Work & commute · Lawai

Work & commute in Lawai, HI

Most working residents leave Lawai for work: only 3% work in town. The top destinations are Urban Honolulu (21%), Lihue (16%) and Poipu (16%). Half commute less than 11 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

28 of 1,016 working residents

Typical commute

11 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

19 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

22%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 988 Lawai residents head out of town to work, 28 work right here, and 273 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Lawai.

988live here, work elsewhere

28live and work here

273work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Lawai goes to work

Urban Honolulu113.9 mi away

21%213

Lihue10 mi away

16%161

Poipu3.6 mi away

16%158

Koloa2.8 mi away

3%34

Kalaheo1.1 mi away

3%34

Waimea11.3 mi away

3%28

Lawai (in town)right here

3%28

Puhi7.6 mi away

2%24

Eleele5.3 mi away

2%23

Kapolei100.4 mi away

2%19

Everywhere elseother towns and states

29%294

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

How far

How far Lawai commutes

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

46%

13%

41%

46%Under 10 mi

13%10–24 mi

0%25–50 mi

41%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Lawai is a commuter town

0.30jobs per working resident

A commuter town

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Lawai are

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

Jobs based in Lawai

301 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)36%

Trade, transport & utilities30%

Services (health, schools, offices…)34%

$1,250 a month or less17%

$1,251–$3,333 a month19%

Over $3,333 a month64%

Jobs Lawai residents hold

1,016 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)12%

Trade, transport & utilities18%

Services (health, schools, offices…)70%

$1,250 a month or less13%

$1,251–$3,333 a month24%

Over $3,333 a month63%

+52%

Jobs based in Lawai, 2013 → 2023: 198 → 301. 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.