Overall
111.0
Expensive
Metro cost profile · 2024 BEA RPP
Urban Honolulu, HI
Cost-of-living indicators for Urban Honolulu, HI, from Bureau of Economic Analysis Regional Price Parities, overall, goods, services, and rents vs the U.S. average of 100.
- 111.0
- Overall RPP
- #8
- of 387 metros
- 135.5
- Rents RPP
- $90K
- $100K national buys
Urban Honolulu ranks #8 of 387 U.S. metros by cost, and its overall price index has held steady since 2008.
- stable since 2008
- similar cost to Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue
The verdict
Urban Honolulu is more expensive than 98% of U.S. metros, an overall cost index of 111.0, 11.0% above the national average, led by services at 187.3.
- top 2%
- by overall cost, nationwide
- 111.6
- goods RPP, tradable items
- 187.3
- services RPP, labor-priced
A $100,000 national salary carries the purchasing power of about $90,122 here; matching a $100K lifestyle takes roughly $110,961.
Urban Honolulu vs every U.S. metro
Where this metro sits in the national cost distribution
111 Top 2% higher than 98% of 387 US metros
Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more US metros. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities · 2024
Urban Honolulu cost breakdown
BEA RPP by category, 100 = national average
- Rents
Rents
135.5 RPP
- Services
Services
187.3 RPP
- Overall
Overall
111 RPP
- Goods
Goods
111.6 RPP
What this shows Urban Honolulu's strongest departure is services at 187.3; rents follows at 135.5. Labor-priced local activity, rather than housing alone, is the first budget line to investigate.
Goods vs. housing, where Urban Honolulu's cost comes from
Metros near Urban Honolulu's overall cost, plotted by their goods price (horizontal) and housing price (vertical). Same headline RPP, very different structures.
Read the chart as text
- Urban Honolulu (Urban Honolulu, this metro): goods RPP 111.6, rents RPP 135.5
- Seattle: goods RPP 104, rents RPP 151.3
- Oxnard: goods RPP 105.2, rents RPP 171.1
- San Jose: goods RPP 105.2, rents RPP 211.9
- San Diego: goods RPP 108, rents RPP 179.3
- Santa Cruz: goods RPP 105.2, rents RPP 164.3
- Kiryas Joel: goods RPP 110.3, rents RPP 115.8
Price Index Summary
Goods
111.6
Expensive
Services
187.3
Expensive
Rents
135.5
Expensive
Service-cost-led profile
How Urban Honolulu's cost structure works
Services are the defining pressure in Urban Honolulu: the BEA services component is 187.3, farther above the national baseline than local rents or tradable goods. That service-heavy pattern explains an overall RPP of 111.0 differently from a housing-led metro.
Across all reported metros, the closest component-profile matches are Kahului-Wailuku, HI, Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA, Vallejo, CA. They resemble Urban Honolulu across goods, services, and rents together, so they are stronger structure peers than a place selected only because its overall RPP happens to be nearby.
Across 2008-2024, Urban Honolulu's overall index has stayed within 0.9 points. This is a relative price-level history, not a prediction or a personal affordability recommendation; pair it with current local wages and housing options before making a decision.
Salary Equivalent
A $100,000 salary at the national average cost of living equals:
$110,961
in Urban Honolulu, HI purchasing power
$50,000 nationally
$55,481
$75,000 nationally
$83,221
$125,000 nationally
$138,701
$150,000 nationally
$166,442
$200,000 nationally
$221,922
Use the salary calculator for custom amounts.
Affordability score
F
6/100
How far the median local paycheck goes here, combining income and housing cost
Purchasing power
Not reported
Housing affordability F
6th percentile
A weighted composite (60% purchasing power, 40% housing affordability) percentile-ranked against every other tracked metro; a missing input redistributes its weight rather than deflating the score. Sources: Census ACS 5-Year 2023 (income) + BEA Regional Price Parities 2024 (cost). Vintages differ by design; see methodology.
Latest BEA release change
What changed from 2023 to 2024
Urban Honolulu's overall RPP fell -0.5 points, from 111.4 in 2023 to 111.0 in 2024. The largest category movement was rents, changing from 143.4 to 135.5. This is a relative change against the national benchmark, not a household's dollar bill.
RPP History (2008-2024)
The cost of living has remained relatively stable, changing by only 0.9 points over this period. The largest single-year move was in 2009, when the index jumped 5.8 points from the year before, a bigger swing than the full 2008-2024 change.
Urban Honolulu overall RPP, 2008-2024
Every year on record, national average = 100
| Year | Overall |
|---|---|
| 2008 | 111.9 |
| 2009 | 117.6 |
| 2010 | 112.4 |
| 2011 | 113.1 |
| 2012 | 112.4 |
| 2013 | 115.7 |
| 2014 | 114.6 |
| 2015 | 114.0 |
| 2016 | 113.4 |
| 2017 | 113.6 |
| 2018 | 112.8 |
| 2019 | 113.2 |
| 2020 | 115.7 |
| 2021 | 114.1 |
| 2022 | 113.1 |
| 2023 | 111.4 |
| 2024 | 111.0 |
Decision peers
Metros with a similar cost mix
These metros are closest to Urban Honolulu's combined goods, services, and rents profile. They may not have the same overall RPP, but their price pressures are shaped in a similar way.
