Waipahu is a medium-sized coastal town (ie. on the ocean or tidally-influenced rivers) located in the state of Hawaii. With a population of 33,109 people and seven constituent neighborhoods, Waipahu is the fifth largest community in Hawaii.

Unlike some towns where white-collar or blue-collar occupations dominate the local economy, Waipahu is neither predominently one or the other. Instead, it has a mixed workforce of both white- and blue-collar jobs. Overall, Waipahu is a town of service providers, sales and office workers, and construction workers and builders. There are especially a lot of people living in Waipahu who work in office and administrative support jobs (15.34%), food service (11.50%), and sales jobs (11.05%).

The town is also nautical, which means that parts of Waipahu 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.

In Waipahu, however, the average commute to work is quite long. On average, people spend 33.17 minutes each day getting to work, which is significantly higher than the national average.

Waipahu is a decent-sized town, yet no one gets to work using public transit, because the town has no real transit system.

Waipahu Information and Demographics

The percentage of people in Waipahu with college degrees is quite a bit lower than the national average for cities and towns of 14.96%: just 11.14% of people over 25 have a bachelor's degree or advanced degree.

The per capita income in Waipahu in 2000 was $14,484, which is lower middle income relative to Hawaii and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $57,936 for a family of four.

Waipahu is an extremely ethnically-diverse town. The people who call Waipahu home come from a variety of different races and ancestries. The most prevalent race in Waipahu is Asian, followed by Hawaiian.

Foreign born people are also an important part of Waipahu's cultural character, accounting for 37.68% of the town's population.

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