ZIP code 96728

ZIP 96728 is a very small community in Hawaii County, Hawaii, with 370 residents counted in the Census American Community Survey 2019-2023 ACS 5-year estimates, which places it #86 of 97 ranked by population — larger than 11% of them. The median age here is 45 years against 39.1 nationally, a slightly older profile than the country as a whole. At this population the ACS sample is small, so the margin of error around every dollar figure below is wide — treat the numbers as a band, not a point, and expect them to move between annual releases without the place itself changing.

Households in ZIP 96728 earn a median of $69,063 a year, 12.1% below the national figure of $78,538. Household income here is measured before tax and pooled across everyone at the address, which is why it reads higher than typical individual earnings in the same area. Poverty reaches 4.3% of residents here, less than half the 12.4% national rate.

The typical owner-occupied home in ZIP 96728 is valued at $433,800, 43% above the national figure, while median gross rent runs $1,450 a month, 3.1% above the national figure, or roughly $17,400 across a full year. A household on the local median income would put about 25.2% of gross pay toward that rent against the federal 30% cost-burden threshold, so renting here is within the standard affordability guideline. The home-price-to-income ratio works out to 6.3×, 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. 76.6% 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 6.3× 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. With 370 residents, a handful of survey responses moves every median on this page. Compare ZIP 96728 against its county rather than against national figures.

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.

ZIP 96728 is tabulated inside Hawaii County, Hawaii, one of 28 ZIP areas the Census publishes for that county and 97 across Hawaii. This is one of the smallest tabulated ZIP areas in the state, the kind of rural route where a single subdivision or farm cluster accounts for most addresses. County assignment on this page follows the largest share of the ZIP's land area, which matters where a delivery route crosses a county line: mail addressed to 96728 can be handled by a post office in a neighbouring county even though the tabulation area is filed here.

Against its own county, 96728 reports a median household income of $69,063, 10% below the $76,585 county median, and 24% below the $91,429 typical HI ZIP. Owner-occupied homes are valued at a median of $433,800, 20% below the county figure and 41% below the statewide ZIP median. Rent is reported gross — the contract amount plus tenant-paid utilities — at $1,450 a month, which is why it reads higher than the advertised rent on a listing for the same unit.

Hawaii charges 4% statewide, and local governments overlapping 96728 may add county, city or special-district levies on top. We publish the state floor for this ZIP rather than guessing a combined figure, because ZIP boundaries and taxing-district boundaries were drawn for different purposes and do not line up.

Everything above comes from the Census Bureau American Community Survey 2019-2023 ACS 5-year estimates for this ZIP Code Tabulation Area, with sales tax rates traced to the state revenue agency. Five-year estimates pool sixty months of responses, so they are stable enough to compare 96728 with its neighbours but always trail the current year, and any value the Census suppressed for sample size is shown as unpublished rather than filled in with a model.