Kalaupapa is a tiny coastal town (i.e. on the ocean, a bay, or inlet) located in the state of Hawaii. With a population of 81 people and just one neighborhood, Kalaupapa is the 60th largest community in Hawaii. Kalaupapa has a large stock of pre-World War II architecture, making it one of the older and more historic towns in the country.
Housing costs in Kalaupapa are among some of the highest in the nation, although real estate prices here don't compare to real estate prices in the most expensive communities in Hawaii.
When you are in Kalaupapa, you'll notice that it is more blue-collar than most other communities in America. 60.00% of Kalaupapa’s employed work in blue-collar jobs, while America averages only 27.7% that do. Overall, Kalaupapa is a town of transportation and shipping workers, construction workers and builders, and sales and office workers. There are especially a lot of people living in Kalaupapa who work in office and administrative support (13.33%), healthcare (13.33%), and food service (10.00%).
Another notable thing is that Kalaupapa is an extremely popular vacation destination. A significant portion of the population is seasonal. During the vacation season, the town experiences a large influx of people who take up residence in second homes they own in the area. As the vacation season ends, the population drops again, leaving behind a substantially quieter and smaller town.
Kalaupapa’s overall crime rate ranks among the lowest in the nation, making it a very safe place to live.
Residents will find that the town is relatively quiet. This is because it is not over-populated, and it has fewer college students, renters, and young children - all of whom can be noisy at times. So, if you're looking for a relatively peaceful place to live, Kalaupapa is worth considering.
Kalaupapa 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.
In Kalaupapa, a lot of people use the bus to get to work every day though Kalaupapa is a relatively small town. Those that ride the bus are primarily traveling out of town to good jobs in other cities.
In terms of college education, Kalaupapa is substantially better educated than the typical community in the nation, which has 21.84% of the adults holding a bachelor's degree or graduate degree: 32.56% of adults in Kalaupapa have a college degree.
The per capita income in Kalaupapa in 2022 was $39,742, which is middle income relative to Hawaii, and upper middle income relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $158,968 for a family of four. However, Kalaupapa contains both very wealthy and poor people as well. Kalaupapa also has one of the higher rates of people living in poverty in the nation, with 31.71% of its population below the federal poverty line.
Kalaupapa is an extremely ethnically-diverse town. The people who call Kalaupapa home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Kalaupapa residents report their race to be Asian, followed by Native Hawaiian. Important ancestries of people in Kalaupapa include Portuguese, Polish, Irish, Other Subsaharan African, and Northern European.
The most common language spoken in Kalaupapa is English. Other important languages spoken here include Pacific Island languages and Spanish.
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 7 residents per square mile, is less crowded than 97.8% 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.
In addition, 100.0% of the real estate in the neighborhood is occupied by renters, which is nearly the highest rate of renter occupancy of any neighborhood in America. Despite all of the residential real estate here in the neighborhood, NeighborhoodScout has discovered that much of it is vacant. In resort or second-home vacation areas, this naturally occurs because homes and apartments are seasonally occupied, and empty for a portion of the year. In non-vacation or resort areas, however, this can be an indicator of property abandonment or a weak real estate market. The vacancy rate here is 76.8%, which is higher than 99.9% of all U.S. neighborhoods.
Furthermore, the neighborhood is very unique in that it has one of the highest proportions of one, two, or no bedroom real estate of any neighborhood in America. Most neighborhoods have a mixture of home or apartment sizes from small to large, but here the concentration of studios and other small living spaces is at near-record heights. With 89.5% of the real estate here of this small size, this most assuredly is a notable feature that makes this neighborhood unique, along with just a handful of other neighborhoods in the U.S. that share this characteristic.
Also of note, do you watch 'This Old House' on Public Television? Do you love the idea of fixing up a Colonial or Victorian era home, complete with the charm of yesteryear? Do you like to stroll or drive streets lined with gracious older residences? If you found yourself nodding yes to any of these questions, you are going to be interested in this unique neighborhood. The neighborhood stands out on a national scale for the sheer concentration of historic residences it contains: 57.9% of the residential real estate here was built from 1939 or earlier, some much earlier. This is a greater concentration of historic homes than 96.1% of the neighborhoods in the United States.
In a nation where 1 out of every 4 children lives in poverty, the neighborhood stands out as being ranked among the lowest 0.0% of neighborhoods affected by this global issue.
Whether walking, biking, riding, or driving, the length of one's commute is an important factor for one's quality of life. The neighborhood stands out for its commute length, according to NeighborhoodScout's analysis. Residents of the neighborhood have the pleasure of having one of the shortest commutes to work of any neighborhood in America. 65.5% of the residents have a commute time from home to work (one way) of less than fifteen minutes. This is a higher proportion of residents enjoying a short trip to work than NeighborhoodScout found in 97.7% of U.S. neighborhoods. Less time commuting means more time for other things in life.
