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of households, 2024
Each dark window is a home that falls short. 11 of 25.
Sources: United For ALICE 2026 (2024 data); Aloha United Way 2024 survey
United For ALICE, State of ALICE in Hawaiʻi 2026 (2024 data): 44% of Hawaiʻi households are below the ALICE line. ALICE line = the Household Survival Budget for each household type (housing, child care, food, transportation, health care, a smartphone plan, taxes), plus households in poverty. 44% shown as 11 dark homes of 25 (our calc). Illustration, not a real street.
Households with children: Aloha United Way, ALICE in Hawaiʻi, 2024 Facts and Figures (survey of Hawaiʻi households, June–August 2024), p.6, 50% below the ALICE line.
Photo · Alec Doualetas / Pexels, near Kualoa, Oʻahu
About 8 in 10 are 25 or older.
25 or older, 81%
16 to 24, 19%
Workers earning $22 an hour or less · DBEDT, ACS 2023 data
DBEDT, The Minimum Wage in Hawaiʻi, 2025 Update, Table E-1 (ACS 2023 data). Workers earning $22 an hour or less: 81% are 25 or older; 19% are 16 to 24 (our calc, 100 − 81). Slippers are an illustration (10 slippers, 8 and 2).
Photo · Jess Loiterton / Pexels, a roadside stand on Oʻahu’s North Shore
Hawaiʻi DLIR · $30 = living wage for working parents, our 2027 estimate from United For ALICE · $12 gap, our calculation
Minimum wage: Hawaiʻi DLIR and Act 114 (2022): $10.10 since 2018, $12 on Oct 1, 2022, $14 on Jan 1, 2024, $16 on Jan 1, 2026, $18 on Jan 1, 2028. Nothing is scheduled after 2028.
$30 an hour (about $62,500 a year) = the living wage for each of two full-time working parents (two adults, an infant and a preschooler): United For ALICE 2026 (2024 costs) carried to 2027 with DBEDT’s price forecast, our estimate ($29.92, rounded).
Our math: $30 − $18 = $12 an hour; $12 × 2,080 hours = $24,960 a year, shown as about $25,000. Raises since 2021: $18 − $10.10 = $7.90.
Updated Nov 11, 2026.
Since the raises began, our minimum wage rose 58%. Prices rose about as fast here as nationally (+21% vs +20%).
Jan 2022 to Sept 2026 · Hawaiʻi DLIR · BLS consumer prices, Urban Hawaiʻi and U.S. · our calculation
Minimum wage: Hawaiʻi DLIR and Act 114 (2022): $10.10 in Jan 2022, $12 on Oct 1, 2022, $14 on Jan 1, 2024, $16 on Jan 1, 2026. $16 ÷ $10.10 = 1.584, up 58%.
Prices: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), all items, not seasonally adjusted. Urban Hawaiʻi (CUURS49FSA0, every two months): January 2022 = 304.988; September 2026 = 368.586. 368.586 ÷ 304.988 = 1.209, up 21%. U.S. city average (CUUR0000SA0, monthly): January 2022 = 281.148; September 2026 = 336.940. 336.940 ÷ 281.148 = 1.198, up 20%. October 2025 was not published (federal shutdown), so the U.S. line skips that month.
$12 short: a living wage for working parents is about $30 an hour, our 2027 estimate from United For ALICE; $30 − $18 = $12 (our calculation).
This shows what happened to pay and prices over this period, not what caused it.
Updated Nov 11, 2026.
And still, $18 in 2028 leaves working parents $12 an hour short.
more people moved to other states than came, on average, for five years.
● = 1 person, each day
54,537 in all, July 2020 to July 2025
Source · U.S. Census Bureau, via DBEDT (our calculation)
U.S. Census Bureau, Vintage 2025 population estimates, net moves to other states, years ending July 1, via DBEDT. 2020–21 −9,849 · 2021–22 −15,999 · 2022–23 −11,327 · 2023–24 −8,486 · 2024–25 −8,876 · total −54,537. Counts moves, not reasons. Moves to and from other countries are not included. About 30 a day = 54,537 ÷ 1,826 days (our calculation).
Updated Nov 11, 2026.
Even counting their own prices. Hawaiʻi’s $18 minimum in 2028 buys only $16.37 worth.
Minimum wage in 2028, adjusted for local prices (our estimate)
More than HawaiʻiSource · State and city labor departments; BEA 2024 price levels; CBO inflation forecast. 2028 wages are our estimates except Portland, Santa Fe and Rhode Island (our calculation).
Each place’s minimum wage on Jan 1, 2028, the day Hawaiʻi reaches $18, divided by its 2024 price level (BEA Regional Price Parity, U.S. = 100; metro areas for cities, states for states). Where the wage rises with prices each year and the 2028 rate isn’t set yet, our estimate is the latest announced rate × 1.024, CBO’s forecast of 2027 inflation (Jan 2026, consumer prices, Q4 to Q4). Recent yearly raises in these places ran about 2.7–4.0%, so the estimates are likely low. Places that raise each July (D.C., Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco) raise again in July 2028. Yearly = the after-prices hourly figure × 2,080 hours (our calculation).
