The Quality of Life in Hawai‘i: 2024 Update, prepared by the Research and Economic Analysis Division of the Hawai‘i Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism (DBEDT), is now available. This report is a resource for stakeholders to make positive community changes and inform policy decisions. It presents data on the Quality of Life (QOL) in Hawaiʻi through six domains: economic, education, environment, health, housing & transportation, and social. Each domain contains four indicators, for a total of 24. Additionally, each indicator is measured in comparison to (1) the nation, (2) over time, and (3) across counties.
Overall, Hawai‘i’s QOL is in good standing compared to the nation. It performs better in the economic, education, and health domains, worse in the housing, transportation, and social domains, and equally in the environmental domains. Hawai‘i has performed better over time in all domains except for the economic and social domains, which performed worse. Among the counties, Honolulu County ranked highest in QOL, and Hawai‘i County ranked lowest.
Here are some highlights from each of the six QOL domains:
- Economy: The unemployment rate in the state of Hawai‘i was 3.3%, which was less than the national rate of 3.6% (2022, pg. 12).
- Education: The percentage of people ages 25 years and older in the state of Hawai‘i with less than a high school degree was 7.1%, which was less than the national percentage of 10.4% (2022, pg. 26).
- Environment: The state of Hawai‘i released 1.8 pounds of toxic chemicals per person, which was less than the national average of 9.8 pounds per person (2022, pg. 38).
- Health: Honolulu County had the lowest percentage of children without health insurance (2.9%), followed by Kaua‘i County (3.3%), Hawai‘i County (3.0%), and Maui County (3.8%) (2022, pg. 52).
- Housing & Transportation: Honolulu County had the highest percentage of renters that spent over 30% of their household income on rent (56.4%), followed by Kaua‘i County (42.4%). Maui County (47.7%) and Hawai‘i County (38.7%) (2022, pg. 78).
- Social: The violent crime rate in the state of Hawai‘i was 259.6 per 100,000 people, which was lower than the national rate of 380.7 per 100,000 people (2022, pg. 92).
