Small Town Guide
Menu

Towns / Hawaii

Keokea, Hawaii

Keokea is an unincorporated community of about 2,900 people in Maui County, Hawaii. It has no city government of its own: local services come from the county, or in some states from the town or township. A typical home costs about 6.4 years of the typical household's income, compared with 4.1 across the U.S. The nearest metro area of about a million people or more, Honolulu, is about 104 miles away as the crow flies.

Population
2,892
Census survey, 2020-24
Typical home, 2020-24
$728,400
Maui County prices up 18% since 2022
Household income
$114,250
U.S.: $80,734
Prices, Kahului area
109.4
U.S. average = 100
Emergency room
In town
Kula Hospital
To Honolulu
104 mi
straight line

The book's checklist

  • Lower cost of livingEveryday prices run 9.4% above the U.S. average in the Kahului-Wailuku metro area.
  • More house for the moneyA typical home costs 6.4 years of the typical household's income here. Across the U.S. it's 4.1.
  • A safer neighborhoodThe FBI doesn't publish crime figures for unincorporated communities. Call the county sheriff's office (or the town or township police, where there is one) and ask what calls they get most.
  • Schools in townNo public schools inside the town. The nearest high school is King Kekaulike High School, about 8 miles away.
  • A hospital close byKula Hospital is in town and has an emergency room.
  • Within reach of a big cityHonolulu is about 104 miles away as the crow flies. The book suggests staying within about 60 miles if you'll miss big-city sports, concerts and theater.

A check means Keokea meets the rule of thumb from Frank and Dave's book. An empty box isn't a deal breaker: it's something to weigh for your family. A question mark means there isn't enough data.

For a lifetime

Homes and money

Typical home value, as owners valued them in 2020-2024
$728,400U.S.: $332,700
Home prices since then
Up 18%Maui County, 2022 to 2025
Typical rent, with utilities
$1,836 a monthU.S.: $1,413
Typical household income
$114,250U.S.: $80,734
Homes owned by the people living in them
77%U.S.: 65%
Homes built before 1940
3%U.S.: 12%
Homes built since 2010
22%U.S.: 11%
Vacation and seasonal homes
1%U.S.: 3%
Everyday prices
109.4U.S. average = 100 (the Kahului-Wailuku metro area)

Home values and rents are what households told the Census Bureau across 2020 to 2024, so they trail today's market: county prices have moved up 18% since 2022. Everyday prices are the government's average for the Kahului-Wailuku metro area, not Keokea alone. Check current listings before you budget.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates; Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index for counties (all transactions); U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024.

The people

Population, 2020-2024 Census survey
2,892The Census Bureau makes yearly estimates only for incorporated towns
Median age
41.3 yearsU.S.: 38.9
Age 65 and older
20%U.S.: 17%
Under 18
24%U.S.: 22%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or more
25%U.S.: 36%
Moved here from another county or state in the past year
3%U.S.: 6%

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025); U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Work

Biggest lines of work
Schools, health care and social services (21%); construction (15%); retail (11%)
Unemployment rate
7%U.S.: 5%
Average commute
39 minutesU.S.: 26 minutes
Work from home
8%U.S.: 15%
Below the poverty line
11%U.S.: 12%

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Health care

Nearest emergency room: Kula Hospital, Kula, HI, in town. It's a critical access hospital (a small rural hospital with 25 or fewer beds). Medicare hasn't given it a star rating.

Nearest general hospital: North Hawaii Community Hospital, INC, Kamuela, HI, about 61 miles away. Medicare gives it 3 of 5 stars.

Look up doctors, clinics and the hospitals themselves on Medicare's Care Compare. Ask where the most serious cases are sent.

Sources: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information.

Schools

There are no public schools inside Keokea itself. The nearest public high school is King Kekaulike High School, about 8 miles away.

See each school on the federal school search, then check test scores and graduation rates on Hawaii's school report card.

Sources: National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 2023-24 (via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal); National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS institution directory, 2024.

Internet

Homes with cable, fiber or DSL internet
72%U.S.: 76%
Homes with any internet subscription
91%U.S.: 91%

Before you buy, look up the address on the FCC's National Broadband Map to see which providers serve it.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Weather

January average low
51°F
July average high
74°F
Days 90°F or hotter
0 a year
Nights at or below freezing
0 a year
Rain and melted snow
31 inches a year
Snow
0 inches a year
Elevation
2,247 feet

Weather station: Kula Hospital 267 (1 mile away). Averages for 1991 to 2020.

Sources: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020; U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program.

Getting around

Straight-line miles. The road is always longer, and as the book says, an interstate at 70 is a different trip from a farm road at 45. Check the real drive: San Francisco, Honolulu.

Maui County is in a metro area of fewer than 250,000 people (USDA rural-urban code 3, on a scale where 1 is the biggest metro areas and 9 the most rural counties).

For a day

1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.

National Park Service sites within about an hour:

  • Haleakala National Park7 miles
  • Kalaupapa National Historical Park45 miles
  • Pu'ukohola Heiau National Historic Site59 miles
Know Keokea?

Tell us what a visitor shouldn't miss, and what living there is really like. Write to Main Street at mainstreet@smalltownguide.com. The best notes from people who know the town will be added here.

Nearby

Straight-line miles.

Small towns

Smaller places

  • Olinda, HI (unincorporated)873 people, 9 miles
  • Maalaea, HI (unincorporated)210 people, 10 miles
  • Haliimaile, HI (unincorporated)1,105 people, 10 miles

Sources

  1. U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025)
  2. U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates
  3. Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index for counties (all transactions)
  4. U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024
  5. FBI, Crime in the United States, Table 8 (offenses known to law enforcement by city)
  6. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information
  7. National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 2023-24 (via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal)
  8. National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS institution directory, 2024
  9. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020
  10. U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program
  11. National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places listings
  12. National Park Service, park unit boundaries
  13. USDA Economic Research Service, Rural-Urban Continuum Codes, 2023
  14. U.S. Census Bureau, 2025 Gazetteer files and 2020 urban areas

Census survey figures are estimates with a margin of error; we leave out any figure whose margin is too wide to be useful. Data last gathered October 5, 2026. See something wrong? Write to mainstreet@smalltownguide.com.