Kailua is a medium-sized coastal town (ie. on the ocean or tidally-influenced rivers) located in the state of Hawaii. With a population of 36,585 people and ten constituent neighborhoods, Kailua is the third largest community in Hawaii.

Kailua is a decidedly white-collar town, with fully 85.58% of the workforce employed in white-collar jobs, well above the national average. Overall, Kailua is a town of professionals, sales and office workers, and managers. There are especially a lot of people living in Kailua who work in office and administrative support jobs (14.07%), sales jobs (12.31%), and management occupations (12.11%).

There are many members of the armed forces living in Kailua. You will notice when you visit or live here that some of the people you meet or see around town are employed by the armed services - even if they are not always in uniform.

In addition, Kailua is home to many people who could be described as "urban sophisticates," which are people who are not only wealthy and employed in professional occupations, but highly educated to boot. Urban sophisticates have urbane tastes - whether they reside in a big or small city, a suburb, or a little town. Urban sophisticates support bookstores, quality clothing stores, enjoy luxury travel, and in big cities, they are truly the patrons of the arts, attending and supporting institutions such as opera, symphony, ballet, and theatre.

One of the nice things about Kailua 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.

Kailua Information and Demographics

The education level of Kailua citizens is very high relative to the national average among all cities (14.96%): 39.44% of adults in Kailua have a bachelor's degree or even advanced degree.

The per capita income in Kailua in 2000 was $29,299, which is wealthy relative to Hawaii and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $117,196 for a family of four. However, Kailua contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.

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

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