° | 42° |
| October | 56° | 47° | 40° |
Flying in and out of Papa
The nearest airport, Ellison Onizuka Kona International at Keahole, is about 38 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Kahului, about 122 miles away.
The best schools in and around Papa
Schools across Papa average a C, better than 30% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Hookena Elementary SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
- Naalehu Elementary SchoolD− · 12% proficient
Top middle schools
- Konawaena Middle SchoolC− · 30% proficient
Top high schools
- Konawaena High SchoolC+ · 40% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Papa school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Papa 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 Papa against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Papa
Is Papa a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Papa ranks 37,769th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on heat safety, clean air, and the weather, and lowest on long commutes and biking. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Papa expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $668,568. The overall cost of living runs about 37% above the national average. Set against a $70,339 median income, cost of living beats 8% of towns.
Is Papa safe?
Papa is safer than 20% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $499 per resident a year.
Compare Papa with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Papa. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Papa 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.
Papa detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Papa: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Papa: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Papa: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Papa: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Papa 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.