14 June 2026

Common incomes. Uncommon costs.

Hawaiʻi looks good on income inequality. Its Gini index ranks 12th best in the country, making it more equal than 38 states. And it is not a fluke: Hawaiʻi has ranked among the most equal states in all but one year going back to 2006.

But income equality is easy to misread. It does not mean people are doing well. It only means the gap between higher and lower incomes is relatively small.

In Hawaiʻi, that small gap comes with modest incomes. South Dakota and Nebraska are about as equal as Hawaiʻi, but they produce roughly $13,000 to $17,000 more income per person. Same equality. More income.

Hawaiʻi also gets compared with coastal states like California, New York, and Massachusetts. Those states are much less equal, true. But they have something Hawaiʻi lacks: a larger high-income economy pulling average incomes up.

Then Hawaiʻi’s costs make the math worse. It is the most expensive state for a resident to buy a home, and only four states earn less per person.

So yes, Hawaiʻi is more equal than most states. We really are all in this together, but the harder message is: a narrow gap is not the same as broad comfort.