| Place | Wage, Jan 1, 2028 | ÷ Price level | = At U.S.-average prices | A year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seattle, WA$22.14 in 2027 × 1.024 (our estimate) | $22.67 | 111.133Seattle metro | $20.40 | $42,432 |
| Flagstaff, AZ$18.95 in 2027 × 1.024 (our estimate) | $19.40 | 100.325Flagstaff metro | $19.34 | $40,227 |
| Denver, CO$19.84 in 2027 × 1.024 (our estimate) | $20.32 | 105.782Denver metro | $19.21 | $39,957 |
| Mountain View, CA$20.25 in 2027 × 1.024 (our estimate) | $20.74 | 110.423San Jose metro | $18.78 | $39,062 |
| Portland, ME$19.00 set in law for Jan 1, 2028 | $19.00 | 101.858Portland, ME metro | $18.65 | $38,792 |
| Santa Fe, NM$17.50 from Jan 1, 2027; next change Mar 1, 2028 (kept) | $17.50 | 98.767Santa Fe metro | $17.72 | $36,858 |
| Boulder, CO$18.17 in 2027 × 1.024 (our estimate) | $18.61 | 105.202Boulder metro | $17.69 | $36,795 |
| San Francisco, CA$19.61 from Jul 1, 2026 × 1.024 = July 2027 rate (our estimate) | $20.08 | 115.613San Francisco metro | $17.37 | $36,130 |
| Connecticut$17.48 in 2027 × 1.024 (our estimate) | $17.90 | 103.610Connecticut | $17.28 | $35,942 |
| Washington, D.C.$18.40 from Jul 1, 2026 × 1.024 = July 2027 rate (our estimate) | $18.84 | 109.901D.C. | $17.14 | $35,651 |
| Washington State$17.73 in 2027 × 1.024 (our estimate) | $18.16 | 107.013Washington | $16.97 | $35,298 |
| Chicago, IL$17.05 from Jul 1, 2026 × 1.024 = July 2027 rate (our estimate) | $17.46 | 103.595Chicago metro | $16.85 | $35,048 |
| Minneapolis, MN$17.02 in 2027 × 1.024 (our estimate) | $17.43 | 104.822Minneapolis metro | $16.63 | $34,590 |
| Rhode Island$17.00 in 2027; no 2028 raise set (kept) | $17.00 | 102.280Rhode Island | $16.62 | $34,570 |
| Los Angeles, CA$18.42 from Jul 1, 2026 × 1.024 = July 2027 rate (our estimate) | $18.86 | 113.566Los Angeles metro | $16.61 | $34,549 |
| Hawaiʻi$18.00 set in law for Jan 1, 2028 | $18.00 | 109.951Hawaiʻi | $16.37 | $34,050 |
Also above $16.37, not shown: Edgewater, CO $20.79 · Burien, WA $20.72 · Tukwila, WA $20.69 · Renton, WA $20.52 · King County, WA (unincorporated) $19.88 · Everett, WA $19.83 · Bellingham, WA $19.55 · West Hollywood, CA $18.88 · Sunnyvale, CA $18.59 · Emeryville, CA $18.02 · San Jose, CA $17.62 · Boulder County, CO $16.97 · Montgomery County, MD $16.93.
“Dozens”: the 15 charted plus these 13 make 28 places we checked that clear $16.37, so at least two dozen. Most 2028 wages are our estimates (see above), and there are likely more places we did not check.
Close but below: Portland, OR metro $16.32 · California (state) $16.09 · Vermont $15.59 · New Jersey $15.51 · New York City area $15.47. Using Honolulu’s metro price level (110.961) instead of the state’s would put Hawaiʻi at $16.22.
Wages: Washington L&I; Seattle Office of Labor Standards; Denver Labor; City of Boulder; City of Santa Fe; Connecticut Governor; Rhode Island law H5029/S0125; D.C. DOES; City of Flagstaff (via AZFamily); Mountain View (via ADP); Portland, ME 2025 ballot measure (via Bloomberg Tax, Fisher Phillips); San Francisco, Los Angeles and Chicago July 2026 rates (via Littler, ABC7); Minneapolis (via FOX 9). Prices: BEA Regional Price Parities (MARPP and SARPP, 2024). Inflation: CBO, Jan 2026.
Updated Nov 11, 2026.
One full-time job, before taxes.
Source · Hawaiʻi DLIR; United For ALICE family budget (our 2027 estimate); our calculation, rounded
$18 is Hawaiʻi’s minimum wage from January 1, 2028, the last raise in current law (today it is $16; Hawaiʻi DLIR, Act 114 of 2022). $30 is a living wage for working parents in Hawaiʻi, our 2027 estimate from the United For ALICE family budget. Yearly = hourly × 2,080 hours (40 a week × 52). Before taxes. $18 → $30 full time: $37,440 → $62,400, +$24,960 a year (our calculation), shown rounded to the nearest $1,000 ($37,000, $62,000, $25,000).
The bill
We’ll post the bill here as soon as it’s introduced.
It’s what each of two working parents needs to cover the basics for a family of four here. Our 2027 estimate.
United For ALICE 2026 Household Survival Budget (2024 costs, two adults, an infant and a preschooler), adjusted with DBEDT’s price forecast: about $124,500 a year, $29.92 an hour each (our estimate).
Mostly grown adults. 81% are 25 or older, and 57% are women.
DBEDT, The Minimum Wage in Hawaiʻi, 2025 Update, Table E-1 (ACS 2023 data); 56.5% women, shown as 57%.
Restaurant and bar locations grew 38% here, twice the U.S. rate (20%). Jobs grew more slowly than the U.S.
BLS QCEW, NAICS 722, 2015–2025: locations +38.1% vs +19.8% U.S.; restaurant and bar jobs +4.8% vs +10.7% U.S. (our calc). Shows what changed, not what caused it.
No. From 2015 to 2025 the minimum wage rose 81%. Prices here rose 34%, about like the U.S. (36%).
Hawaiʻi DLIR and U.S. DOL ($7.75 in 2015, $14 in 2025); BLS CPI-U, Urban Hawaiʻi and U.S. city average, annual averages (our calc).
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One job should be enough. $18 is $12 short of a living wage.
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