Work & commute · Kailua

Work & commute in Kailua, HI

Most working residents leave Kailua for work: only 13% work in town. The top destinations are Urban Honolulu (61%), Kaneohe (4%) and Pearl City (1%). Half commute less than 10 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

13%

3,031 of 22,784 working residents

Typical commute

10 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

29 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

13%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 19,753 Kailua residents head out of town to work, 3,031 work right here, and 5,963 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Kailua.

19,753live here, work elsewhere

3,031live and work here

5,963work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Kailua goes to work

Urban Honolulu8.8 mi away

61%13,898

Kailua (in town)right here

13%3,031

Kaneohe3.6 mi away

4%829

Pearl City14.2 mi away

1%314

East Honolulu7.5 mi away

1%314

Waipahu17.7 mi away

1%297

Waimalu12.8 mi away

1%296

Waipio16.8 mi away

1%209

Halawa11.8 mi away

1%169

Kapolei21.7 mi away

1%154

Everywhere elseother towns and states

14%3,273

Lines run between town centers; a thicker line means more commuters. The top 10 towns each way.

How far

How far Kailua commutes

Straight-line distance from home to work, for every working resident. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.

60%

36%

60%Under 10 mi

36%10–24 mi

1%25–50 mi

4%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Kailua is a commuter town

0.39jobs per working resident

A commuter town

0.39 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.

The jobs

What the jobs in Kailua are

8,994 jobs are based in Kailua. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Kailua’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Kailua

8,994 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)6%

Trade, transport & utilities18%

Services (health, schools, offices…)76%

$1,250 a month or less20%

$1,251–$3,333 a month28%

Over $3,333 a month52%

Jobs Kailua residents hold

22,784 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)9%

Trade, transport & utilities18%

Services (health, schools, offices…)73%

$1,250 a month or less11%

$1,251–$3,333 a month20%

Over $3,333 a month69%

+17%

Jobs based in Kailua, 2013 → 2023: 7,673 → 8,994. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.

About these numbers

How to read this page

Every worker, home to workThe Census links each worker’s home block to their main job’s block, for jobs covered by unemployment insurance. That’s most jobs, but not the self-employed.

Where the employer saysA job counts where the employer reports it. Some big employers report one address for many sites, which can make a few commutes look longer than they are.

Two surveysFlows, distances and jobs: LEHD 2023. Commute time and working from home: the Census American Community Survey.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs; American Community Survey 5-year estimates.