Hawaii County, Hawaii

• Income near the national median: Median household income tracks the national median, indicating a broad-based consumer market.
• Below the state median: Median household income runs $21,750 (21.7%) under the Hawaii median, so statewide income averages overstate local household buying power.
• Cost of living erodes income: Local prices run 10.0% above the national average, so the nominal median of $78,639 is worth $71,490 at national average prices. BEA publishes price parity at state level, not county level.
• Elevated poverty: At 14.9%, the rate is in economically distressed territory and supports federal funding narratives (CDFI, NMTC, EDA).
• Aging population: Median age of 44 is materially above the U.S. norm; succession planning and senior-services demand are real factors.

• Largest private-sector industry: Accommodation and Food Services employs 13,305 workers (26.6% of tracked sectors), at an average wage of $47,065. Every industry figure on this page is private sector; government employs a further 14,692 and is counted separately.
• Economic scale: Regional GDP of $12.2B (2024).
• Wage stratification: Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services averages $83,599 while Retail Trade averages $41,022, a 2.0x spread in the same local economy, with implications for workforce development and talent strategy.

• Top specialization: Scenic and Sightseeing Transportation concentrates at 49.16x the national norm, top-decile concentration, the kind of signature sector that defines a region's economic identity to site selectors.
• Cluster depth: 15 sub-sectors register LQ ≥ 1.5, and no single source of demand accounts for more than 42.4% of the employment across them, the largest being visitor economy. Demand reaches this base from more than one market rather than from a single one.
• Attraction whitespace: 3 sub-sectors register LQ < 0.5 with at least 50 employed and clear the local siting screen on energy cost, freight access and land base, candidates for diversification or recruitment depending on labor-market fit.

• Stretched market: Home value to income ratio of 6.6x is well above the ~4.1x national average; attainable workforce housing may be a recruitment friction.
• High home ownership: 74% owner-occupied; rental supply may be tight for incoming workers.
• Elevated vacancy: 18.4% of housing units are vacant, above the Hawaii rate of 13.3%, and down from 20.9% in 2019.
• Mostly second homes: seasonal, recreational and occasional-use units are 45.7% of vacant units, so the headline rate is not available supply.
• Genuinely available supply: units listed for rent or for sale are 19% of the vacant stock, or 3.5% of all housing units against the 18.4% headline vacancy rate. That is the figure to plan an incoming employer's housing against, and the gap between the two is the redevelopment and conversion opportunity.
• Rent affordability gap: None of the 5 HUD Fair Market Rent bedroom sizes sit below what a household on the median renter income of $54,668 can pay without cost burden (~$1,367/mo), and 44.3% of renter households are already cost-burdened, 23.4% severely so; workforce housing cost burden warrants attention.

• Succession risk is real: 24.4% of working-age residents are 55-64. Plan for retirements over the next decade and pair attraction strategy with talent retention.
• Low participation: 56.5% labor force participation against a labor force that grew 0.8% between 2019 and 2024, so workforce development programs may unlock additional supply.
• Talent pipeline: 1 institution in Hawaii County awards 9 credentials a year. Employers drawing from a wider labor shed should read this alongside institutions outside the county, which this page does not aggregate.

Hawaii County shows strong potential for scenic and sightseeing transportation attraction, with a 49.16x concentration and 672 jobs in this sub-sector. It ranks in the top decile nationally. Near-term succession risk is elevated, with 24.4% of the working-age population within 10 years of retirement age.

The concentrated base spans scenic and sightseeing transportation, accommodation, and crop production, and no single source of demand accounts for more than 42.4% of the employment across them, the largest being visitor economy. Supply-chain recruitment has more than one demand base to work from.