Work & commute · Kapaa

Work & commute in Kapaa, HI

Most working residents leave Kapaa for work: only 11% work in town. The top destinations are Urban Honolulu (21%), Lihue (19%) and Wailua (5%). Half commute less than 13 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

11%

705 of 6,617 working residents

Typical commute

13 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

27 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 5,912 Kapaa residents head out of town to work, 705 work right here, and 1,168 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Kapaa.

5,912live here, work elsewhere

705live and work here

1,168work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Kapaa goes to work

Urban Honolulu110 mi away

21%1,359

Lihue8 mi away

19%1,272

Kapaa (in town)right here

11%705

Wailua2.5 mi away

5%343

Princeville12.3 mi away

4%288

Puhi9.1 mi away

3%194

Poipu15.5 mi away

3%181

Kilauea9.4 mi away

2%164

Wailua Homesteads2.3 mi away

2%100

Hanalei12.3 mi away

1%85

Everywhere elseother towns and states

29%1,926

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

How far

How far Kapaa commutes

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

44%

16%

40%

44%Under 10 mi

16%10–24 mi

0%25–50 mi

40%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Kapaa is a commuter town

0.28jobs per working resident

A commuter town

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Kapaa are

1,873 jobs are based in Kapaa. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Kapaa’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Kapaa

1,873 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)16%

Trade, transport & utilities21%

Services (health, schools, offices…)62%

$1,250 a month or less18%

$1,251–$3,333 a month34%

Over $3,333 a month49%

Jobs Kapaa residents hold

6,617 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)11%

Trade, transport & utilities19%

Services (health, schools, offices…)70%

$1,250 a month or less12%

$1,251–$3,333 a month25%

Over $3,333 a month63%

+60%

Jobs based in Kapaa, 2013 → 2023: 1,173 → 1,873. 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.