Pahoa is a somewhat small coastal town (ie. on the ocean or tidally-influenced rivers) located in the state of Hawaii. With a population of 10,636 people and two constituent neighborhoods, Pahoa is the 23rd largest community in Hawaii.

Unlike some towns where white-collar or blue-collar occupations dominate the local economy, Pahoa is neither predominently one or the other. Instead, it has a mixed workforce of both white- and blue-collar jobs. Overall, Pahoa is a town of sales and office workers, service providers, and professionals. There are especially a lot of people living in Pahoa who work in office and administrative support jobs (12.70%), sales jobs (11.42%), and teaching (7.12%).

In addition, many people in Pahoa have jobs in agriculture, more so than in most other communities in America. As a result, you will see quite a number of farms around town.

A relatively large number of people in Pahoa telecommute to their jobs. Overall, about 7.30% of the workforce works from home. While this may seem like a small number, as a fraction of the total workforce it ranks among the highest in the country. 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.

The town is also nautical, which means that parts of Pahoa are somewhat historic and touch the ocean or tidal bodies of water, such as inlets and tidal rivers. Quite often, nautical areas such as these attract visitors and locals who come to enjoy the scenery and various waterfront activities.

One downside of living in Pahoa is that it can take a long time to commute to work. In Pahoa, the average commute to work is 32.95 minutes, which is quite a bit higher than the national average.

Pahoa is very much a car-oriented town. This is because the population of Pahoa isn't large enough or dense enough to support an extensive public transit system. It has a lot of rural roads, and the distance between houses can be quite large, which together tends to discourage walking and bicycling to work. 97.15% of residents commute to work in their own car (and the drive is typically to a job out of town). People also tend to drive out of town for other services as well, such as shopping, doctors appointments, and more.

Pahoa 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.

Pahoa Information and Demographics

The education level of Pahoa citizens, measured as those with bachelor's degrees or advanced degrees, is similar to the national average for all American cities and towns. 15.75% of adults 25 and older in Pahoa have a college degree.

The per capita income in Pahoa in 2000 was $12,246, which is low income relative to Hawaii and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $48,984 for a family of four.

Pahoa is an extremely ethnically-diverse town. The people who call Pahoa home come from a variety of different races and ancestries. The most prevalent race in Pahoa is White, followed by Asian. Pahoa also has a sizeable Hispanic population (people of Hispanic origin can be of any race). People of Hispanic or Latino origin account for 14.76% of the town's residents. Important ancestries of people in Pahoa include German, Portuguese, English, Irish, and Italian.

The most common language spoken in Pahoa is English. Other important languages spoken here include Other Pacific Island languages and Tagalog.