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Crunching costs, sorting signals, rendering insights.
Crunching costs, sorting signals, rendering insights.
Premium market, smart picks: while Hawaii trends above the national average, the gap between the most and least expensive cities here is wider than you'd think. Honolulu at index 149 is the standout — offering meaningful savings without leaving Hawaii.
#1 Ranked: Honolulu — cost index 149, rent $2,548/mo, income $85,428
0 of 1 cities come in below the national cost-of-living average of 111
Data sourced from Census Bureau, Zillow, BLS, and Tax Foundation — current as of 2026
Premium market, smart picks: while Hawaii trends above the national average, the gap between the most and least expensive cities here is wider than you'd think. Honolulu at index 149 is the standout — offering meaningful savings without leaving Hawaii.
At $2,548/month — though some people might weigh that differently — for rent and a cost index of 149, Honolulu is pretty much what you'd expect from a mid-size city in this part of the country. And in practical terms, income is $85,428. That alone makes it worth considering (and that gap widens if you factor in state taxes).
If you're ready to act on this, three things to do next: 1) Click into the city pages for the top 3 and check rent trends — direction matters more than the snapshot. 2) Run your income through the salary calculator for a personalized cost comparison. 3) Compare your top two picks head-to-head on our comparison page. The data is here; the decision is yours. Surprising? Maybe. But the data's clear.
341,778 residents · Hawaii
What does daily life actually cost in Honolulu? Start with the 36% rent-to-income ratio — stretched, especially for single earners. On the category level, Healthcare (index 110) is where the real savings show up, while Housing (index 149) is the line item most likely to surprise newcomers. Income at $85,428 and homes at $758,507 round out a profile that ranks #1 for clear reasons.
We rank cities by their home-price-to-income ratio (median home price ÷ median household income). A lower ratio means homes are more attainable relative to local earnings. The standard benchmark is 3-5×; above 5× is considered stretched. All data is sourced from federal agencies and verified research institutions. Cost of living indices are normalized to 100 (national median) using Zillow rent as the primary signal, with sub-category adjustments derived from regional BLS price data. Rankings are updated monthly as new data is released.
Honolulu ranks #1 in Hawaii for this analysis with a cost index of 149 and median income of $85,428.
Our cost of living index uses real Zillow rent data as the foundation, indexed to 100 (national median). Sub-categories (housing, food, transport, utilities, healthcare) are derived from the overall index with regional adjustments. Data is updated monthly.
City data is refreshed monthly from Census Bureau population estimates, Zillow rent and home price indices, BLS salary data, and Tax Foundation tax rates. Last updated: 2026.
The median 1-bedroom rent in Honolulu is $2,548/month as of 2026, based on Zillow's Observed Rent Index. This is $653 above the national median of $1,895/month.
The median home price in Honolulu is $758,507, which is 8.9× the local median income. Most median-income households would stretch to buy at this ratio. The national median home price is $467,370.
Hawaii has a 11% state income tax rate. Combined state and local sales tax averages 4.44%, and the effective property tax rate is 0.27%.
This ranking was generated using data current as of early 2026. Population and income data comes from the Census Bureau's American Community Survey (5-year estimates). Rent and home price data is from Zillow's monthly releases. Tax rates are from the Tax Foundation's 2025 edition. Rankings are refreshed monthly.