Waimea, HI

The affordability dashboard for Waimea, HI aggregates Census ACS 5-Year Estimates across 1 ZIP code covering 1,881 residents, then layers in county-level federal data to produce an overall grade of D (44/100). The headline inputs are median household income of $89,205, median home value of $769,700, median rent of $1,612 per month, and 27.4% of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher. These four metrics alone explain most of the variance between city dashboards.

Cross-agency feeds widen the picture beyond Census demographics. HUD publishes a Fair Market Rent for a 2-bedroom in this county at $2,332 per month (studio $1,766, 1BR $1,777, 3BR $2,866, 4BR $3,179).

Reading the overall grade requires reading all seven dimensions together. The score weights Income 20%, Safety 20%, Housing 15%, Rent 15%, Education 10%, Commute 10%, and Childcare 10%, with each sub-score benchmarked against national percentiles rather than state averages — so the grade is genuinely comparable across any city in the country. Strengths visible in the raw data for Waimea, HI include income. Pressure points are housing. Unemployment currently reads 1.3% and poverty 8.5% — numbers worth keeping alongside the headline grade.