About Koloa

Koloa is a somewhat small coastal town (ie. on the ocean or tidally-influenced rivers) located in the state of Hawaii. With a population of 5,340 people and just one neighborhood, Koloa is the 38th largest community in Hawaii.

Koloa is neither predominently blue-collar or white-collar, instead having a mixed workforce of both blue-collar and white-collar jobs. Overall, Koloa is a town of service providers, sales and office workers, and managers. There are especially a lot of people living in Koloa who work in sales jobs (12.09%), food service (11.90%), and office and administrative support jobs (11.02%).

Telecommuters are a relatively large percentage of the workforce: 7.57% of people work from home. While this number may seem small overall, as a fraction of the total workforce it is high relative to the nation. These workers are often telecommuters who work in knowledge-based, white-collar professions. For example, Silicon Valley has large numbers of people who telecommute. Other at-home workers may be self-employed people who operate small businesses out of their homes.

Koloa 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, Koloa's population drops significantly, such that year-round residents will notice that the city is a much quieter place to live.

One of the nice things about Koloa 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.

Compared to the rest of the country, citizens of Koloa spend much less time in their cars: on average, their commute to work is only 18.75 minutes. This also means that noise and pollution levels in the town are less than they would otherwise be.

Koloa is a small town, and as such doesn't have a public transit system that people use to get to and from their jobs every day.

Koloa Information and Demographics

The percentage of people in Koloa who are college-educated is somewhat higher than the average US community of 14.96%: 20.35% of adults in Koloa have at least a bachelor's degree.

The per capita income in Koloa in 2000 was $22,614, which is upper middle income relative to Hawaii and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $90,456 for a family of four.

Koloa is an extremely ethnically-diverse town. The people who call Koloa home come from a variety of different races and ancestries. The most prevalent race in Koloa is White, followed by Asian. Koloa also has a sizeable Hispanic population (people of Hispanic origin can be of any race). People of Hispanic or Latino origin account for 10.28% of the town's residents. Important ancestries of people in Koloa include German, Portuguese, English, and Irish.

The languages spoken by people in Koloa 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 Koloa is English. Other important languages spoken here include Other Pacific Island languages, Tagalog, and Japanese.