One of the nice things about Waianae is that it is nautical, which means that parts of it are somewhat historic and touch the ocean or tidal bodies of water, such as inlets and bays. Because of this, visitors and locals will often go to these areas to take in the scenery or to enjoy waterfront activities.
One downside of living in Waianae is that it can take a long time to commute to work. In Waianae, the average commute to work is 40.99 minutes, which is quite a bit higher than the national average. On the other hand, local public transit is widely used in the town, so leaving the car at home and taking transit is often a viable alternative.
In Waianae, a lot of people use the bus to get to work every day though Waianae is a relatively small town. Those that ride the bus are primarily traveling out of town to good jobs in other cities.
The percentage of adults in Waianae with college degrees is slightly lower than the national average of 21.84% for all communities. 14.69% of adults in Waianae have a bachelor's degree or advanced degree.
The per capita income in Waianae in 2022 was $26,528, which is low income relative to Hawaii, and lower middle income relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $106,112 for a family of four. However, Waianae contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.
Waianae is an extremely ethnically-diverse town. The people who call Waianae home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Waianae residents report their race to be Native Hawaiian, followed by Asian. Waianae also has a sizeable Hispanic population (people of Hispanic origin can be of any race). People of Hispanic or Latino origin account for 18.58% of the town’s residents. Important ancestries of people in Waianae include Portuguese, German, Irish, Italian, and English.
The most common language spoken in Waianae is English. Other important languages spoken here include Pacific Island languages and Italian.
