Moving to
Wahiawa.

All Wahiawa data Compare Wahiawa

17,996people live here $87,143median household incomeNear US average $1,546median rent per monthNear US average $806,200median home value▲ 142% above US

Wahiawa 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 Wahiawa

Wahiawa is an unincorporated community in Hawaii with county unemployment below the national average, air quality that stays clean most of the year, 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. Wahiawa deals with home prices well above the national average, commute times longer than most cities, a rent burden that leaves many renters stretched thin, and very rainy.

The good

Low unemployment in the county
Clean air
Low student-teacher ratio

The not so good

High home prices
Above-average commute times
High rent burden for renters
Very rainy — 64" of rain per year

How Wahiawa compares

Median household income

Wahiawa$87,143

Hawaii avg$100,389

US$80,734

Median rent (per month)

Wahiawa$1,546

Hawaii avg$1,971

US$1,413

Median home value

Wahiawa$806,200

Hawaii avg$839,100

US$332,700

What it takes to move to Wahiawa

Based on Wahiawa's median rent, home value and household income

To rent

$3,092

up front: first month plus a typical one-month deposit

Income to keep rent under 30%: $61,840 a year
58% of Wahiawa renters spend 30% or more of their income on rent

To buy

$161,240

a 20% down payment on the median home

With 10% down: $80,620
Homes cost 9.3× the typical local household income (US: 4.1×)

Moving costs, closing costs and taxes not included.

The details

Cost of livingNear US average

$1,546/mo median rent

Rent is pretty middle of the road, at $1,546 a month median. Not a bargain, not a budget-buster. About typical for a city this size. Home prices are steep, with a median around $806,200. Renting first to get a feel for the city before buying is often the more practical route.

Median home value $806,200 · 58% 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

Wahiawa 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▲ 22% above US

32 min average commute

Traffic is a real factor here. The 31.7 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. 8 in 10 workers drive to work; 5% take public transit; 6% work from home.

How workers get to work

Drive alone

67%

Carpool

18%

Work from home

6.1%

Public transit

5.0%

Walk

2.1%

Other

1.9%

Climate

Summers are warm, with highs around 81°F, and winters are mild, with lows rarely dropping below 61°F. It's a wet climate overall.

Average month

High °FLow °FPrecip (in)

30-year averages, 1991–2020

Education & workforce▼ 39% below US

22% bachelor's degree or higher

College degree attainment runs below average at 22%. That tends to reflect a more trade and working-class economy, which can be great or limiting depending on the industry.

Schools

5 public schools inside the boundary

There are 5 public schools inside the boundary and 1 private school. 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 (8 miles away). There are 3 national parks and sites within a day's drive.

Bottom line

Wahiawa's strongest points are county unemployment below the national average and air quality that stays clean most of the year; the main tradeoffs are home prices well above the national average and commute times longer than most cities. A year of median rent ($1,546/mo) equals 21% 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).

See all the data for Wahiawa →·All Hawaii cities →