Maui leads isles with highest expenses

Honolulu has the highest average household income of any of the four major counties, while Maui consumers have the highest expenses, according to recent reports by the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism.

The contrasts among the counties are attributable to the size of households, types of jobs and the differences between utilities and transportation costs on the various islands, DBEDT Chief Economist Eugene Tian said Monday, following the release of the agency’s final two reports on consumer spending.

A typical Honolulu household had an average income of $82,860 in 2014 and was followed by Kauai ($78,004), Maui ($73,973) and Hawaii island ($65,775). The U.S. average was $66,877.

The average expenditure on Maui was $65,197 and was followed by Kauai ($64,651), Honolulu ($62,280) and Hawaii island ($51,700). The U.S. average was $53,495.

“In Honolulu the income is higher because the average household is larger and there are more jobs in business management, financial and the professional services area,” Tian said. “The neighbor islands have mostly the tourism industry; it pays less and there are part-time workers.”

Tian said expenses are more on the neighbor islands because households spend more on utilities and transportation due to the higher costs for electricity and gasoline.

DBEDT released reports Monday on Kauai and Hawaii island, while the Maui report was released earlier this month and the Honolulu report came out in April. The data were obtained through household surveys conducted by DBEDT in 2015 and cover the previous year.

In all four counties, housing was the largest expenditure category and represented more than 40 percent of total costs. In Honolulu County, housing comprised an average of 43.2 percent of total expenditures, or $26,982 a year. In Kauai County it was 41.5 percent, or $26,819. In Hawaii County it was 40.5 percent, or $20,921; and in Maui County it was 40.3 percent, or $26,277.

For all four counties, more than 70 percent of expenditures went toward the three basic needs categories: housing, transportation and food.

Lower-income households (under $50,000) spent relatively larger shares on the three basic needs categories with Kauai County at 80 percent, followed by Honolulu County, 78.8 percent, and Hawaii County and Maui County, both at 78.3 percent. This illustrates the difficulty for lower-income groups to thrive due to a large percentage of their expenditures going toward day-to-day living expenses, with little left over to invest in their future.

Higher-income households (above $100,000) spent both a greater amount and share of their expenditures on entertainment, personal insurance, retirement savings, education and transportation.