Wailea, HI population, income and ZIP codes

Wailea CDP is a mid-size town in Hawaii, with 6,571 residents counted in the Census American Community Survey 2019-2023 ACS 5-year estimates, which places it #49 of 163 ranked by population — larger than 70% of them. The median age here is 55.8 years against 39.1 nationally, a markedly older profile that usually tracks retirees staying put and younger households leaving for work. Places under 65,000 residents only appear in the five-year release, never the one-year file, so these values pool sixty months of responses and lag the current year by design.

Households in Wailea CDP earn a median of $89,375 a year, 13.8% above the national figure of $78,538 and 3% below the $92,062 median for the 124 Hawaii cities we cover. The median is the midpoint household, not an average, so a handful of very high earners cannot drag it upward the way they distort a mean. Poverty reaches 12.7% of residents here, above the 12.4% national rate.

The typical owner-occupied home in Wailea CDP is valued at $1,363,700, 349.5% above the national figure and 78% above the $768,200 peer median, while median gross rent runs $2,485 a month, 76.7% above the national figure, or roughly $29,820 across a full year. A household on the local median income would put about 33.4% of gross pay toward that rent against the federal 30% cost-burden threshold, so renting here is a stretch on median earnings. The home-price-to-income ratio works out to 15.3×, against roughly 3.9× nationally, so buying is out of reach on local earnings alone and the ownership market leans on outside income, equity or dual high earners. 67.9% of occupied homes are owner-occupied versus 65% nationally, so the market leans toward owners. The rent line includes utilities paid by the tenant, a definition worth remembering when comparing it against a landlord's quoted rate.

Home values sit at 15.3× median household income, far past the 3.9× national mark, so ownership costs here are set by something other than local wages — second homes, retirees with equity, or commuters earning elsewhere. A median age of 55.8 puts Wailea CDP well into retirement-weighted territory, which pulls median household income down even where household wealth is high, because retirement draws are counted differently from wages.

Every value on this page is published directly by the Census for this area — nothing is modelled or interpolated. Small-area estimates still carry wider margins of error than state or national figures, so check the linked ACS tables before relying on them for lending, appraisal or legal work.