Best PlacesWaipahu, HI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Waipahu, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Distance to the water drives a lot of the difference between one part and the next. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Waipahu ranks 790th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on transit by a wide margin, and civic engagement ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Waipahu
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.
The best areas in Waipahu
The parts of Waipahu, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first.
Airport
Ewa
West Loch
Scores across Waipahu run from about the 34th to the 95th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Waipahu's strengths and weaknesses
Where Waipahu ranks high
- TransitBetter than 99% of cities
- Air qualityBetter than 99% of cities
- Low property taxBetter than 99% of cities
- WalkabilityBetter than 86% of cities
- Crime safetyBetter than 84% of cities
Where Waipahu ranks low
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 4% of cities
- Local economyBetter than only 5% of cities
- QuietBetter than only 6% of cities
- State infrastructureBetter than only 6% of cities
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 8% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Waipahu
A household needs to earn about $196,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Waipahu home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $117,478, 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 Waipahu's effective rate of 0.29%, 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 Waipahu
Waipahu's age mix sits close to the national median, 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 Waipahu.
Who works in Waipahu, and how
Work in Waipahu centers on health care & social and hospitality & food. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 80%
- Work from home 7%
- Transit, walk, or bike 13%
Life in Waipahu
Waipahu has more parkland per resident than 87% of cities and less late-night activity than most cities. The coast is about 7 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Waipahu and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Waipahu, month by month
Waipahu sees roughly 150 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 Waipahu
Daniel K Inouye International sits about 8 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 Waipahu
Schools across Waipahu average a C+, better than 36% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Lt Col Horrace Meek Hickam Elementary SchoolA+ · 77% proficient
- Admiral Chester W Nimitz Elementary SchoolA · 63% proficient
- Pearl Harbor Kai Elementary SchoolB+ · 51% proficient
Top middle schools
- Aliamanu Middle SchoolB+ · 49% proficient
- Highlands Intermediate SchoolB− · 41% proficient
- Kapolei Middle SchoolC+ · 39% proficient
Top high schools
- Admiral Arthur W Radford High SchoolB · 49% proficient
- Pearl City High SchoolB− · 44% proficient
- Waipahu High SchoolB− · 43% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Waipahu school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Waipahu 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 Waipahu against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Waipahu suits
Families
Schools land around the 36th percentile and crime safety beats 84%.
Common questions about living in Waipahu
Is Waipahu a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Waipahu ranks 790th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on transit, clean air, and low property taxes, and lowest on civic engagement and a weak job market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Waipahu expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $807,076. The overall cost of living runs about 70% above the national average. Set against a $117,478 median income, cost of living beats 8% of cities.
Is Waipahu safe?
Yes, Waipahu is safer than 84% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $232 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Waipahu?
July highs average about 84 degrees, and January highs near 78 with lows near 62. That works out to about 150 pleasant days a year, more than 82% of cities.
What are the best neighborhoods in Waipahu?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Airport, Ewa, and West Loch. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Waipahu with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Waipahu. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Waipahu 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.
Waipahu detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Waipahu: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Waipahu: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Waipahu: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Waipahu: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Waipahu 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.