Metro Life Score
Kahului-Wailuku, HI
Bottom-quartile composite Life Score — grade F, 3rd percentile of the national corpus.
- 35.4
- Life Score / 100
- F
- Grade (curved)
- #377
- of 387 metros
- 3%
- composite percentile
Data updated August 2026
Verify: BEA · BLS · HUD · FBI · NCES · EPA · Census · Report a data issue · Data changelog
The verdict
Kahului-Wailuku is bottom-quartile composite Life Score — #377 of 387 (35.4/100, grade F, 3rd percentile). Carried by wages at 84/100; held back most by cost of living at 3/100.
- 3rd
- composite percentile
- #377
- of 387 peers
- 3rd
- cost dimension percentile
- 83rd
- wages dimension percentile
Life Score shape · BOTTOM · RENT-SQUEEZE · signature composite
Kahului-Wailuku: bottom-third composite — where the drag concentrates
Kahului-Wailuku sits in the bottom third of the metro corpus on composite (#377 of 387, 35.4/100, 2nd percentile). Stamps BOTTOM · RENT-SQUEEZE; Cost of Living at 3/100 is the main drag; Wages (84/100) keeps the floor. Cost/wage marks CEILING/HIGH. According to PlainCompare's federal Life Score corpus ranking, Kahului-Wailuku, HI ranks #377 of 387 metros by composite Life Score (highest = #1) and #375 of 387 by cost-of-living dimension score (highest = #1). Methodology.
BEA RPP 109.4 (rent-RPP 119.2). BLS median salary $72,704, 67,610 jobs (Waiters and Waitresses, Fast Food and Counter Workers, Retail Salespersons). HUD 2BR FMR $2,492/mo (studio $1,801).
FBI UCR (HI): 230 violent, 2053 property/100K. NCES: 14.1:1 ratio, 12.5% charter. DOL infant childcare $15,330/yr. EPA: 4 Superfund sites (HI).
Where Kahului-Wailuku sits among all US metros
Composite Life Score vs the national field
35 3rd percentile higher than 3% of 387 US metros
Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more US metros. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source PlainCompare composite of BEA, BLS, HUD, FBI, NCES, DOL, EPA data · August 2026
Dimension detail
How Kahului-Wailuku scores, dimension by dimension
Score Breakdown
Dimension Scores
Key Data Points
Geography used: crime, schools, childcare, and environment cards above are HI state-level when metro-specific feeds are unavailable, see the scope key at the top of this page.
Compare Kahului-Wailuku With...
Ranking Context
Kahului-Wailuku outranks 3% of U.S. metros.
| Rank | Metro | Score | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|
| #374 | Urban Honolulu, HI | 35.6 | F |
| #375 | Amherst Town-Northampton, MA | 35.9 | D |
| #376 | Barnstable Town, MA | 36.2 | D |
| #377 | Kahului-Wailuku, HI | 35.4 | F |
| #378 | New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ | 35.4 | F |
| #379 | Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD | 35.2 | F |
| #380 | Kiryas Joel-Poughkeepsie-Newburgh, NY | 34.5 | F |
HI Metro Scores
Read with Kahului-Wailuku
Nearest composite peers and cost poles for Kahului-Wailuku (BOTTOM · RENT-SQUEEZE · CEILING/HIGH), replacing the fixed Explore/Guides strip.
New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ
ABS(composite) peer at 35.4 (Δ 0.0 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade F vs this page's BOTTOM · RENT-SQUEEZE · CEILING/HIGH.
Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD
ABS(composite) peer at 35.2 (Δ 0.2 vs this metro); lower Life Score · grade F vs this page's BOTTOM · RENT-SQUEEZE · CEILING/HIGH.
Urban Honolulu, HI
ABS(composite) peer at 35.6 (Δ 0.2 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade F vs this page's BOTTOM · RENT-SQUEEZE · CEILING/HIGH.
Amherst Town-Northampton, MA
ABS(composite) peer at 35.9 (Δ 0.5 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade D vs this page's BOTTOM · RENT-SQUEEZE · CEILING/HIGH.
Kiryas Joel-Poughkeepsie-Newburgh, NY (cost pole)
ABS(cost_score) orthogonal peer at 3/100 (Δ 0); cost stamp CEILING vs this metro's CEILING.
Salinas, CA (cost pole)
ABS(cost_score) orthogonal peer at 3/100 (Δ 0); cost stamp CEILING vs this metro's CEILING.
Kahului-Wailuku, HI relocation guide
Stamp-branched guide for BOTTOM · RENT-SQUEEZE · CEILING/HIGH - how to read federal Life Score inputs before a move.