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Work & commute in Waianae · A job hub

Every workday, about 1,700 people come to Waianae for work

Most working residents leave Waianae for work: only 6% work in town. The top destinations are Urban Honolulu (24%), Ko Olina (3%) and Kahului (3%). Half commute less than 23 miles.

Work in town
6%
32 of 549 working residents
Typical commute
23 mi
half travel less, straight-line
Time each way
42 min
More than HI (26 min)
Work from home
4%
Less than HI (10%)
Jobs based here
1,684
A job hub

What kind of work town is Waianae?

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

★ What stands out · Day and night

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 517 residents head out to work, 32 work right here, and 1,652 people come in from elsewhere.

517live here, work elsewhere
32live and work here
1,652work here, live elsewhere
Night and day
At night13,000
Workday14,000
13,000live here− 520head out to work+ 1,700come in to work= 14,000on a workday

About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.

Job hub or commuter town?
3.07jobs per workerCommuter townJob hub

3.1 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than 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.

The commute map

Where Waianae’s workers come from

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

Ko OlinaMailiWahiawa: 108 workers live here (6%)Makaha: 37 workers live here (2%)WaipahuMakaha ValleyKapolei: 71 workers live here (4%)WaianaeKalaeloa: 30 workers live here (2%)Kaneohe: 29 workers live here (2%)LihuePearl City: 76 workers live here (5%)Kihei: 30 workers live here (2%)KahuluiEast Honolulu: 90 workers live here (5%)Urban Honolulu: 604 workers live here (36%)HiloUrban HonoluluWahiawaEast HonoluluPearl CityKapoleiMakahaWaianae
1
Urban Honolulu23.3 mi away
36%604
2
Wahiawa11 mi away
6%108
3
East Honolulu31.9 mi away
5%90
4
Pearl City14.9 mi away
5%76
5
Kapolei10.7 mi away
4%71
6
Makaha2.4 mi away
2%37
7
Waianae (in town)right here
2%32
8
Kalaeloa12.2 mi away
2%30
9
Kihei122.1 mi away
2%30
10
Kaneohe25.4 mi away
2%29
Everywhere elseother towns and states
34%577
The top trips

Where Waianae clocks in

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

Time on the road

About 42 minutes each way, longer than most of Hawaii

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

A year of commuting
324 hours

Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 13.5 full days in the car, bus or train.

Average commute minutes, one way

Waianae42 min
Hawaii26 min
U.S.26 min
Working from home
4%

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

About 0 in 10

How Waianae ranks on commute time →

How far

Half of Waianae commutes less than 23 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: 24% · 23.3 miKo Olina: 3% · 9 miKahului: 3% · 117.8 miPearl City: 3% · 14.9 miLihue: 2% · 83.5 miHilo: 2% · 234.6 miWaipahu: 2% · 11.9 miKapolei: 2% · 10.7 miMakaha: 2% · 2.4 miUrban Honolulu 24%Ko Olina 3%Pearl City 3%Lihue 2%Waianae
WaianaeTop destinations (size = commuters)
16%Under 10 mi85 residents
43%10–24 mi234 residents
9%25–50 mi47 residents
33%Over 50 mi182 residents

About 33% 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.

The jobs

What the 1,684 jobs in Waianae are

1,684 jobs are based in Waianae. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Waianae’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in WaianaeJobs Waianae residents hold

What kind of work

Goods: factories, building, farms7%18%
Trade, transport & utilities23%18%
Services: health, schools, offices70%63%

What it pays

$1,250 a month or less16%15%
$1,251–$3,333 a month39%34%
Over $3,333 a month45%51%

Who does it

29 or younger22%30%
30 to 5450%42%
55 and older28%27%
+7%

Jobs based in Waianae, 2013 → 2023: 1,572 → 1,684. 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.

Next door

Waianae and the towns next door

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

10%+5–9%2–4%1%Under 1%

Average commute minutes, one way

Waianae42 min
Maili43 min
Makaha47 min
Makaha Valley48 min
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 Waianae

Waianae home →

Commuter talk

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

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

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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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