Key takeaway: Hawaiʻi Island has the lowest rents and home prices in the state: a typical one-bedroom is about $1,374 and the median house sold for $499,000 in September 2026. The trade-offs are the state’s highest homeowner property tax rate, higher grocery and gas prices than Oʻahu, lower incomes, and costly insurance in the lava zones. Numbers checked October 30, 2026.
Hawaiʻi Island at a glance
| Figure | As of | |
|---|---|---|
| 1BR rent, HUD benchmark | $1,615 a month | Oct 2026 |
| Typical 1BR apartment, Hilo-Kona | $1,374 a month | Feb 2026 |
| Median single-family home | $499,000 | Sep 2026 |
| Median condo | $604,500 (mostly Kona and Kohala resort condos) | Sep 2026 |
| Electricity, first 300 kWh | 46.84¢ per kWh; about $256 for 500 kWh | Oct 2026 |
| Regular gas, Hilo | $5.70 a gallon | Oct 30, 2026 |
| Property tax, homeowner | $5.75 per $1,000; $50,000 home exemption | FY2027 |
| Hele-On bus | Free for everyone through 2028 | 2026 |
| Bare-bones budget, single adult | $41,893 a year, the state’s lowest | 2024 data |
| Bare-bones budget, 2 adults + 2 kids | $89,023 a year | 2024 data |
| MIT living wage, single adult | $62,047 a year ($29.83/hr) | Feb 2026 |
| Median household income | $78,639, the state’s lowest | 2020–2024 |
| Military cost-of-living index | 126 (mainland = 100), tied for highest | Jan 2025 |
Every figure links to the guide where its source is cited. Budgets are before taxes. Electric bill is our calculation from the utility’s posted rates.
Rent by area
| Area | Average 1BR asking rent |
|---|---|
| Pāhoa, 96778 | $1,400 |
| Hilo, 96720 | $1,600 |
| Kailua-Kona, 96740 | $2,200 |
Zillow listings, October 29, 2026. Pāhoa was the cheapest ZIP code we found in the state.
What’s different about Hawaiʻi Island
- East side and west side are different markets. One-bedroom listings in Kailua-Kona average about $600 a month more than in Hilo.
- Low rent, high tax rate. The homeowner rate of $5.75 per $1,000 is the state’s highest, and the basic home exemption is the smallest, at $50,000, according to a Hawaiʻi Life summary of the county form (Hawaiʻi Life). Lower home values keep most bills modest anyway.
- Lava zones change insurance. In zones 1 and 2, mostly in Puna, few private insurers will write a policy, and residents reported increases of several hundred percent when one left in 2023 (Hawaii Tribune-Herald, via InsuranceNewsNet). See homeowners insurance.
- The bus is free. Hele-On is fare-free through December 31, 2028 (Hele-On), but routes are spread thin across a big island, so most households need a car. The county weight tax on cars is the state’s lowest.
- Everyday prices run higher than Oʻahu. The military cost-of-living index puts Hawaiʻi Island at 126, against 114 for Oʻahu. On the federal price measure, Hawaiʻi and Kauaʻi counties are 6.4% above the U.S. average, the lowest in the state (BEA via FRED).
See how it stacks up: compare the islands.
Sources
- HUD FY2027 Fair Market Rents (via StartBusinessByState)
- Title Guaranty: statewide housing statistics, September 2026
- Hawaiian Electric: Effective Rate Summary, October 2026
- AAA: Hawaiʻi gas prices
- State report of FY2027 county tax rates
- Hawaii Life: lowering your Big Island property tax
- Hele-On: fares
- InsuranceNewsNet: lava zone insurance options
- DBEDT: Self-Sufficiency Income Standard, 2024
- MIT Living Wage: Hawaiʻi County
- Census QuickFacts: Hawaiʻi County
- DBEDT Data Book Table 14.28: military COLA index
- FRED: RPP, Hawaiʻi nonmetro