?WhereToHQ

Ranked · Pick an HQ · Hawaii

Best cities to put your HQ in Hawaii

Cities of 25,000+ residents, scored with the “Pick an HQ” weighting the live tool uses, heaviest on bachelor's degree or higher, avg. weekly wage, corporate income tax, state & local income tax. Scores are relative to this set; open the tool to change the weights and re-rank.

Re-rank for your priorities
Top 10 · computed ranking

  1. 1.Hilo, HI50k residents

    66/100

    bachelor's degree or higher: 34.6% · avg. weekly wage: $1,188/wk · corporate income tax: 6.4%

  2. 2.Wailuku, HI17k residents

    55/100

    bachelor's degree or higher: 36.1% · avg. weekly wage: $1,233/wk · corporate income tax: 6.4%

  3. 3.Kahului, HI28k residents

    52/100

    bachelor's degree or higher: 24.6% · avg. weekly wage: $1,233/wk · corporate income tax: 6.4%

  4. 4.Honolulu, HI345k residents

    50/100

    bachelor's degree or higher: 41.5% · avg. weekly wage: $1,406/wk · corporate income tax: 6.4%

  5. 5.Ocean Pointe, HI17k residents

    47/100

    bachelor's degree or higher: 50.6% · avg. weekly wage: $1,358/wk · corporate income tax: 6.4%

  6. 6.Kailua CDP (Honolulu County), HI40k residents

    44/100

    bachelor's degree or higher: 55.5% · avg. weekly wage: $1,358/wk · corporate income tax: 6.4%

  7. 7.Kihei, HI22k residents

    44/100

    bachelor's degree or higher: 31.4% · avg. weekly wage: $1,233/wk · corporate income tax: 6.4%

  8. 8.Mililani Mauka, HI21k residents

    43/100

    bachelor's degree or higher: 51.5% · avg. weekly wage: $1,358/wk · corporate income tax: 6.4%

  9. 9.East Honolulu, HI51k residents

    42/100

    bachelor's degree or higher: 59.9% · avg. weekly wage: $1,358/wk · corporate income tax: 6.4%

  10. 10.Kailua CDP (Hawaii County), HI22k residents

    42/100

    bachelor's degree or higher: 33.6% · avg. weekly wage: $1,358/wk · corporate income tax: 6.4%

Methodology: each city is scored 0–100 by min–max normalizing every weighted facet across this candidate set (direction-aware), identical math to the tool's “Best fit” tab. A different weighting produces a different order, which is the point: this is a starting shortlist, not a verdict.

Questions & answers
Which city is best to put your HQ in Hawaii?
Hilo, HI ranks first with a fit score of 66/100, followed by Wailuku (55) and Kahului (52), using the "Pick an HQ" weighting.
How is this ranking calculated?
Each of the 10 candidate cities (25,000+ residents) is scored 0 to 100 by min-max normalizing the weighted facets, heaviest on bachelor's degree or higher, avg. weekly wage, corporate income tax, state & local income tax, across this set. Change the weights in the live tool and the order changes with them.