Hawai‘i’s high cost of living is driving more people to consider leaving the Islands, a new survey from Holomua Collective finds.
The Honolulu-based nonprofit, which works to make Hawai‘i more affordable for working families, recently released the results of its second annual Hawai‘i Affordability Survey.
AE Consulting surveyed employees at 25 local for-profit, nonprofit and public organizations that serve a wide range of sectors. More than 3,200 residents — 63% of whom are lifetime residents and 19% of whom have lived in the Islands for more than 20 years — participated.
According to the survey, 29% of respondents believe they'll have relocate to a less expensive state in the future while 46% are unsure if they will. In 2024, those numbers were 26% and 44%, respectively.
Households earning more than $150,000 annually are less likely to say they plan to move away while households below that threshold are more likely to do so.
“In 2024, the decrease in the likelihood that a household will relocate began at the $100,000 mark, suggesting that, in the year since, Hawai‘i’s cost of living pressures have further encroached on higher income brackets,” the survey notes.
For President and Executive Director Josh Wisch, the most surprising result from the survey was “how significantly the ‘danger zone’ for leaving Hawai‘i has expanded into higher income brackets,” he told Aloha State Daily in an emailed response to questions.
“Last year, we saw financial pressure easing for households earning over $100,000. This year, that threshold jumped to $150,000,” he explained. “It was surprising to see that even households earning between $100,000 and $150,000 are now just as likely to consider leaving as those earning less. It’s a stark wake-up call that the cost-of-living crisis is no longer just about ‘making ends meet,’ but is destabilizing established, middle-income professionals who many likely assumed were secure.”
Here are some more findings from the survey:
- Of those who say they’ll leave the Islands, 44% are unsure of when they’ll do so; 33% plan to move within five years, 16% within two years and 8% within a year.
- Respondents were asked what would make it possible for them to stay: 26% would change wages to match the state’s cost of living; 24% said basic needs and economic stability; 24% said housing affordability; 14% cited the need for political and legislative actions, such as lowering taxes; and 6% noted homeownership barriers.
- 55% of respondents said housing is the top factor affecting the cost of living in Hawai‘i, while 88% ranked housing as one of the top three factors. Rounding out the top five biggest costs are: wages, taxes, food and education.
- 66% of those who responded say they spend more than 30% of their income on housing, compared to 55% in 2024.
- This year, 42% of those surveyed said it’s “very difficult” to save money from their paychecks compared to 34% of respondents in 2024.
The survey also measured what residents want and their confidence in local institutions like government, labor unions, the business community, nonprofits and the public school system.
Wisch told ASD that Holomua Collective launched the survey to capture “hard data on the real-world experiences” of the state’s workforce.
“While we all know the cost of living is high, we need to understand exactly who is struggling, why they are considering leaving and what specific changes would actually convince them to stay,” he says.
This is the nonprofit’s second annual survey. Wisch says the goal was to reach a broad cross-section of local workers.
“What last year’s survey revealed — and this year’s survey confirmed — is that local cost-of-living challenges are hurting not just those we already knew were in crisis, but also the middle- and upper-middle-income families that form so much of our tax base,” he continued. “By gathering responses from over 3,200 workers across all counties and industries, we can provide policymakers and community leaders with a clearer picture of the problems rather than just guessing at solutions.”
The goal, says Wisch, is to use the data to drive action.
“We want to diagnose both the symptoms and the root causes of our affordability crisis so we can build advocacy around evidence-based solutions,” he says. “Specifically, we are using these findings to clarify priorities, inform policy and foster collaboration.”
There’s no silver bullet, though, when it comes to addressing the top three priorities identified by those surveyed: housing affordability, better wages and general economic stability, Wisch says. But there are “many individual opportunities to limit the burden.”
“On the housing front, we need to focus on housing that is dedicated to local workers. The market is currently priced for offshore investors rather than local incomes,” he says. “We need to build and preserve a housing stock specifically for residents who live and work here.
“We also need to look at the cost of doing business and the cost of living as two sides of the same coin. We need to simultaneously support policies that let local workers keep more of their paycheck, help local businesses thrive so they can afford to pay the higher wages our residents need and get local workers access to opportunities and programs to assist them in developing the skills they need to grow in their careers.”
According to Wisch, Holomua Collective was founded in 2022 by a group of local business and nonprofit leaders concerned that many employees and families were relocating to the Mainland, despite offering competitive wages and strong benefit packages.
“They saw the need for an organization dedicated to keeping all local working families in Hawai‘i by making sure they can afford to stay,” he says. “We were created to address these long-standing systemic affordability challenges with a fresh, collaborative approach.”
Holomua Collective’s board members include Chair Mike Pietsch, president and chief operating officer of Title Guaranty; Jason Fujimoto, president and CEO of HPM Building Supply; Meli James, co-founder of Mana Up; Micah Kāne, CEO of Parker Ranch; Brandon Kurisu, president of aio Family of Companies; Brad Nicolai, president of JN Group; and Sunshine Topping, Hawai‘i lead of The Omidyar Group. An advisory committee includes Joshua Feldman, president and CEO of Tori Richard; Brittany Heyd, co-founder of Mana Up; Alicia Moy, president and CEO of Hawai‘i Gas; and Ed Shultz, president and CEO of Hawaiian Host Group.
According to tax records filed in 2024, the nonprofit had total revenues of about $1.88 million in 2023.
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Stephanie Salmons can be reached at stephanie@alohastatedaily.com.
