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Work & commute in Pukalani · A commuter town

93% of Pukalani’s working residents leave town for work

Most working residents leave Pukalani for work: only 7% work in town. The top destinations are Urban Honolulu (21%), Kahului (17%) and Wailuku (11%). Half commute less than 11 miles.

Work in town
7%
372 of 4,961 working residents
Typical commute
11 mi
half travel less, straight-line
Time each way
30 min
More than HI (26 min)
Work from home
8%
Less than HI (10%)
Jobs based here
1,974
A commuter town

What kind of work town is Pukalani?

Read from the numbers below. The page puts what stands out first.

★ What stands out · The jobs

What the 1,974 jobs in Pukalani are

1,974 jobs are based in Pukalani. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Pukalani’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in PukalaniJobs Pukalani residents hold

What kind of work

Goods: factories, building, farms7%14%
Trade, transport & utilities13%21%
Services: health, schools, offices79%66%

What it pays

$1,250 a month or less13%10%
$1,251–$3,333 a month27%24%
Over $3,333 a month60%66%

Who does it

29 or younger17%18%
30 to 5455%55%
55 and older28%27%
+100%

Jobs based in Pukalani, 2013 → 2023: 987 → 1,974. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.

Primary jobs covered by unemployment insurance (not the self-employed). Pay is monthly earnings. LEHD 2023.

The commute map

21% of working residents work in Urban Honolulu

A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.

HaliimaileMakawao: 116 residents work here (2%)PukalaniWaihee-WaiehuWailuku: 536 residents work here (11%)Paia: 89 residents work here (2%)Wailea: 179 residents work here (4%)LahainaKihei: 211 residents work here (4%)Kahului: 839 residents work here (17%)Kailua: 117 residents work here (2%)Haiku-PauwelaKulaKaiminani: 117 residents work here (2%)Urban Honolulu: 1,034 residents work here (21%)Urban HonoluluKahuluiWailukuKiheiWaileaKailuaPukalani
1
Urban Honolulu102.9 mi away
21%1,034
2
Kahului8.4 mi away
17%839
3
Wailuku11.1 mi away
11%536
4
Pukalani (in town)right here
7%372
5
Kihei7.8 mi away
4%211
6
Wailea12 mi away
4%179
7
Kailua85 mi away
2%117
8
Kaiminani77.6 mi away
2%117
9
Makawao1.8 mi away
2%116
10
Paia5.5 mi away
2%89
Everywhere elseother towns and states
27%1,351
The top trips

Where Pukalani clocks in

Lines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.

Day and night

Pukalani quiets down on a workday

On a workday 4,589 residents head out to work, 372 work right here, and 1,602 people come in from elsewhere.

4,589live here, work elsewhere
372live and work here
1,602work here, live elsewhere
Night and day
At night8,700
Workday5,700
8,700live here− 4,600head out to work+ 1,600come in to work= 5,700on a workday

About 5,700 people are in Pukalani on a workday afternoon, 34% fewer than live here.

Job hub or commuter town?
0.40jobs per workerCommuter townJob hub

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

Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.

How far

Half of Pukalani commutes less than 11 miles

Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.

10 mi25 mi50 mi80 miUrban Honolulu: 21% · 102.9 miKahului: 17% · 8.4 miWailuku: 11% · 11.1 miKihei: 4% · 7.8 miWailea: 4% · 12 miKailua: 2% · 85 miKaiminani: 2% · 77.6 miMakawao: 2% · 1.8 miPaia: 2% · 5.5 miUrban Honolulu 21%Kahului 17%Wailuku 11%Kihei 4%Wailea 4%Pukalani
PukalaniTop destinations (size = commuters)
38%Under 10 mi1,886 residents
20%10–24 mi994 residents
0%25–50 mi17 residents
42%Over 50 mi2,062 residents

About 42% show a job over 50 miles away. Some of that is real, and some is employers that report every worker at a head office, so a few long commutes are on paper only.

Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.

Time on the road

About 30 minutes each way, longer than most of Hawaii

From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.

A year of commuting
228 hours

Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.5 full days in the car, bus or train.

Average commute minutes, one way

Pukalani30 min
Hawaii26 min
U.S.26 min
Working from home
8%

of Pukalani workers work from home, vs 10% across Hawaii. Their commute is the hallway.

About 1 in 10

How Pukalani ranks on commute time →

Next door

Pukalani and the towns next door

The biggest share goes to Makawao (2%). Darker towns draw more of Pukalani’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.

How to read these numbers

What this data can and can’t tell you

  • Every worker, home to work. The 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 says. A 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 surveys. Flows, distances and jobs: LEHD 2023. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: the Census American Community Survey.
  • Straight lines. Distances are as the crow flies between home and work. Roads, rivers and traffic make the real trip longer.
Beyond the commute

More of Pukalani

Pukalani home →

Commuter talk

Getting to work from Pukalani, from the people who make the trip.

Town Square →
Weigh in
Is the commute from Pukalani worth it?

Your answer becomes a post in Town Square.

Ask neighbors

Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Distances are straight lines between home and work; real drives run longer.

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