ZIP code 96738

ZIP 96738 is a mid-size town in Hawaii County, Hawaii, with 7,407 residents counted in the Census American Community Survey 2019-2023 ACS 5-year estimates, which places it #40 of 97 ranked by population — larger than 59% of them. The median age here is 43.3 years against 39.1 nationally, a slightly older profile than the country as a whole. 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 ZIP 96738 earn a median of $90,545 a year, 15.3% above the national figure of $78,538. 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 7.8% of residents here, below the 12.4% national rate.

The typical owner-occupied home in ZIP 96738 is valued at $686,700, 126.3% above the national figure, while median gross rent runs $2,251 a month, 60.1% above the national figure, or roughly $27,012 across a full year. A household on the local median income would put about 29.8% 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 7.6×, 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. 78.4% of occupied homes are owner-occupied versus 65% nationally, so the market leans toward owners. Rent is reported gross — contract rent plus tenant-paid utilities — which is why it runs above the advertised price on a listing for the same unit.

Home values sit at 7.6× 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.

No figure on this page is estimated by us; each one comes straight from the published ACS tables for this area. 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 96738 is tabulated inside Hawaii County, Hawaii, one of 28 ZIP areas the Census publishes for that county and 97 across Hawaii. Population sits in the small-town band, typically one main street plus the addresses that feed into it. 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 96738 can be handled by a post office in a neighbouring county even though the tabulation area is filed here.

Against its own county, 96738 reports a median household income of $90,545, 18% above the $76,585 county median, and close to the $91,429 typical HI ZIP. Owner-occupied homes are valued at a median of $686,700, 27% above the county figure and 6% below the statewide ZIP median. Rent is reported gross — the contract amount plus tenant-paid utilities — at $2,251 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 96738 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 96738 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.