What share of Kauaʻi County’s projected job openings between 2022 and 2032 will pay a living wage?
Workforce Understory Episode: Season 1, Episode 1 — The Geography of Opportunity
Geography: Kauaʻi County
Topic: Living-wage opportunity, projected job growth, and job quality
The takeaway
Kauaʻi County is projected to generate 17,700 job openings between 2022 and 2032—the smallest total among Hawaiʻi’s counties.
Only approximately 2,700 of those openings are expected to meet or exceed the living-wage threshold, while about 15,000 will fall below it.
That means 85% of Kauaʻi’s projected job openings will pay below a living wage, the highest share among the counties.
Only about one in seven projected job openings in Kauaʻi County will provide a living wage.
What this visualization shows
This visualization compares the total number of projected job openings in Kauaʻi County with the number expected to meet or exceed the county’s living-wage threshold.
Kauaʻi’s labor market is smaller than those of the other counties, but the job-quality challenge is especially pronounced. Of the 17,700 openings projected over the decade, only 2,700 are expected to provide a living wage.
That amounts to approximately 270 living-wage openings per year.
The visualization therefore reveals two challenges at once. Kauaʻi has fewer total employment opportunities because of the size of its economy, and a smaller share of those opportunities provides enough income to meet the local cost of living.
In a larger labor market, workers may have more employers, industries, and occupations from which to choose. In Kauaʻi, a relatively small number of sectors accounts for much of the county’s employment. When those sectors generate limited living-wage opportunity, workers have fewer alternatives available locally.
The central challenge is therefore not simply creating more jobs.
It is creating and improving jobs at sufficient scale to expand economic mobility within a small island economy.
Why this matters
Kauaʻi’s size makes every living-wage opportunity especially important.
With only about 270 projected living-wage openings per year, competition for quality jobs may be significant. Young people entering the workforce, adults seeking greater stability, and incumbent workers trying to advance may all be pursuing opportunities within the same limited labor market.
When those opportunities are unavailable, residents may accept work below the living-wage threshold, combine multiple jobs, remain dependent on family support, or leave Kauaʻi in search of better wages and broader career options.
The county’s small scale also makes economic concentration a significant vulnerability. If a handful of sectors drives most employment—and those sectors do not generate living-wage jobs at scale—workers have fewer alternative pathways when economic conditions change.
At the same time, Kauaʻi’s size may create opportunities for more focused coordination. Employers, educators, workforce organizations, government, philanthropy, and community partners may be able to identify a limited number of high-potential pathways and work together to strengthen them.
This evidence invites Kauaʻi to ask:
How can a small island economy expand living-wage opportunity at a scale that allows more residents to build their futures at home?
Evidence:
Questions this visualization helps answer
How many total job openings are projected in Kauaʻi County?
How many of those openings are expected to meet the living-wage threshold?
How does Kauaʻi’s balance of living-wage and below-living-wage openings compare with the other counties?
How many living-wage openings will become available in an average year?
Does projected job growth in Kauaʻi create enough opportunity for residents to achieve economic security?
How does the small size of Kauaʻi’s labor market affect access to quality jobs?
Curiosity:
Questions this visualization raises
How can Kauaʻi expand access to living-wage work when only about 270 such openings are projected each year?
Which industries and occupations account for most of the county’s living-wage openings?
Which sectors account for the approximately 15,000 projected openings below the living-wage threshold?
What opportunities exist to improve wages and job quality within Kauaʻi’s largest existing industries?
Which emerging or underdeveloped sectors could diversify the county’s economy?
How can local employers create clearer advancement pathways from entry-level work into living-wage careers?
Are Kauaʻi’s education and training programs aligned with the limited living-wage opportunities that do exist?
Which career pathways can be built or strengthened without requiring residents to leave the island for education or training?
How does the shortage of living-wage work affect the retention of young people and skilled workers?
What role could remote work or locally based digital employment play in expanding opportunity?
How vulnerable is Kauaʻi’s living-wage job market to changes in tourism or a small number of major employers?
Could coordinated investments in a few priority pathways meaningfully improve the county’s living-wage ratio?
Is Kauaʻi’s share of living-wage opportunity improving or worsening over time?
Youth Perspective
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