Let's Simplify Things -- would you say Oahu is 2x as expensive as mainland? (Honolulu: real estate, cheap house)
OahuIncludes Honolulu
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If we can just say it's about twice as expensive, that might help people figure out a lot more how affordable it will be on their proposed salary. They'll know $50K in Hawaii would be like $25K on the mainland, etc.
If we can just say it's about twice as expensive, that might help people figure out a lot more how affordable it will be on their proposed salary. They'll know $50K in Hawaii would be like $25K on the mainland, etc.
It depends upon what location one's comparing it to. Folks from San Francisco and New York might find that the cost-of-living on Oʻahu is less, while those from Topeka and Boise might find it to be much greater. Just do a Google search on "cost-of-living" calculators, select a few, and plug in the numbers... Let me google that for you -- Cost of living calculators
If we can just say it's about twice as expensive, that might help people figure out a lot more how affordable it will be on their proposed salary. They'll know $50K in Hawaii would be like $25K on the mainland, etc.
I lived in San Francisco 15 years. There are some differences like electricity - but for the most part, Oahu is comparable to San Francisco.
As I mentioned in another post - wages are the bigger issue. You don't make the same wages in Oahu as SF. Even min wage is $10.24 in SF versus $7.25 in Oahu. And you can mitigate expenses in SF by living in suburbs - Oahu is a small island with limited commuting options.
I can see real estate being the same in SF or NYC, but food? In grocery stores?
And don't forget gas, electricity, etc.
As mentioned - electricity jumps out at you. That by far really hits you in Hawaii - it can be like a car payment.
In Oahu - gas is comparable to San Francisco. The taxes on gas in California/County of San Francisco are high. The outer islands have it rough - often 50 cents/gallon more than Oahu. I think regular was around 4.25 when I passed a station this morning.
Grocery Stores - some things are more expensive but I find for the most part that are pretty close to San Francisco. Use your Safeway or other store club card and look for the sales. Again, outer islands - the price really jumps. As other mentioned - you can go to Farmers Markets. we have Walmart/Target for cheap household goods.
Restaurants - about the same.
Many things have no markups - like going to Sears - I've noticed the price of electronics like big screen TV's match the online price you get on the mainland.
Happy hour is often a better deal in Oahu depending on where you go.
Besides electricity - the other huge markup is new cars. Many dealers (including Honda across the street where I live) have this sticker next to the MSRP that says Local Market Adjustment - and they bump every car on the lot $2,500. It's often cheaper to fly to LA - get the discount on MSRP - and ship the car rather than buy it in Hawaii.
With all due respect, it is not something you can simplify as prices of things vary drastically across the "mainland" as do wages. Where I live in the "mainland"
- groceries are about 25% less than Honolulu
- electricity bills are about 20% less
- gas is about 33% less
- housing is about 100% less
- and wages are slightly higher for comparable jobs
but this will vary from city to city in the "mainland" so the comparison is really useless.
There are general cost of living comparison calculators that will compare cities (as was said), but that doesn't take into account the wage disparity.
So my advice for anyone trying to compare the two would be to
1) Find comparable jobs in Hawaii and see what they get paid.
2) Plug your city and Honolulu into a cost of living calculator like this one
3) Consider if moving to Hawaii will change your lifestyle any and consider how that might impact your spending (maybe less on gas, more on food, less on clothes, more on housing) and adjust for that.
It really just can't be simplified, especially not for the entire "mainland" which has 300x the population of Hawaii and about 50 cities that are more populous than Honolulu. It just isn't a useful comparison on any level.
As mentioned - electricity jumps out at you. That by far really hits you in Hawaii - it can be like a car payment.
In Oahu - gas is comparable to San Francisco. The taxes on gas in California/County of San Francisco are high. The outer islands have it rough - often 50 cents/gallon more than Oahu. I think regular was around 4.25 when I passed a station this morning.
Grocery Stores - some things are more expensive but I find for the most part that are pretty close to San Francisco. Use your Safeway or other store club card and look for the sales. Again, outer islands - the price really jumps. As other mentioned - you can go to Farmers Markets. we have Walmart/Target for cheap household goods.
Restaurants - about the same.
Many things have no markups - like going to Sears - I've noticed the price of electronics like big screen TV's match the online price you get on the mainland.
Happy hour is often a better deal in Oahu depending on where you go.
Besides electricity - the other huge markup is new cars. Many dealers (including Honda across the street where I live) have this sticker next to the MSRP that says Local Market Adjustment - and they bump every car on the lot $2,500. It's often cheaper to fly to LA - get the discount on MSRP - and ship the car rather than buy it in Hawaii.
Actually makes sense that electronics would be the same or cheaper -- closer to Japan/China.
With all due respect, it is not something you can simplify as prices of things vary drastically across the "mainland" as do wages. Where I live in the "mainland"
- groceries are about 25% less than Honolulu
- electricity bills are about 20% less
- gas is about 33% less
- housing is about 100% less
- and wages are slightly higher for comparable jobs
but this will vary from city to city in the "mainland" so the comparison is really useless.
There are general cost of living comparison calculators that will compare cities (as was said), but that doesn't take into account the wage disparity.
So my advice for anyone trying to compare the two would be to
1) Find comparable jobs in Hawaii and see what they get paid.
2) Plug your city and Honolulu into a cost of living calculator like this one
3) Consider if moving to Hawaii will change your lifestyle any and consider how that might impact your spending (maybe less on gas, more on food, less on clothes, more on housing) and adjust for that.
It really just can't be simplified, especially not for the entire "mainland" which has 300x the population of Hawaii and about 50 cities that are more populous than Honolulu. It just isn't a useful comparison on any level.
Well, we could do a mainland average, though I know that would be of limited utility. The COL calculators would definitely be helpful.
But it appears, if your city is at all representative, that Hawaii is less than twice as expensive as the mainland overall. Good start.
Finally, I don't think we have to worry about the wage disparity -- people will presumably have a specific job and salary in mind when considering the move, and can make the calculations/comparisons based on that.
Actually makes sense that electronics would be the same or cheaper -- closer to Japan/China.
But seems Asian cars would also be cheaper.
Ah - you have touched on one of the biggest myths of Hawaii. We aren't much closer to Asia - and the shipping lanes are well north of Hawaii - check out great circle mapping to see why. They bypass Hawaii (for the most part) and go directly to Long Beach/SF/Seattle.
On distance - Lets take an example. The distance from Honolulu to Shanghai is 4,926 miles versus San Francisco to Shanghai is 6,150 miles, or about 1,200 miles different. So technically closer, but not by much. The flaw would be if I ship Shanghai to Honolulu and then Honolulu to San Francisco, that trip is about 7,300 miles - far exceeding just heading to SF from Shanghai. Hawaii doesn't have a large enough market to come directly here.
Other issues - Hawaii can't handle the mega container ships that head to the US West coast. They make the Matson ships look tiny.
Well, Hawaii is apparently still nearly 20% closer to Asia, but I see what you mean about not being worth the stop. Does that mean electronics are first shipped to Cali, and then back to Hawaii? If so, seems they would be more expensive than mainland sets.
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