Kailua Kona is a medium-sized coastal town (i.e. on the ocean, a bay, or inlet) located in the state of Hawaii. With a population of 37,342 people and eight associated neighborhoods, Kailua Kona is the eighth largest community in Hawaii.
Housing costs in Kailua Kona are among some of the highest in the nation, although real estate prices here don't compare to real estate prices in the most expensive communities in Hawaii.
A relatively large number of people in Kailua Kona telecommute to their jobs. Overall, about 9.88% 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.
It is a fairly quiet town because there are relatively few of those groups of people who have a tendency to be noisy. (Children, for example, often can't help themselves from being noisy, and being parents ourselves, we know!) Kailua Kona has relatively few families with children living at home, and is quieter because of it. Renters and college students, for their own reasons, can also be noisy. Kailua Kona has few renters and college students. But the biggest reason it is quieter in Kailua Kona than in most places in America, is that there are just simply fewer people living here. If you think trees make good neighbors, Kailua Kona may be for you.
One of the nice things about Kailua Kona 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 terms of college education, Kailua Kona is substantially better educated than the typical community in the nation, which has 21.84% of the adults holding a bachelor's degree or graduate degree: 33.30% of adults in Kailua Kona have a college degree.
The per capita income in Kailua Kona in 2022 was $44,842, which is upper middle income relative to Hawaii, and wealthy relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $179,368 for a family of four. However, Kailua Kona contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.
Kailua Kona is an extremely ethnically-diverse town. The people who call Kailua Kona home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Kailua Kona residents report their race to be White, followed by Asian. Important ancestries of people in Kailua Kona include German, English, Irish, Italian, and European.
In addition, Kailua Kona has a lot of people living here who were born outside of the US (19.66%).
The most common language spoken in Kailua Kona is English. Other important languages spoken here include Pacific Island languages and Spanish.