Kaunakakai is a very small coastal town (i.e. on the ocean, a bay, or inlet) located in the state of Hawaii. With a population of 3,419 people and just one neighborhood, Kaunakakai is the 38th largest community in Hawaii.
Kaunakakai is neither predominantly blue-collar nor white-collar, instead having a mixed workforce of both blue-collar and white-collar jobs. Overall, Kaunakakai is a town of service providers, professionals, and sales and office workers. There are especially a lot of people living in Kaunakakai who work in maintenance occupations (14.90%), sales jobs (10.99%), and healthcare (9.91%).
Telecommuters are a relatively large percentage of the workforce: 9.77% of people work from home. While this number may seem small overall, as a fraction of the total workforce it is high relative to the nation. These workers are often telecommuters who work in knowledge-based, white-collar professions. For example, Silicon Valley has large numbers of people who telecommute. Other at-home workers may be self-employed people who operate small businesses out of their homes.
Kaunakakai is also nautical, which means that parts of it are somewhat historic and touch the ocean or tidal bodies of water, such as inlets and bays. Quite often, nautical areas such as these attract visitors and locals who come to enjoy the scenery and various waterfront activities.
Residents of the town have the good fortune of having one of the shortest daily commutes compared to the rest of the country. On average, they spend only 15.46 minutes getting to work every day.
The percentage of adults in Kaunakakai with college degrees is slightly lower than the national average of 21.84% for all communities. 16.80% of adults in Kaunakakai have a bachelor's degree or advanced degree.
The per capita income in Kaunakakai in 2022 was $30,048, which is lower middle income relative to Hawaii and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $120,192 for a family of four. However, Kaunakakai contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.
Kaunakakai is an extremely ethnically-diverse town. The people who call Kaunakakai home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Kaunakakai residents report their race to be Native Hawaiian, followed by Asian. Kaunakakai also has a sizeable Hispanic population (people of Hispanic origin can be of any race). People of Hispanic or Latino origin account for 13.03% of the town’s residents. Important ancestries of people in Kaunakakai include German, Dutch, Ukrainian, Russian, and French.
The most common language spoken in Kaunakakai is English. Other important languages spoken here include Pacific Island languages and Japanese.
The way a neighborhood looks and feels when you walk or drive around it, from its setting, its buildings, and its flavor, can make all the difference. This neighborhood has some really cool things about the way it looks and feels as revealed by NeighborhoodScout's exclusive research. This might include anything from the housing stock to the types of households living here to how people get around.
Uncrowded roads, rural America and space to be the individual you are. If you like these characteristics, this neighborhood may fit you. With just 36 residents per square mile, is less crowded than 91.6% of all U.S. neighborhoods. is a neighborhood that is on the ocean, a bay, or inlet. Many times, such places have amenities that bring locals and visitors to the waterfront for recreational activities or to check out the scenery. In some densely populated areas that are less financially well-off, the neighborhood waterfront can be relatively industrial and less open to recreation. In addition to being coastal, is a very nautical neighborhood, meaning that it is somewhat historic, walkable, densely populated and on the water. This gives the neighborhood a very nautical feel, with some seaside and shipping feel, which some may really enjoy the sights and sounds of.
How wealthy a neighborhood is, from very wealthy, to middle income, to low income is very formative with regard to the personality and character of a neighborhood. Equally important is the rate of people, particularly children, who live below the federal poverty line. In some wealthy gated communities, the areas immediately surrounding can have high rates of childhood poverty, which indicates other social issues. NeighborhoodScout's analysis reveals both aspects of income and poverty for this neighborhood.
The neighbors in the neighborhood in Kaunakakai are middle-income, making it a moderate income neighborhood. NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis reveals that this neighborhood has a higher income than 52.0% of the neighborhoods in America. With 25.7% of the children here below the federal poverty line, this neighborhood has a higher rate of childhood poverty than 77.1% of U.S. neighborhoods.
A neighborhood is far different if it is dominated by enlisted military personnel rather than people who earn their living by farming. It is also different if most of the neighbors are clerical support or managers. What is wonderful is the sheer diversity of neighborhoods, allowing you to find the type that fits your lifestyle and aspirations.
In the neighborhood, 34.5% of the working population is employed in sales and service jobs, from major sales accounts, to working in fast food restaurants. The second most important occupational group in this neighborhood is executive, management, and professional occupations, with 31.1% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in manufacturing and laborer occupations (21.1%), and 12.8% in clerical, assistant, and tech support occupations.
The most common language spoken in the neighborhood is English, spoken by 86.0% of households.
Culture is shared learned behavior. We learn it from our parents, their parents, our houses of worship, and much of our culture – our learned behavior – comes from our ancestors. That is why ancestry and ethnicity can be so interesting and important to understand: places with concentrations of people of one or more ancestries often express those shared learned behaviors and this gives each neighborhood its own culture. Even different neighborhoods in the same city can have drastically different cultures.
In the neighborhood in Kaunakakai, HI, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as Asian (9.0%). There are also a number of people of Mexican ancestry (5.1%), and residents who report Puerto Rican roots (3.5%), and some of the residents are also of German ancestry (3.2%), along with some Norwegian ancestry residents (1.8%), among others.
How you get to work – car, bus, train or other means – and how much of your day it takes to do so is a large quality of life and financial issue. Especially with gasoline prices rising and expected to continue doing so, the length and means of one's commute can be a financial burden. Some neighborhoods are physically located so that many residents have to drive in their own car, others are set up so many walk to work, or can take a train, bus, or bike. The greatest number of commuters in neighborhood spend under 15 minutes commuting one-way to work (52.7% of working residents), one of the shortest commutes across America.
Here most residents (65.4%) drive alone in a private automobile to get to work. In addition, quite a number also carpool with coworkers, friends, or neighbors to get to work (15.6%) and 7.2% of residents also hop out the door and walk to work for their daily commute. In a neighborhood like this, as in most of the nation, many residents find owning a car useful for getting to work.