Cost of Living

... Here’s How Rich Hawaii Residents Are Compared to the Nation ....

... Housing bills that will be sent to the Governor for his signature include ....

... Gen-Xers and millennials are “the most viscerally affected by the cost of housing and forced to leave the state to pursue a life elsewhere” ....

... Oahu tightened the screws in 2019. Yet, housing prices still went up. Even when vacation rental usage declined during the lockdowns, it didn’t result in a significant drop in housing costs....

... In Hawaii, a family of four can expect to spend an average of $14,042 on food in 2022, the highest amount among states ....

... inflation has not been over 7.5% since 1991 ....

... On Maui, it's 90% ....

... FDIC-supervised institutions’ prices equal or surpass payday lenders’ in Hawaii ....

... Delays, zoning rules and a long pathway to approval make homebuilding difficult and expensive ....

... This amount reflects both housing and utilities costs for a modest two-bedroom rental ....

... One of the factors that may explain Hawaii’s high home prices are government regulations that limit the ability of the housing market to create the units necessary to meet demand ....

... Research showing the need to liberalize Hawaii’s land-use and zoning laws is out there for all to see, and more is forthcoming ....

... Kauaʻi’s power generation mix for 2021 included 45% solar, 14% hydro and 11% biomass ....

... Urban Honolulu is #2 in USA ....

... When the demand far outweighs the available properties in a given area, costs get artificially driven up ....

... when it comes to vacant homes, Hawaii is just average.  This demonstrates that home vacancy rates do not correspond with housing costs ....

... Including the federal tax, taxes account for 13.8% of the average price of a gallon of gas in the state ....

... in Hawaii 9.6% of mortgage holders are behind on their payments ....

... people on the lower end of the income spectrum spend comparatively more of their hard-earned dollars on general excise tax ....

... $3.92 for a Tall Latte ....

... Hawaii is home to some 70,410 renters who owe their landlords rent, and an estimated 19.1% of them reported being either somewhat likely or very likely to face eviction in the coming months - the fourth smallest share among states ....

... Top 5: Hawaii, Mississippi, Kentucky, Maine, Kansas.   High income Hawaii is more costly--as a proportion of income--than the other four which are low income states ....

... In terms of dollar figures, Hawaii spent the last two years in a class by itself. The state tallied the steepest increases in the country across every category and every time period throughout the entirety of the pandemic. ....

... first step toward identifying the regulatory barriers that restrain homebuilding in Hawaii and has led to the state’s notoriously high cost of housing ....

... the ALOHA homes program as currently envisioned in this bill would result in an expensive, nonsustainable government project that would fail to effectively assist those it is intended to help ....

... Expensive coastal markets in California and Hawaii saw home value growth wallop local median incomes by the largest amounts ....

... Hawaii took home the top spot for state with the highest median household net worth in 2019 ....

... In California and Hawaii, the reason for their relatively few single-person residences could be economics. Both have some of the most expensive housing costs in the nation ....

... Hawaii had robust housing construction up until about 1972 or 1973, but then it collapsed and it has never recovered ....

... how Tokyo’s deregulation of its housing market resulted in more housing availability and affordable housing prices ....

... Hawaii gasoline prices are increasing more slowly than other states .... 

... Changing economic conditions are making it more difficult for people to afford household expenses ....

... HB2510 HD1 proposes increasing Hawaii’s mandatory minimum wage to $18 an hour by 2030, followed by a variable annual increase in the minimum wage thereafter ....

... for years, Hawaii has been getting about one-third of its crude oil from Russia ....

... The gasoline tax in 2035 will be $33.16 a barrel ....

... the cost of living in Hawaii ranks as the highest among states ....

... minimum wage hikes kill jobs for teens, young adults, and the less educated ....

... in Hawaii the increase in the cost for assisted living facility care surpassed the national trend while the increase in costs for home care services was less than what was seen nationally ....

... Hawaii Public Radio considered the question, with Jensen Ahokovi of the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii contending such an increase would likely cause more harm than good.  Also on the program was Nate Hix, director of Living Wage Hawaii; HPR’s Catherine Cruz was host and moderator ....

... the regressive general excise tax is one of the reasons for Hawaii’s high cost of living ....

... In 1961, Hawaii became the first state in the nation to pass a growth-management law. ...

... auto-loan balances have grown ....

... the ALOHA homes program as currently envisioned in this bill would result in an expensive, nonsustainable government project that would fail to effectively assist those it is intended to help ....

... New pilot program to offer lower rate as incentive for businesses, building owners to host EV chargers ....

... The legislature appears to be dead set on ignoring the entire impact of short term solutions and catchy soundbites ....

... In Hawaii, an estimated 6,458 people are experiencing homelessness - or about 45.6 for every 10,000 people, the second highest homeless rate among states ....

... the Senate has tried to avoid any real debate on the issue ....

... 21% of the chamber’s businesses said the proposed minimum wage increase would put them out of business ....

... businesses cut hours, turn to technology or even cut jobs in order to mitigate the higher costs ....

... In a 2019 poll by Pacific Resource Partnership, 45% of the island residents surveyed said they were leaving the state or considering a move. Of those contemplating leaving, 47% named the cost of living as the most important reason ....