Honolulu bucks national trends - grows middle class to top 10 cities in US (middle-class, 2015)

[whtviper1]

Honolulu has bucked the trends in the US by growing it's middle class to 63% of the population while most mainland cities declined with many under 50%. Honolulu now ranks in the top 10 of US cities of percentage of middle class population. It's not all doom and gloom (Hawaii also boasts one of the largest per capita population with households having over $1,000,000 in investable funds (excluding primary home and retirement funds))

Honolulu bucks trend of shrinking middle class, study finds | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

[Mikala43]

Good news!!!! Yay!!!!!

[pj737]

I wouldn't consider $42,000 for a family of 3 in Honolulu as middle class. But it's very promising to see a 6% reduction in the lower income bracket and a 4% increase in the middle class. Nearly 2 in 3 people here are middle class (vs less than 1 in 2 people in other large cities). We are definitely moving in the right direction.

Some snippets from the article -

The study showed the percentage of people considered middle class rose from 59 percent to 63 percent in urban Honolulu between 2000 and 2014. Upper income residents also increased from about 13 percent to 15 percent of residents and the percentage of lower income residents decreased from 28 percent in 2000 to a little less than 22 percent in 2014.

By Pew’s definition, a three-person household was middle class in 2014 if its annual income fell between $42,000 and $125,000.

Middle-class adults now make up less than half the population in such cities as New York, Los Angeles, Boston and Houston.

[HawaiiWarriorFan]

I suspect that this has more to do with Honolulu being the fourth highest city in the nation for people migrating out then anything else and richer people moving in since housing costs in the city keeps rising.

[flipsidem]

Originally Posted by whtviper1

Honolulu has bucked the trends in the US by growing it's middle class to 63% of the population while most mainland cities declined with many under 50%. Honolulu now ranks in the top 10 of US cities of percentage of middle class population. It's not all doom and gloom (Hawaii also boasts one of the largest per capita population with households having over $1,000,000 in investable funds (excluding primary home and retirement funds))

Honolulu bucks trend of shrinking middle class, study finds | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

Here I was thinking you were all doom and gloom whtviper1, and you go and get all positive and rosy.

[whtviper1]

Originally Posted by HawaiiWarriorFan

I suspect that this has more to do with Honolulu being the fourth highest city in the nation for people migrating out then anything else and richer people moving in since housing costs in the city keeps rising.

Yeah, I suppose record tourism the past 5 years and ultra low unemployment have nothing to do with it - and all those COFA immigrants really contribute a lot to the economy

[HawaiiWarriorFan]

Originally Posted by whtviper1

Yeah, I suppose record tourism the past 5 years and ultra low unemployment have nothing to do with it - and all those COFA immigrants really contribute a lot to the economy

No i think its great that your focusing on the positive? But does Oahu have the state's highest concentrations of rich and poor residents? Correct? Just wondering.

[whtviper1]

Originally Posted by HawaiiWarriorFan

But does Oahu have the state's highest concentrations of rich and poor residents?

If you read the article

You would know the greatest concentration of peope on Oahu is Middle Class - at 63%, top 10 of US cities.

That leaves 37% between the wealthier and less than middle class.

[pj737]

Originally Posted by HawaiiWarriorFan

I suspect that this has more to do with Honolulu being the fourth highest city in the nation for people migrating out then anything else and richer people moving in since housing costs in the city keeps rising.

Housing cost increases over the last several years (particularly rent) in Honolulu are behind most other large coastal cities in the US. Other cities have seen rent explosions that make increases here look anemic.

[Jonah K]

Originally Posted by whtviper1

If you read the article

You would know the greatest concentration of peope on Oahu is Middle Class - at 63%, top 10 of US cities.

That leaves 37% between the wealthier and less than middle class.

The author(s) of that article may have used the data from the census-designated place (CDP) of "East Honolulu" to reach a conclusion about the census-designated place of "Urban Honolulu."

(In the census-designated area considered as urban Honolulu, about 63 percent of residents are considered middle class. That ranks Honolulu among the top 10 cities for middle class residents. The cencus considers the urban Honolulu as the stretch from East Honolulu to Red Hill, encompassing the zipcodes that start with 968.

Moreover, the Pew Research Center report, "The American Middle Class Is Losing Ground," that is used as source material for the article conflates the terms "middle income" and "middle class." I suspect that a true "middle class" household in "Urban Honolulu" would be considered "upper income" in Des Moines.