Cost of Living

... Three men have been sentenced for their roles in a conspiracy to pay bribes to a public official at the Hawaii County Office of Housing and Community Development ....

"...to waive the Jones Act to try to hold down skyrocketing fuel and other energy costs is a blanket admission of the Jones Act’s crippling effects on our economy...."

... while Hawaiʻi has one of the highest levels of distributed energy resource adoption in the nation, many of these resources are not optimized to support grid reliability or reduce reliance on fossil fuels ....

... For Hawaii homeowners, the cost of housing as a share of median monthly household income is 50.02%.  For Hawaii renters, it is 62.52%.  Both figures are the highest in the USA ....

...Hawaii has the most expensive average home price in the country, the smallest average home size of any state, and yard space that costs over 200% more than the national average....

... Of those, 78% say housing costs or availability played a moderate or significant role in that decision .... 

" ... natural gas is often far cheaper than oil ... "

... Over the past decade, Hawai‘i has experienced one of the largest declines in marriage rates in the country ....

... If we want to end the housing crisis, we need to build more homes ....

... the government’s role in economic recovery and more ....

... the predictable result of policy choices that prioritize climate symbolism over working families’ budgets ....

... Hawaiian Electric is forecasting that typical residential bills may rise between 20% and 30% over the next several months. Oahu customers will start seeing higher April bills, followed by Hawaii Island and Maui County customers who will see increases in May and June. ...

... Schatz received at least $131,500 from organizations that oppose the bill ....

... A single new condominium tower in Honolulu may have opened up hundreds of additional housing opportunities across Oʻahu ....

... to increase the bill of a typical residential customer on Oʻahu by about $3.62 per month ....

...For 23 of the past 25 years, more residents have left Hawaiʻi for the continent than have arrived....

... Japan’s downturn hit Hawaiʻi harder than almost anywhere else ....

...The suspension of the law would allow foreign tankers to transport oil around the country....

... the proposal seeks to accelerate the replacement of aging, inefficient oil-fired generation on Oʻahu with modern, high-efficiency infrastructure designed to deliver affordability for Hawaiʻi families and businesses, enhance energy grid resilience and lower emissions ....

...Hawaii leads the nation, where about 1 in 13 households include three generations living together....

... the Jones Act “has been identified as a central factor in Hawaii’s reliance on foreign oil" ....

... The Hawaiʻi Legislature passed sweeping income tax cuts in 2024 to help prevent residents from moving away in search of a lower cost of living ....

... state and county testimonies submitted by the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii in the first half of March 2026 ....

... only Ulupono has expressed its support ....

“How is it that very profitable development went from under $100/SF in rural towns to over $600/SF in big cities in less than two decades?”

... The legislation focuses on increasing housing production, reducing regulatory barriers, and supporting the infrastructure necessary to sustain growth ....

... LNG may be the bridge Hawaii needs to secure a cleaner, more affordable, and reliable energy future ....

... state and county testimonies submitted by the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii in the latter half of February 2026 ....

"Typical Residential Bill Stable in 2025."

... “left-behind places” share a common pattern: a dominant industry stops growing, productivity stalls, and incomes stagnate ....

... When it comes to supporting agricultural production in Hawaii, there seems to be a big difference between rhetoric and reality ....

... the state’s high cost of living, fueled by high taxes and too many regulations, are continuing to drive residents to more affordable places on the mainland ....

...Grassroot’s new “Hawaii housing policy playbook” outlines 10 policies that research has shown could encourage more homebuilding, which would make housing in our state more abundant and affordable.... 

... The “housing policy playbook” is intended to help state and county lawmakers remove or reform the many regulatory barriers that stifle Hawaii homebuilding ....

... The agreement orders Express Scripts to offer plan members the lowest available cost for medicine like insulin rather than artificially inflated prices ....

... Hawai‘i is one of only four states that still taxes groceries at the full rate ....

... Hawaiʻi’s wages and productivity have lagged the rest of the country for more than three decades, placing the state among the most economically distressed in the U.S. ....

... Young local families dominate Hawaii’s departure statistics .... 

... In Hawaii, households spend $157 per week on groceries, up 9.6% from the prior year ....

... it could be another year for big, positive changes ....

... three important recommendations that would enable farmers and ranchers to build more housing on their land ....

...What if we could help farmers, ease the housing crisis and improve Hawaii’s economy all at the same time?....

...Allow more small homes to be built on agricultural lands....

... Hawaii, at nearly $4.41 a gallon, still has the highest gasoline prices in USA ....

... REALITY: Carpenters Union Wages War Against Affordable Modular Housing ....

... 29% now expect they will relocate to a less expensive state, up from 26% last year ....

... parents of young children who both work need to earn at least $119,226 together to pay for child care ....

... and Lihue comes in 7th ....

... the More Homes on the Market Act would double exclusions for home sales and adjust them annually for inflation going forward ....

... Honolulu 16th-highest cost of living ....