Island budget builder
Build a monthly budget for Oʻahu, Maui, Kauaʻi or Hawaiʻi Island and compare it with the U.S. average and the ALICE survival budget.
$102
$3,045 take-home per month
$2,943 for the basics
68 hours of work each month just to pay rent
Oʻahu compared with the U.S. average
Same lifestyle, same choices, two price levels.
- Housing$1,200$800
- Electricity$98$38
- Groceries$609$420
- Getting around$757$660
- Phone$60$60
- Everything else$220$220
Altogether the basics cost $746 more per month here than the same life would on average in the U.S.
$39,384
The ALICE survival budget for one adult in Hawaiʻi: the yearly cost of housing, food, transport, healthcare and a phone, with nothing left over.
Your pay of $45,760 a year is $6,376 above that line. 41% of Hawaiʻi households earn less than what basics cost them.
Aloha United Way, ALICE in Hawaiʻi 2024. The survival budget figure was compiled from report summaries; check the full report.
›How this is calculated
Take-home assumes full-time work (2,080 hours a year), 2026 federal and Hawaiʻi single-filer brackets, Social Security and Medicare, and the 1.5% employee share of health insurance allowed under Hawaiʻi's Prepaid Health Care Act. The U.S. comparison uses a flat 4% state tax.
One-bedroom rent on Oʻahu is HUD's 2026 Fair Market Rent for Honolulu. Other islands, room rents, and the price multipliers for groceries, electricity, gas and car costs are approximate and meant for learning, not for signing a lease.
HUD FY2026 Fair Market Rents, FY2026.
For learning only. Kuleana Finance explains how money works. It does not tell anyone what to buy or sell.
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