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 an unusually large stock of pre-World War II architecture, making it one of the older and more historic towns.
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.
Because occupations involving physical labor dominate the local economy, Kalaupapa is generally considered to be a blue-collar town. 60.00% of the Kalaupapa workforce is employed in blue-collar occupations, compared to the national average of 27.7%. 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 a major vacation destination. Much of the town’s population is seasonal: many people own second homes and only live there part-time, during the vacation season. The effect on the local economy is that many of the businesses are dependent on tourist dollars, and may operate only during the high season. As the vacation season ends, Kalaupapa’s population drops significantly, such that year-round residents will notice that the city is a much quieter place to live.
Overall, Kalaupapa’s crime rate is one of the lowest in the nation, which makes a great place to live if safety is an important concern.
The town is relatively quiet, having a combination of lower population density and few of those groups of people who have a tendency to be noisy. For example, Kalaupapa has relatively fewer families with younger children, and/or college students. Combined, this makes Kalaupapa a pretty quiet place to live overall. If you like quiet, you will probably enjoy it here.
One of the nice things about Kalaupapa 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.
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.
The overall education level of Kalaupapa citizens is substantially higher than the typical US community, as 32.56% of adults in Kalaupapa have at least a bachelor's degree, and the average American community has 21.84%.
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.
This neighborhood has wide open spaces, few people, and lots of space to stretch out. If you like locations that fit that description, you may like this neighborhood. Based on NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis, with only 7 people per square mile living here, this neighborhood is less crowded than 97.8% of America. 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, renter-occupied real estate is dominant in the neighborhood. The percentage of rental real estate here, according to exclusive NeighborhoodScout analysis, is 100.0%, which is higher than 99.3% of the neighborhoods in America. If you were to buy and live in the property you bought here, you would be almost alone in doing so. Vacant homes and apartments are a significant characteristic of this neighborhood. In fact, with 76.8% of the residential real estate vacant, the neighborhood claims the distinction of having a higher vacancy rate than 99.9% of the neighborhoods in America. This can either be because much of the property is seasonally occupied, like in many vacation areas, or that much of the real estate is more permanently abandoned.
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!
NeighborhoodScout's exclusive research identifies the neighborhood as having one of the highest concentrations of people employed in manufacturing or as laborers of any neighborhood in America. In fact, despite the loss of manufacturing jobs nationally, this neighborhood has 56.7% of its working residents employed in such fields, which is a higher proportion than 99.7% of American neighborhoods.
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.
Most American households own a car or other vehicle. Many own two cars or perhaps three. In the United States, it is useful to have an automobile not only for commuting, but also for shopping and getting to other services one needs. But NeighborhoodScout's analysis revealed that households in the neighborhood have a highly unusual 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.
Some neighborhoods have more internal cohesiveness than others. While other neighborhoods feel like a collection of strangers who just happen to live near each other. Sometimes this comes down to not only the personalities of the people in a place, but how long people have been together in that neighborhood. NeighborhoodScout's research has revealed some interesting things about the rootedness of people in the neighborhood. 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.
A neighborhood is far different if it is dominated by enlisted military personnel rather than people who earn their living by farming. It is also different if most of the neighbors are clerical support or managers. What is wonderful is the sheer diversity of neighborhoods, allowing you to find the type that fits your lifestyle and aspirations.
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
Boston's Beacon Hill blue-blood streets, Brooklyn's Orthodox Jewish enclaves, Los Angeles' Persian neighborhoods. Each has its own culture derived primarily from the ancestries and culture of the residents who call these neighborhoods home. Likewise, each neighborhood in America has its own culture – some more unique than others – based on lifestyle, occupations, the types of households – and importantly – on the ethnicities and ancestries of the people who live in the neighborhood. Understanding where people came from, who their grandparents or great-grandparents were, can help you understand how a neighborhood is today.
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.
How you get to work – car, bus, train or other means – and how much of your day it takes to do so is a large quality of life and financial issue. Especially with gasoline prices rising and expected to continue doing so, the length and means of one's commute can be a financial burden. Some neighborhoods are physically located so that many residents have to drive in their own car, others are set up so many walk to work, or can take a train, bus, or bike. 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.
