About Kihei

Kihei is a medium-sized coastal town (ie. on the ocean or tidally-influenced rivers) located in the state of Hawaii. With a population of 22,393 people and just one neighborhood, Kihei is the tenth largest community in Hawaii.

Unlike some towns where white-collar or blue-collar occupations dominate the local economy, Kihei is neither predominently one or the other. Instead, it has a mixed workforce of both white- and blue-collar jobs. Overall, Kihei is a town of service providers, sales and office workers, and professionals. There are especially a lot of people living in Kihei who work in food service (13.65%), sales jobs (13.50%), and office and administrative support jobs (12.81%).

Of important note, Kihei is also a town of artists. Kihei has more artists, designers and people working in media than 90% of the communities in America. This concentration of artists helps shape Kihei's character.

Kihei is a major vacation destination. Much of the town's population is seasonal: many people own second homes and only live there part-time, during the vacation season. The effect on the local economy is that many of the businesses are dependant on tourist dollars, and may operate only during the high season. As the vacation season ends, Kihei's population drops significantly, such that year-round residents will notice that the city is a much quieter place to live.

Kihei, while not large, also appears to be attractive to some younger, educated professionals, who help shape the character of the town.

The town is also nautical, which means that parts of Kihei are somewhat historic and bounded by the ocean or tidal bodies of water, such as inlets and tidal rivers. Such areas are often places that visitors and locals go for waterfront activities or taking in the scenery.

Although the majority of commuting trips in the town are by private automobile, Kihei is somewhat unusual for a town of its size for having a substantial number of people who use public transportation. Taxis helps to get a lot of people to and from their jobs every morning, which benefits everyone in the Kihei area by reducing both traffic and air pollution.

Kihei Information and Demographics

The education level of Kihei citizens is substantially higher than the average US city or town, as 26.13% of adults in Kihei have at least a bachelor's degree.

The per capita income in Kihei in 2000 was $24,989, which is wealthy relative to Hawaii, and upper middle income relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $99,956 for a family of four.

Kihei is an extremely ethnically-diverse town. The people who call Kihei home come from a variety of different races and ancestries. The most prevalent race in Kihei is White, followed by Asian. Important ancestries of people in Kihei include German, Irish, English, Italian, and Portuguese.

Foreign born people are also an important part of Kihei's cultural character, accounting for 17.84% of the town's population.

The languages spoken by people in Kihei are also diverse. These are tabulated as the languages people preferentially speak when they are at home with their families. The most common language spoken in Kihei is English. Other important languages spoken here include Other Pacific Island languages, Tagalog, and Spanish.