Waimea, Hawaii.
Typical home $743,798 (+2.7% in a year), asking rent $3,200 . Hilo, HI metro.
to buy the typical home at today's mortgage rate — +$2,229 (+133%) since Jan 2020.
- 1 year
- Up $19,233 +3%
- $724,566$743,798 since Sep 2025
- 5 years
- Up $179,103 +32%
- $564,696$743,798 since Sep 2021
Monthly payment to buy the typical home
Home value × that month's 30-year mortgage rate, 20% down, principal and interest. This is the line households feel: prices and rates compound each other.
- Waimea$3,904
- Hawaii$4,372
- United States$1,922
At the last five years' pace, a typical home here doubles in price every 13 years.
Typical home values in Waimea, HI rose 2.7% over the past year — faster than the nation's +1.2%.
Living in Waimea, Hawaii County, Hawaii
Waimea, in Hawaii County, had 9,904 people in the 2020 census. Half its households earn more than $100,198 a year and half less, against $78,639 across Hawaii County; 12% of its people live below the poverty line. 73% of its homes are lived in by their owners and 27% are rented. Unemployment in Hawaii County was 3.4% in August 2026, and the county had 0.2% more jobs in 2025 than the year before. The most residents work in schools and health care, then restaurants and hotels.
Written by AI Claude Sonnet 5.5 wrote this on 26 October 2026 from the figures here, a list of nearby places and what it knows. It can be wrong or out of date.
What it’s like
The place. Waimea is a small town on the Big Island of Hawaii, and most of its homes are lived in by their owners. Household incomes run higher than across Hawaii County, though homes here are valued well above what many families can easily afford, and a share of residents live below the poverty line. A good many adults hold a four-year degree, and the weather is mild all year, with warm days even in the coolest month, almost no snow, and little rain.
Work. Residents work mostly in schools, hospitals and social care, in restaurants, hotels and entertainment, in the building trades, and in professional and business services. Among the largest workplaces in Waimea are KTA Super Stores, Parker Ranch and BFC. The usual trip to work is a moderate drive, and a fair number of people work from home.
Things to do. A short drive away are Hiʻilawe Falls and Waihilau Falls, both waterfalls, and the Isaacs Art Center, a museum. For a beach day, Hapuna Beach State Recreation Area is a longer drive away. Puʻukoholā Heiau National Historic Site, a protected area, is also a longer drive from town.
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- 3,530households
- 42%of adults have a degree
- 12%below the poverty line
- 27 mintypical commute
- 19%work from home
What residents work in
Employed residents by industry, from the Census survey. Hawaii County had 74,168 jobs in 2025, 0.2% more than the year before (Bureau of Labor Statistics).
Weather through the year
Coldest in January, with highs near 82° and lows near 68°; warmest in August, with highs near 88° and lows near 75°. About 9 inches of rain a year, and little or no snow.
Average daily high and low, 1991–2020, at the Puukohola Heiau weather station, 13 miles away (NOAA).
Largest workplaces in Waimea
- KTA Super Stores - WaimeaSupermarkets96
- Parker RanchCattle conditioning operations47
- BFCHardware stores23
- Hawaii Electric Light Company, Inc. - Waimea BaseyardDistribution of electric power20
Staff on average in 2025, as each workplace reported it to OSHA with its injury records: 4 workplaces with 20 or more staff, 186 people in all. Not listed: many offices and banks, which need not report to OSHA; military bases, whose staff OPM withholds; and, in about half the states, city and county governments.
Natural hazards
- Inland floodingVery high
- WildfireRelatively high
- EarthquakesRelatively high
- LightningRelatively high
- Volcanic activityRelatively moderate
- TsunamisRelatively moderate
FEMA’s National Risk Index (December 2025) rates the risk each natural hazard poses to the people, buildings and farms in Waimea’s census tracts, against the rest of the country; all of them together, very high. It is meant for planning, not a substitute for a local risk assessment or a flood map: FEMA’s index.
From the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2020 census and its American Community Survey (2020–2024 five-year estimates), and the Bureau of Labor Statistics. A survey, so each figure has a margin of error, and figures it is not sure of are left out. More on Hawaii County and the Hilo, HI metro.
Waimea home values
Zillow measures a city over its municipal boundary. Against the state and national figures, mid-tier homes, smoothed and seasonally adjusted.
- Waimea$743,798
- Hawaii$832,932
- United States$366,157
Sellers are cutting prices on about 1 in 5 Waimea listings — the market is roughly in balance.
When this market ran hot
Each cell is that month's year-on-year home-value growth. Read left to right, top row is the latest year — the 2021–22 band is the boom.
Market heat, inside the city limits
Share of listings with a price cut
The early-warning dial: sellers cut when buyers stop reaching. Rising cuts cool a market months before prices notice.
- Waimea19.19%
- United States26.90%
Homes for sale
Active for-sale inventory. More supply hands power to buyers.
- Waimea62
New listings per month
Sellers arriving at the market.
- Waimea8
Zip codes with a Waimea address
A different geography, not a breakdown. The figure above covers the municipality; these zips cover everywhere the Post Office calls Waimea — often including townships beyond the city limits. Both come straight from Zillow, and they are not expected to average out.
Zip codes in Waimea
| Zip activate to sort by Zip | Place activate to sort by Place | Population sorted descending, activate to sort ascending | Rent activate to sort by Rent | Home value activate to sort by Home value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 96743 | Kamuela | 12,422 | $3,500 | $1,270,630 |
| 96752 | Kekaha | 3,809 | — | $765,419 |