State rental market analysis · HI
Hawaii rental markets
15 tracked cities over 5,000 population, 1 ranked and summarized by their median Overall; 0 of 1 evaluable cities pass the modeled Buy & Hold screen. Every number traces to Census, Zillow and BLS. Compare state coverage and results →
Browse every Hawaii ZIP Code area → · the full server-rendered index for this state.
Part of the Pacific Census division (West region).
The honest read
Hawaii has a median Overall of 32.3/100 across its ranked cities, but it is not assigned a headline state rank: 1 cities across 1 county contexts are evaluable for the Buy & Hold screen, below the published minimum of 20 cities and 10 county contexts. 1 ranked cities roll up into this grade. Its strongest factor is low unemployment: 2.3%, 2nd of 51.
The biggest drag is affordability (price-to-income): 9.0×, 51st of 51. A state grade is the median of its ranked cities, a screen for where to look, not underwriting. Open any city below for its full shown-math breakdown, or run a specific deal through the cap rate and cash-flow calculators.
Where it ranks, factor by factor
Every value is the median across the 1 ranked cities in this state. The national rank compares all 51 states on that one factor; the engine already flips inverted factors (affordability, low unemployment) so a better rank always means a better market. Each factor sits in one of the model’s three categories (Cash Flow, Growth, or Stability); this is a representative summary, and the full thirteen-factor breakdown is on each city’s page. Full methodology.
| Factor | Category | State value | National rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gross rent yield | Cash Flow | 4.2% | #47 of 51 |
| Rent growth | Growth | 4.1% | #29 of 51 |
| Home value growth | Growth | 1.0% | #49 of 51 |
| Population growth | Growth | -0.3% | #50 of 51 |
| Job growth | Growth | 0.1% | #45 of 51 |
| Price-to-income | Cash Flow | 9.0× | #51 of 51 |
| Unemployment | Stability | 2.3% | #2 of 51 |
| Rental demand | Stability | 51% renters · 7.0% vacancy | two-part measure |
| Income growth | Growth | 3.9% | #49 of 51 |
Every city in Hawaii, ranked
Led by Urban Honolulu at 32/100. Click any column to re-sort; every city links to its full shown-math breakdown.
| HI rank | City | Grade | Cash Flow | Growth | Stability | Typical home value | Gross yield | National rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Urban Honolulu | 32 | D | D | C | $776,861 | 4.2% | #4161 |
Data as of: Zillow ZHVI/ZORI through the latest monthly release · Census ACS 5-yr 2020–2024 · Census PEP July 2025 · BLS LAUS county 2025 annual (11-month average). Generated 2026-10-06. Methodology & limitations · underwrite any specific deal with the free calculators.
Limited-data cities in Hawaii
These 14 cities lack enough measured factors to rank, so they are excluded from the state grade; their pages show exactly what could be measured.
ZIP markets in Hawaii
97 Census ZIP Codes (ZCTAs) in Hawaii · 63 data-eligible for subscores. These are sub-city government areas ranked separately from the Hawaii city table. The overall Rental Investor ZIP Score leaderboard leads; the two component subscores (affordability, rental-market context) follow as independent percentiles. ZIP ranks are shown within the ZIP universe only, never mixed with, and not directly comparable to, city ranks. Vintage: the Key metric column is Census ACS 2020–2024 (5-year), the same release the city table above uses; the geographies differ, so the same measure can still disagree between the two.
Best overall ZIP Codes in Hawaii
Ranked by the overall Rental Investor ZIP Score. The # is each ZIP Code's canonical HI state rank; the smaller figure is its national rank. Separate from the Hawaii city table and not directly comparable to it.
| HI rank | ZIP Code | Overallgrade · national | Key metric |
|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | 96720Hilo | B 63#2,310 nat | 3.5%Survey yield |
| #2 | 96749Hawaiian Paradise Park | B 62#2,611 nat | 3.5%Survey yield |
| #3 | 96740Kaiminani | B 61#3,284 nat | 2.6%Survey yield |
| #4 | 96778Hawaiian Beaches | B 58#4,355 nat | 5.7%Survey yield |
| #5 | 96743Waimea | C 55#6,276 nat | 3.0%Survey yield |
| #5 | 96771Mountain View | C 55#6,276 nat | 4.6%Survey yield |
| #7 | 96755Kapaau | C 53#7,340 nat | 2.9%Survey yield |
| #8 | 96766Lihue | C 52#7,538 nat | 2.9%Survey yield |
| #9 | 96738Waikoloa Village | C 51#8,070 nat | 3.2%Survey yield |
| #10 | 96772Discovery Harbour | C 51#8,124 nat | 4.8%Survey yield |
| #11 | 96785Volcano | C 51#8,186 nat | 4.0%Survey yield |
| #12 | 96704Honaunau-Napoopoo | C 51#8,290 nat | 3.7%Survey yield |
Top affordability ZIP Codes in Hawaii
State-scoped leaders on the affordability subscore only (national rank shown is within that subscore’s data-eligible universe). Substantially an inverse housing-cost signal: a component of the overall score, not a predicted return.
| # | ZIP Code | Affordability | Key metric |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 96776Paauilo | 79#1,413 nat | 6.0%Survey yield |
| 2 | 96818Hickam Housing | 79#1,435 nat | 5.7%Survey yield |
| 3 | 96778Hawaiian Beaches | 79#1,473 nat | 5.7%Survey yield |
| 4 | 96772Discovery Harbour | 69#3,179 nat | 4.8%Survey yield |
| 5 | 96771Mountain View | 67#3,573 nat | 4.6%Survey yield |
| 6 | 96757Kualapuu | 65#4,185 nat | 4.4%Survey yield |
| 7 | 96719Hawi | 63#4,747 nat | 4.2%Survey yield |
| 8 | 96786Wheeler AFB | 62#4,997 nat | 4.1%Survey yield |
| 9 | 96752Kekaha | 62#5,097 nat | 4.1%Survey yield |
| 10 | 96706East Kapolei | 61#5,390 nat | 4.0%Survey yield |
| 11 | 96785Volcano | 60#5,550 nat | 4.0%Survey yield |
| 12 | 96826Urban Honolulu | 58#6,163 nat | 3.8%Survey yield |
Deepest rental-market ZIP Codes in Hawaii
State-scoped leaders on the rental-market-context subscore only (national rank shown is within that subscore’s data-eligible universe). Rental depth/tightness: a separate component, never combined here with affordability.
| # | ZIP Code | Rental market | Key metric |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 96762Laie | 83#70 nat | 3.0%Survey yield |
| 2 | 96712Pupukea | 79#347 nat | 1.7%Survey yield |
| 3 | 96786Wheeler AFB | 79#361 nat | 4.1%Survey yield |
| 4 | 96822Urban Honolulu | 77#648 nat | 2.1%Survey yield |
| 5 | 96756Poipu | 75#841 nat | 2.0%Survey yield |
| 6 | 96731Kahuku | 75#945 nat | 1.9%Survey yield |
| 7 | 96819Urban Honolulu | 74#1,143 nat | 2.4%Survey yield |
| 8 | 96768Olinda | 73#1,284 nat | 2.3%Survey yield |
| 9 | 96730Kaaawa | 73#1,308 nat | 2.7%Survey yield |
| 10 | 96816Urban Honolulu | 73#1,394 nat | 2.0%Survey yield |
| 11 | 96752Kekaha | 72#1,468 nat | 4.1%Survey yield |
| 12 | 96826Urban Honolulu | 71#1,655 nat | 3.8%Survey yield |