More people ride the bus in this neighborhood each day to get to work than 99.8% of U.S. neighborhoods.
Also, in the neighborhood, walking to work is a real option for many. In fact, NeighborhoodScout's exclusive research reveals walking to and from work is the chosen way to commute for 16.7% of residents here. This is a higher proportion of walking commuters than we found in 97.6% of American neighborhoods. Get ready to put on your walking shoes if you move here!
More people work in manufacturing and as laborers here in the neighborhood than in 99.7% of the neighborhoods in America. Despite the loss of manufacturing jobs across the nation, this neighborhood remains a place where, compared to other parts of the country, you will find many laborers and manufacturers.
Furthermore, the neighborhood has a greater proportion of government workers living in it than 95.8% of the neighborhoods in America, according to NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis. This is a unique feature of this neighborhood, and one that shapes its character.
We Americans love our cars. Not only are they a necessity for most Americans due to the shape of our neighborhoods and the distances between where we live, work, shop, and go to school, but we also fancy them. As a result, most households in America have one, two, or three cars. But NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis shows that the neighborhood has a highly unusual pattern of car ownership. 21.1% of the households in this neighborhood don't own a car at all. This is more carless households than NeighborhoodScout found in 95.5% of U.S. neighborhoods.
Did you know that the neighborhood has more Portuguese and Native American ancestry people living in it than nearly any neighborhood in America? It's true! In fact, 9.3% of this neighborhood's residents have Portuguese ancestry and 11.6% have Native American ancestry.
is also pretty special linguistically. Significantly, 2.3% of its residents five years old and above primarily speak Native American languages at home. While this may seem like a small percentage, it is higher than 99.1% of the neighborhoods in America.
The freedom of moving to new places versus the comfort of home. How much and how often people move not only can create diverse and worldly neighborhoods, but simultaneously it can produce a loss of intimacy with one's surroundings and a lack of connectedness to one's neighbors. NeighborhoodScout's exclusive research has identified this neighborhood as unique with regard to the transience of its populace. In the neighborhood, a greater proportion of the residents living here today did not live here five years ago than is found in 95.6% of U.S. Neighborhoods. This neighborhood, more than almost any other in America, has new residents from other areas.
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 Kalaupapa are upper-middle income, making it an above average income neighborhood. NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis reveals that this neighborhood has a higher income than 62.0% of the neighborhoods in America. In addition, 0.0% of the children seventeen and under living in this neighborhood are living below the federal poverty line, which is a lower rate of childhood poverty than is found in 100.0% of America's neighborhoods.
The old saying "you are what you eat" is true. But it is also true that you are what you do for a living. The types of occupations your neighbors have shape their character, and together as a group, their collective occupations shape the culture of a place.
In the neighborhood, 56.7% of the working population is employed in manufacturing and laborer occupations. The second most important occupational group in this neighborhood is executive, management, and professional occupations, with 16.7% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in clerical, assistant, and tech support occupations (13.3%), and 13.3% in government jobs, whether they are in local, state, or federal positions.
Languages
The languages spoken by people in this neighborhood are diverse. These are tabulated as the languages people preferentially speak when they are at home with their families. The most common language spoken in the neighborhood is English, spoken by 93.0% of households. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish, Italian and Native American languages.
Ethnicity / Ancestry
Culture is the shared learned behavior of peoples. Undeniably, different ethnicities and ancestries have different cultural traditions, and as a result, neighborhoods with concentrations of residents of one or another ethnicities or ancestries will express those cultures. It is what makes the North End in Boston so fun to visit for the Italian restaurants, bakeries, culture, and charm, and similarly, why people enjoy visiting Chinatown in San Francisco.
In the neighborhood in Kalaupapa, HI, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as Asian (32.6%). There are also a number of people of Native American ancestry (11.6%), and residents who report Portuguese roots (9.3%), and some of the residents are also of Polish ancestry (7.0%), along with some Irish ancestry residents (7.0%), among others.
Even if your neighborhood is walkable, you may still have to drive to your place of work. Some neighborhoods are located where many can get to work in just a few minutes, while others are located such that most residents have a long and arduous commute. The greatest number of commuters in neighborhood spend under 15 minutes commuting one-way to work (65.5% of working residents), one of the shortest commutes across America. However, there is also a significant group of residents (27.6%) who commute over an hour in each direction.
Here most residents (46.7%) drive alone in a private automobile to get to work. In addition, quite a number also ride the bus to get to work (33.3%) and 16.7% 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.
