One of the nice things about Waipahu is that it is nautical, which means that parts of it are somewhat historic and touch the ocean or tidal bodies of water, such as inlets and bays. Because of this, visitors and locals will often go to these areas to take in the scenery or to enjoy waterfront activities.
In Waipahu, however, the average commute to work is quite long. On average, people spend 33.09 minutes each day getting to work, which is significantly higher than the national average. One bright side is that local public transit is widely used, so it may be an option to avoid the headache of driving in the heavy traffic by leaving the car at home and taking transit.
Like elsewhere in America, most people in Waipahu use a private automobile to get to work. But notably, a substantial number of Waipahu‘s citizens do make use of public transit in their daily commute, primarily riding the bus. This helps more people get to work with less air pollution, and require fewer highways to get them there.
The percentage of adults in Waipahu who are college-educated is close to the national average for all communities of 21.84%: 18.60% of the adults in Waipahu have a bachelor's degree or advanced degree.
The per capita income in Waipahu in 2022 was $30,363, which is lower middle income relative to Hawaii and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $121,452 for a family of four. However, Waipahu contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.
Waipahu is an extremely ethnically-diverse town. The people who call Waipahu home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Waipahu residents report their race to be Asian, followed by Native Hawaiian. Important ancestries of people in Waipahu include Portuguese, German, English, Irish, and Italian.
Foreign born people are also an important part of Waipahu's cultural character, accounting for 41.83% of the town’s population.
The most common language spoken in Waipahu is English. Other important languages spoken here include Pacific Island languages and Tagalog.
