27 May 2026

Florida has Hawaiʻi beat on rent burden.

Housing gets discussed as one crisis. It is really two: buying a home and affording rent.

Hawaiʻi is the worst state in the country to buy a home. It has ranked last on home price-to-income every year since 2008. In 2024, Hawaiʻi’s ratio was 8.7, more than double the national median of 4.2. Florida’s was 5.1.

But, rent burden tells a different story.

In 2024, 54.96% of Hawaiʻi renter households paid more than 30% of income on rent, ranking #47. Florida was much worse at 62.07%, ranking #50. Florida has ranked worst on rent burden every year from 2005 through 2024. Hawaiʻi has never ranked last at the 30% threshold.

That distinction matters. Home price-to-income shows how hard it is to buy. Rent burden shows how stretched current renters are.

The two are related. When buying becomes unreachable, more people stay in the rental market. Over time, that pushes rents up. Making it hard for some to stay.

Housing supply affects both problems. More homes can ease purchase prices. More rental units can ease rent burden. Hawaiʻi’s slow housing production makes both harder.

But supply is not the whole answer.

For homeownership, income matters: if home prices keep rising faster than wages, buying stays out of reach.

For renters, the more direct tools are rental assistance, preserving affordable units, and moving vacation rentals back into the long-term rental market.

Hawaiʻi has two housing problems, not one.

Supply helps both. But beyond that, the solutions vary. Treating buying and renting as one problem will solve neither well.