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Moving to
Nanakuli.
Nanakuli is an unincorporated community in Honolulu County, HI. It has no city government: the county runs it, and the Census counts it as its own place.
What it's like to live in Nanakuli
Nanakuli is an unincorporated community in Hawaii with county unemployment below the national average, air quality that stays clean most of the year, a growing population, and schools with smaller class sizes than the national average. Those factors carry real weight for anyone weighing where to move next.
The tradeoffs are worth naming plainly. Nanakuli deals with rent well above the national average, home prices well above the national average, long average commutes, and college degree attainment below the national average.
The good
- Low unemployment in the county
- Clean air
- Growing population
- Low student-teacher ratio
The not so good
- Rent well above the national average
- High home prices
- Long commutes
- Low college degree attainment
- High poverty rate
- High rent burden for renters
How Nanakuli compares
Median household income
Median rent (per month)
Median home value
What it takes to move to Nanakuli
Based on Nanakuli's median rent, home value and household income
To rent
$3,380
up front: first month plus a typical one-month deposit
- Income to keep rent under 30%: $67,600 a year
- 50% of Nanakuli renters spend 30% or more of their income on rent
To buy
$97,720
a 20% down payment on the median home
- With 10% down: $48,860
- Homes cost 5.6× the typical local household income (US: 4.1×)
Moving costs, closing costs and taxes not included.
The details
Cost of living▲ 20% above US
$1,690/mo median rent
Rent runs on the higher side, at $1,690 a month median. Whether that premium makes sense usually comes down to the local job market and what it pays. Home prices are steep, with a median around $488,600. Renting first to get a feel for the city before buying is often the more practical route.
Median home value $488,600 · 50% of renters cost-burdened
Job market
2.3% county unemployment
Unemployment in Honolulu County is 2.3%, well below the national average of 4.3%. That's the county-wide rate; BLS doesn't measure a place this size on its own.
Honolulu County (county-wide)
Safety
181 violent crimes per 100k, whole jurisdiction
Nanakuli doesn't have its own police department, so there's no crime rate for it alone. The figures shown are for the Honolulu Police Department jurisdiction as a whole, which runs below the national average for violent crime and covers many communities. Individual neighborhoods can differ a lot from that overall rate.
Property crime 1459/100k · Policed by Honolulu Police Department (county-wide rate) · 2025 data
Getting around▲ 36% above US
35 min average commute
Traffic is a real factor here. The 35.3 minute average means plenty of commuters are pushing 45 to 60 minutes on a bad day. Proximity to work matters more here than it might elsewhere. 9 in 10 workers drive to work; 7% work from home.
How workers get to work
Climate
Summers are warm, with highs around 85°F, and winters are mild, with lows rarely dropping below 65°F.
Average month
30-year averages, 1991–2020
Education & workforce▼ 70% below US
11% bachelor's degree or higher
This is a working-class city, and college degree rates reflect that. Trades, manufacturing, and service industries tend to dominate the local economy, which is a strength for some fields and a real constraint for others.
Schools
4 public schools inside the boundary
There are 4 public schools inside the boundary. The student-to-teacher ratio is 13:1, well below the national average of 16:1. Smaller class sizes are generally a positive sign for a district.
Parks & recreation
The nearest national park or historic site is Honouliuli National Historic Site (6 miles away). There are 3 national parks and sites within a day's drive.
Bottom line
Nanakuli's strongest points are county unemployment below the national average and air quality that stays clean most of the year; the main tradeoffs are rent well above the national average and home prices well above the national average. A year of median rent ($1,690/mo) equals 23% of the median household income here, about the same as the 21% typical nationwide. It tends to suit job seekers (county-wide unemployment is low). It may be a harder fit for people who dread long commutes.
Other places near Nanakuli
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