Hawaii by the numbers
In Hawaii, the median worker earns $53,260 a year, the typical home is worth $808,200 and carries $2,183 of property tax, and the average household pays $215 a month for electricity at 52.00¢ per kilowatt-hour.
West Island grids (no interconnection) Regulated monopoly
Energy
Hawaii is the only state that generates a large share of its electricity from petroleum. Each island runs an isolated grid with no interconnection to anywhere: no neighbouring state to import from, no shared reserve margin, no ability to lean on a regional market. Every island must hold its own reserves, which means more capacity per unit of demand than any mainland system.
Because oil sets the marginal price, Hawaii's rate tracks world oil markets more closely than any other state's. That is why it moved so sharply over the past year while most states moved by a few per cent.
Hawaii has responded with the most aggressive renewable mandate in the country and has built enormous quantities of rooftop and utility-scale solar plus battery storage. The state has among the highest rooftop solar penetration anywhere in the world. That is displacing oil steadily, but the transition is incomplete and the remaining oil still sets the price at the margin.
The closure of the state's last coal plant removed a cheap but high-emission resource, and the replacement has been a mix of renewables and, in the interim, more oil-fired generation.
Averaged across the twelve months to May 2026, Hawaii households used 513 kilowatt-hours a month and paid $215. At the state median wage that is about 8.4 hours of work a month to keep the lights on. For heating, a heat pump costs less to run than gas here, by about $1.58 per million BTU.
Work and pay
The median Hawaii worker earned $53,260 in 2024, 7.6% above the national median. What distinguishes a state's labour market is rarely its biggest occupations, which are retail and food service everywhere, but what it has disproportionately.
| Occupation | Concentration | Median pay |
|---|---|---|
| Dancers | 16.11× | not reported |
| Baggage Porters and Bellhops | 7.72× | $37,440 |
| Passenger Attendants | 6.76× | $41,760 |
| Tour and Travel Guides | 5.83× | $44,620 |
| Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Workers, All Other | 5.38× | $53,520 |
Property tax
The median Hawaii homeowner pays $2,183 a year on a home worth $808,200, an effective rate of 0.27% against a national 0.98%. Nobody sets that rate. It is what falls out of county, city, school district and special district levies applied to an assessed value, so the state figure is a weighted average of 4 counties rather than a posted number.
Cost of living
Prices in Hawaii run at 110.0 where the national average is 100, ranking it #2 of 51. Goods sit at 111.6, which is close to national almost everywhere because most goods are shipped and priced nationally. Rents sit at 125.3, and that is where states actually separate from one another. A median wage of $53,260 therefore buys what $48,418 buys nationally.
Metro areas priced separately: Urban Honolulu (111.0) , Kahului-Wailuku (109.4) .
Housing
House prices in Hawaii rose 5.9% over the year to 2026 Q2, against a median across all states of +2.7%. Over ten years the index is +95.6%. Prices are at or near their record level.
Who supplies the power
7 utilities report residential service in Hawaii, together serving 464,655 customers. Regulated monopoly.
Hawaii: common questions
What does it cost to live in Hawaii?
Prices overall run at 110.0 against a national average of 100, with rents at 125.3. The typical home is worth $808,200 and carries $2,183 a year in property tax, an effective rate of 0.27% against a national 0.98%. Electricity averages $215 a month at 52.00¢ per kilowatt-hour. Against that, the median wage is $53,260.
What is the property tax rate in Hawaii?
The effective rate is 0.27% of home value, from a median bill of $2,183. It is set locally rather than by the state, so the figure is a weighted outcome across 4 counties. County by county rates.
Does a salary go further in Hawaii?
The median wage of $53,260 buys what $48,418 buys nationally, once local prices are taken out. A state paying above the national median while charging above it for housing can leave a household no better off, and this is the arithmetic that shows which side of that line Hawaii falls on.
Is Hawaii expensive for electricity?
It ranks #1 of 51 jurisdictions on price at 52.00¢ per kilowatt-hour, +182.0% against the U.S. average. On the actual bill it ranks 1 of 51, because households there use 513 kWh a month against a national 871.
What is the median salary in Hawaii?
$53,260 across all occupations, about $25.61 an hour, covering 620,930 wage and salary workers as of 2024.
Who supplies electricity in Hawaii?
7 utilities report residential service, the largest being Hawaiian Electric Co Inc with 276,206 customers. Regulated monopoly.
Electricity May 2026, gas 2024, utilities 2024, wages 2024. All figures from federal statistical agencies. Methodology · Sources