5 May 2026
Expensive states are rich. Not Hawaiʻi.
Look at the four most unaffordable states for housing in 2024 (based on years of income needed to buy a home, per home price-to-income ratio):
| State | HPI | Income rank |
|---|---|---|
| Hawaiʻi | 8.7 | #46 |
| California | 7.6 | #12 |
| Washington | 6.1 | #9 |
| Colorado | 5.9 | #7 |
The other three have high incomes to help with high housing costs. They’re expensive places where residents earn enough to absorb the cost. Hawaiʻi is the outlier: highest housing burden in the country, with real per capita income of just $52,272, fifth-from-bottom nationally.
This is the math behind the migration. Residents can stomach high costs when high pay comes with it. People can stomach being underpaid if their cost of living is low. Hawaiʻi asks them to accept both, and Hawaiʻi’s out-migration shows what happens when they decline.
“High-cost peer” comparisons flatter us. We’re the only state in America where the cost has decoupled from the wage entirely.