Department of Business, Economic Development & Tourism

For Immediate Release: August 18, 2025

HONOLULU—The Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism (DBEDT) today released the 2024 edition of the State of Hawaii Data Book. The Data Book is the 57th edition of its series.

The Hawaii State Data Book is the most comprehensive statistical book about Hawaii in a single compilation. Classified into 24 sections with 837 data tables, it covers a broad range of information in areas such as population, education, environment, economics, energy, real estate, construction, business enterprises, government, tourism and transportation.

The book is in electronic form and is available on the DBEDT website at: dbedt.hawaii.gov/economic/databook. The data tables can be downloaded in whole or in part as either PDF or Excel files.

“Since 1962, DBEDT has been publishing the Data Book and it remains as one of the most popular products we offer. It allows people to understand what’s happening in our state and serves as a valuable resource for researchers, businesses, government agencies and our communities,” said DBEDT Director James Kunane Tokioka. “DBEDT’s Research and Economic Analysis Division collaborated with agencies of the federal, state and county governments, as well as numerous private organizations to provide the public with statistics, research and other important information it has come to expect and rely on.”

This newest edition includes some interesting data such as:

Population and Housing

• The dependency ratio in Hawaii County was 82.2 in 2024, a figure significantly higher than both the state average of 71.7 and Honolulu County’s ratio of 68.6. The dependency ratio measures the proportion of a non-working population (individuals under 18 and 65 and older) relative to the working-age population (age 18 to 64). (Table 1.29)
• In 2023, there were 280 centenarian deaths. The majority of these were female (222), which was nearly four times the number of male deaths (58). (Table 2.17)
• Total annual Social Security benefits paid to Hawaii beneficiaries reached $6.15 billion, a 12.4 percent increase from $5.47 billion in 2022. The number of beneficiaries also grew, reaching 296,605 in December 2023, up 1.9 percent from the previous year. (Table 11.11)
• According to home sale data from Title Guaranty, that includes both re-sales of existing homes and new developments, the average price of homes sold in 2024 increased by 8.1 percent for single-family houses and 5.7 percent for condominiums from the previous year. There were also 14.3 percent more single-family homes and 15.9 percent more condominiums sold in 2024 than in 2023. (Table 21.37)

Employment, Business and Economy

• As of December 31, 2024, there were 60,876 unionized public employees, including those in charter schools, across 15 collective bargaining units. The largest of these was Bargaining Unit 5, comprising 13,993 teachers and other Department of Education personnel under the same pay schedule. The smallest was Unit 14, with 413 state law enforcement officers. (Table 9.71)
• During the federal fiscal year (FFY) 2024, the federal government collected $11,403 million in Hawaii, representing a 0.7 percent increase from FFY 2023. This was primarily driven by a 1.5 percent increase in individual income and employment tax collections. Among the other collection components, business income tax and gift tax decreased, while estate and excise tax collections increased. (Table 9.02)
• According to the U.S. Department of Defense’s latest budget request, a total obligated authority of $1,888 million has been proposed for Hawai?i’s military construction in FFY 2024, followed by $1,670 million in FFY 2025 and $1,270 million in FFY 2026. The budgets include a combined total of $3,343 million over the three years specifically for the Navy Dry Dock 3 replacement at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam. (Table 10.11)
• The percentage of multiple jobholders in Hawaii increased from 7.2 percent in 2023 to 7.6 percent in 2024. The U.S. average also increased, but by a smaller margin – from 5.0 percent in 2023 to 5.2 percent in 2024. (Table 12.24)
• In 2023-2024, the food services and drinking places sector was the largest private industry employer statewide, with an average quarterly employment of 64,335. The sector ranked first in Hawaii and Honolulu County and second in Kauai and Maui County. (Table 15.24)
• Hawaii’s reliance on petroleum for electricity generation had been decreasing from 74.6 percent in 2010 to 67.0 percent in 2021. However, due to the retirement of O‘ahu’s coal-fired plant, electricity generation using petroleum increased by about 500 million kWh each year in 2022 and 2023. This resulted in petroleum reliance rising to 77.9 percent in 2023. (Tables 17.06)
• According to a survey published by Child Care Aware of America, the average annual cost for an infant in a Hawaii child-care center was $24,115 in 2024, while the cost in other states ranged from a low of $7,696 in Mississippi to a high of $26,343 in Massachusetts. (Table 14.14)
• The U.S. Department of Defense’s Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH) for 2025 increased across all counties in Hawaii. The increases for Honolulu County were the smallest, ranging from 1.9 percent to 7.2 percent, while Hawaii County saw the highest increases, which ranged from 13.1 percent to 23.8 percent. (Table 10.30)

Education and Social Characteristics

• Although modest, enrollment numbers at private colleges and universities have steadily increased each year since 2019, ranging from 1.5 percent (2023) to 4.3 percent (2024) annually. (Table 3.27)
• In 2024, the Internet Crime Complaint Center received 2,603 complaints, a 33.2 percent increase from the 1,954 complaints received the previous year. The number of complaints has been steadily increasing since 2021. (Table 4.13)
• According to the American Community Survey by the U.S. Census Bureau, the percentage of people in Hawaii not covered by health insurance was 3.2 percent in 2023. This rate ranked as the third lowest in the United States. (Table 15.11)
• In 2024, 139 people were sentenced to jail at adult facilities in Hawaii, a 55.9 percent decrease from the 315 sentenced in 2023. This is a significant reduction from the long-term trend as well. From 2009 through 2018, the number of people sentenced annually was consistently above 400, dropping to 350 in 2019. (Table 4.20)

Miscellaneous

• In July 2024, 1,161 flights departed from Hawaii for Los Angeles, representing more than 20 percent of the 5,531 total departures from the state. (Table 18.39)
• In 2024, Hawaii had 5,003 active pilots, of whom 883 were commercial pilots. Of the total, 881 were women pilots, with 157 of those being commercial pilots. (Table 18.33)
• There were 51 public libraries in Hawaii in 2024, with 25 on Oahu and 26 on the Neighbor islands. Compared to the previous year, internet sessions and library programs increased by 12.7 percent and 19.5 percent, respectively, while group visits declined by 15.3 percent. (Table 3.29)
• In 2024, the Honolulu Marathon had nearly as many registrants as it did before the COVID-19 pandemic. A total of 23,641 people registered for the race, and 77.7 percent of them completed the 26.2-mile course. The winning time was also the fastest since pre-COVID at 2 hours, 11 minutes, and 59 seconds. (Table 7.55)
• The Hawaii Audubon Society spotted over a thousand Pacific Golden-Plovers in 2024. This is a significant increase, representing approximately 67 percent more of this bird than in 2023, and more than what has spotted of this bird historically. (Table 5.57).

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MEDIA CONTACTS:
Dr. Seth Colby
Chief State Economist
Research and Economic Analysis Division
Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism, State of Hawaii
Phone: 808-587-1443

Laci Goshi
Communications Officer
Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism
Cell: 808-518-5480