In 2007, DBEDT and the UH Center on the Family partnered to develop a comprehensive set of Quality of Life (QOL) indicators. The UH Center on the Family and DBEDT reviewed numerous studies on quality of life and hundreds of potential indicators to arrive at the 68 metrics that comprise the Hawaiʻi quality of life measures for both the state and county levels.
These indicators provide a valuable benchmark for monitoring and improving the quality of life in Hawaiʻi and will be updated periodically. They will be used to help identify strengths and weaknesses in quality-of-life factors impacting residents’ standard of living as well as factors affecting Hawaiʻi’s ability to attract and retain skilled workers and high growth companies.
The Quality of Life 2024 Update utilized data with the benchmark year ten years prior to the latest available data. However, in some cases the data does not go back ten years, and in these cases the earliest data point available is used for comparison over time analysis. Compared to the nation analysis is done for the same indicator for the most current available year. Below is a summary of the results, the full report can be found in the link above.
Overall, Hawai‘i’s Quality of Life is in good standing compared to the nation and has improved over time.
Hawai‘i’s QOL domains performed better compared to the nation, with a weighted average of 61.4 percent.
A weighted average of 64.0 percent of Hawai‘i’s QOL domains performed better over time.
Hawai‘i’s QOL Compared across Counties
Overall, the City and County of Honolulu ranked highest the most and Hawai‘i County ranked worse the most amongst the comparable QOL indicators.
Hawai‘i County: Hawai‘i County performed best in 17.5 percent of comparable indicators amongst the counties and performed worse in 52.6 percent.
City and County of Honolulu: The City and County of Honolulu performed best overall. The county performed best in 40.4 percent of comparable indicators amongst the counties and performed worse in almost 17.0 percent.
Kaua‘i County: Kaua‘i County ranked best in a third of comparable indicators amongst the counties and ranked worst in over 14.0 percent.
Maui County: Maui County ranked best in around 15.8 percent of comparable indicators amongst the counties and ranked worst in over 21.1 percent.
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