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 , Kihei isn't mainly white- or blue-collar. Instead, the most prevalent occupations for people in Kihei are a mix 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 an extremely popular destination for tourists and seasonal residents. So much of the population is seasonal such that the town's population swells significantly during the vacation season, and drops again when the season ends. Because of this, much of the local economy is centered around tourism; some businesses may be operated only during the high season. During the low season, year-round residents will notice that the city is a substantially 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.

One of the nice things about Kihei is that is it nautical, meaning that parts of the town are somewhat historic and on the ocean, or touch tidal bodies of water, such as inlets and tidal rivers. Because of this, visitors and locals will often go to these areas to take in the scenery or to enjoy waterfront activities.

Like elsewhere in America, most people in Kihei use a private automobile to get to work. But notably, a substantial number of Kihei's citizens do make use of public transit in their daily commute, primarily riding taxis. This helps more people get to work with less air pollution, and require fewer highways to get them there.

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.

Kihei also has a high percentage of its population that was born in another country: 17.84%.

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.