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Crunching costs, sorting signals, rendering insights.
Crunching costs, sorting signals, rendering insights.
Let's be honest: Hawaii isn't cheap. But within that premium market, there are cities where your dollar stretches meaningfully further. Honolulu proves it with a cost index of 149, the lowest in Hawaii, and we've ranked all 1 contenders to help you find the best deal in an expensive landscape.
Let's be honest: Hawaii isn't cheap. But within that premium market, there are cities where your dollar stretches meaningfully further. Honolulu proves it with a cost index of 149, the lowest in Hawaii, and we've ranked all 1 contenders to help you find the best deal in an expensive landscape.
Here's Honolulu by the numbers — and there's a lot to like. Cost index: 149. Rent: $2,548/month. Income: $85,428/year. Home price: $758,507. Population: 341,778. The strongest category is Healthcare at 110; the most expensive is Housing at 149. Translate that rent to annual numbers, and residents are costing renters $7,836 more per year vs. the national median. That's a meaningful edge in practice.
What to do with this data: use the ranking as a shortlist, then dig into the city profiles for trend lines and category breakdowns. The difference between #1 and #5 is often smaller than the difference between "good on paper" and "actually fits my life." Compare your top picks with our calculator to see real take-home numbers.
#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
341,778 residents · Hawaii
A closer look at Honolulu: the cost index of 149 breaks down to a Healthcare index of 110 (strongest category) and a Housing index of 149 (weakest). Median rent is $2,548/month — 34% above the national median — while household income sits at $85,428, meaning locals spend about 36% of income on rent. That exceeds the recommended 30% threshold — affordability here depends on earning above the median.
| City | State Tax | Sales Tax | Property Tax | Est. Take-Home |
|---|---|---|---|---|
1Honolulu | 11% | 4.44% | 0.27% | $55,649 |
Total tax burden = state income tax rate + combined sales tax rate + effective property tax rate. We rank cities from lowest combined burden to highest. Keep in mind property tax and sales tax are local-level, so two cities in the same state can differ meaningfully. 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.