Teaching in Hawaii Questions (Honolulu: sales, rentals, home)

[dmlandis]

I just received a packet of information from Department of Education in Hawaii about being in the teacher applicant pool. I have 10 years of public school high school teaching experience and 4 years of overseas teaching experience (in China and currently in Middle East) but will be going home to California Bay Area in June.

We have a primary residence in SF Bay Area that we rent out for $3,300 per month. Assuming that I am earning close to $60000 in Hawaii, is this financially doable? I would not want to be teaching in remote islands but would most likely prefer Honolulu. What are 2 bedroom 1/2 baths renting for per month? I would like to get an idea of costs to see if this is manageable. It would be my wife and myself - close to retirement age but still want to teach in a warmer and greener enviroment than where I'm at.

[whtviper1]

Originally Posted by dmlandis

What are 2 bedroom 1/2 baths renting for per month? I would like to get an idea of costs to see if this is manageable.

That is a bit of a broad question - as it varies widely from neighborhood to neighborhood.

This site suggests $2,664 average for a 2 bedroom in Honolulu. My opinion, that won't get you a nice place in the better neighborhoods. It would be fine in the high commute areas.

https://www.rentjungle.com/average-r...u-rent-trends/

[Enyo]

Originally Posted by dmlandis

I would not want to be teaching in remote islands but would most likely prefer Honolulu.

Since you said "in remote islands" (though Hawaii as a whole is remote), did you mean you wanted to work on the island of Oahu or were you specifically saying you want to live and/or work in the city of Honolulu itself?

[dmlandis]

Probably Oahu or Honolulu proper. Trying to compare housing costs between Sf bay area and Honolulu. I am curious to see which is more expensive for rentals. Also what about state taxes in Hawaii?

[whtviper1]

Originally Posted by dmlandis

Probably Oahu or Honolulu proper. Trying to compare housing costs between Sf bay area and Honolulu. I am curious to see which is more expensive for rentals. Also what about state taxes in Hawaii?

That's a very broad stroke - Honolulu is going to less expensive for rentals, in general, to the City of San Francisco. It'll be comparable to perhaps the East Bay. The Bay Area has a wide range of rental prices - Honolulu proper less so but most of the time, a rental in the City will be much more than Honolulu.

Regardless, average 2 bedroom rent in SF is running $4,492/month as of the time I'm writing this - that price will have you in a luxury rental in Honolulu regardless of location - not so much in SF.

What about state taxes? Well, the sales tax is a blistering 8.5% in SF versus 4.712% on Oahu. You'll feel it buying a car and groceries in SF fairly hard.

If you make $55,000 per year, your tax rate in CA is 9.3% versus 8.25% in Hawaii.....