Kahului-Wailuku, HI
Goods 111.6 · Services 190.6 · Rents 119.2 Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA
Goods 105.2 · Services 154.8 · Rents 139.6 Vallejo, CA
Goods 105.2 · Services 155.0 · Rents 142.0 Salinas, CA
Goods 105.2 · Services 154.2 · Rents 145.7 Stockton-Lodi, CA
Goods 105.2 · Services 158.2 · Rents 115.6 Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA
Goods 105.2 · Services 151.3 · Rents 130.2
Metros with Similar Cost of Living
These metros have an overall RPP closest to Urban Honolulu, HI's index of 111.0.
Showing the 6 closest of 387 metro areas tracked nationally.
HI-relative analysis
Goods prices places Urban Honolulu, HI near the bottom of HI's metros
Among the 2 HI metros PlainCost tracks with reported goods prices data, Urban Honolulu, HI ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide rank above: it compares Urban Honolulu, HI only against its own state's metros, not the full US field.
Goods prices
#1 of 2
0th percentile in HI
Services prices
#2 of 2
0th percentile in HI
Rent prices
#1 of 2
50th percentile in HI
Ranked by raw value (highest first); a higher rank is not automatically "more expensive is worse", see the national comparison above for direction context. This is a comparison within HI only, not a livability score.
Nationwide metros with similar overall cost or rent prices
Two BEA RPP-derived peer sets for Urban Honolulu, HI: nearest metros by overall regional price parity and by rents RPP. These are cross-state neighborhoods, not the in-state metro list below.
Similar overall RPP
Nearest metros by overall regional price parity (111.0 here).
Similar rents RPP
Nearest metros by rents regional price parity (135.5 here).
Trenton-Princeton, NJ Rents 135.1 Manchester-Nashua, NH Rents 134.2 Bozeman, MT Rents 139.2 Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA Rents 139.6 Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA Rents 130.2 Bremerton-Silverdale-Port Orchard, WA Rents 129.6 Naples-Marco Island, FL Rents 129.4 Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA Rents 129.3
Other HI Metros
View all HI metros → Cheapest in HI → Most expensive in HI →
Compare to Other Metros
Cost of living guides →, cheapest and most-expensive metro rankings, salary negotiation with RPP data, and step-by-step comparison walkthroughs.
Shareable data card
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What this means for Urban Honolulu
How to read Urban Honolulu's cost of living before a move, a job offer, or a budget.
- Budget to local prices, not headline pay, a $100K national salary spends like about $90,122 in Urban Honolulu. Salary calculator
- Start with services: it indexes at 187.3, the largest departure from the national benchmark in this metro's BEA cost mix. Compare it with the other components before treating the overall RPP as a complete household budget.
- Compare Urban Honolulu head-to-head against a specific destination before you decide. Compare metros
RPP is BEA's annual price-level benchmark for the data year shown, not a live market quote. Pair it with current local wages and housing costs before deciding.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the cost of living in Urban Honolulu, HI?
Urban Honolulu, HI has a Regional Price Parity (RPP) index of 111.0, meaning it is 11.0% more expensive than the national average. Goods are indexed at 111.6, services at 187.3, and rents at 135.5. It ranks #8 out of 387 U.S. metro areas by overall cost.
What salary do I need in Urban Honolulu, HI to match $100K nationally?
To maintain the same purchasing power as a $100,000 salary at the national average, you would need approximately $110,961 in Urban Honolulu, HI. Conversely, $100K earned in Urban Honolulu, HI has the purchasing power of $90,122 at the national average.
How expensive is rent in Urban Honolulu, HI?
Rents in Urban Honolulu, HI are indexed at 135.5, which is 35.5% above the national average. This is significantly higher than typical U.S. rents.
Is Urban Honolulu, HI getting more expensive?
From 2008 to 2024, Urban Honolulu, HI's overall cost index changed by -0.9 points (from 111.9 to 111.0). The cost of living has remained relatively stable.
What costs the most in Urban Honolulu, HI?
The priciest category in Urban Honolulu, HI is services at 187.3, 87.3% above the national average. The most affordable category is goods at 111.6, 11.6% above average, still the lowest of the three categories.
What metros have a similar cost of living to Urban Honolulu, HI?
Metros with the most similar overall cost index include Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara. These areas have RPP values within a few points of Urban Honolulu, HI's 111.0.
Data sources
- BEA Regional Price Parities (RPP), the cost-of-living indices shown on this page
- U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey (ACS), gross-rent observations behind the rents component
- BLS Consumer Price Index (CPI), goods and services price relatives
- BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), labor-driven services component
- HUD Fair Market Rents (FMR), 40th-percentile rent cross-reference
Every figure on PlainCost is rendered directly from BEA Regional Price Parity source data, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, our changelog, or report a data error. Data current as of 2026-08-11. Rankings measure the published cost-of-living index only; we don't recommend where to live or rate any metro's quality of life.