How does the number of young people projected to enter Honolulu County’s workforce compare with the number of living-wage job openings available between 2022 and 2032?
Workforce Understory Episode: Season 1, Episode 1 — The Geography of Opportunity
Geography: Honolulu County
Topic: Living-wage opportunity, projected job growth, and job quality
The takeaway
Honolulu County is projected to have 116,116 young people enter its workforce between 2022 and 2032.
During the same period, the county is projected to generate approximately 71,500 living-wage job openings—enough to provide a corresponding opportunity for about 62% of its projected workforce entrants.
That is the strongest ratio among Hawaiʻi’s counties, but it still leaves a gap equivalent to approximately 44,616 young people.
Even in Hawaiʻi’s largest and most diverse labor market, nearly four in ten projected workforce entrants may not have a living-wage job available to them.
What this visualization shows
This visualization compares the number of young people projected to enter Honolulu County’s workforce with the number of job openings expected to meet or exceed the county’s living-wage threshold.
Honolulu offers more living-wage openings than any other county and has the strongest ratio of living-wage opportunity to projected workforce entrants. Its larger and more diverse economy includes a broader range of employers, industries, occupations, educational institutions, and career pathways than are available elsewhere in the state.
That scale creates meaningful opportunity.
But it can also obscure the size of the remaining gap.
A 62% coverage rate still means that the number of projected workforce entrants exceeds the number of living-wage openings by more than 44,000. In absolute terms, that is a substantial population of young people entering an economy without a corresponding job that provides enough income to meet the local cost of living.
This does not mean that each living-wage opening will go to a young entrant or that every entrant will compete for only one available job. Incumbent workers seeking advancement, adults returning to employment, and people moving to Honolulu may pursue the same opportunities.
Instead, the comparison provides a high-level measure of whether the county’s economy is creating quality employment at a scale that matches the next generation of workers.
Why this matters
Honolulu is often viewed as the center of economic opportunity in Hawaiʻi. It contains the state’s largest concentration of employers, higher education institutions, government agencies, healthcare systems, professional services, and other living-wage industries.
The county’s 62% coverage rate suggests that this diversity matters. Compared with the Neighbor Islands, Honolulu’s economy appears better able to generate living-wage opportunities at scale.
Yet better does not mean sufficient.
For the approximately 44,616 projected entrants without a corresponding living-wage opening, the alternatives may include accepting work below the cost of living, holding multiple jobs, relying on family support, delaying financial independence, or leaving Hawaiʻi in search of stronger opportunities.
The size of this gap also suggests that workforce preparation cannot be the only strategy. Honolulu must continue helping young people develop relevant skills and navigate career pathways, but it must also increase the number and accessibility of jobs that provide economic security.
Because Honolulu accounts for such a large share of Hawaiʻi’s workforce, progress within the county could have significant statewide effects. Even a modest increase in the share of living-wage openings could create thousands of additional opportunities for young workers.
This evidence invites Honolulu to ask:
How can Hawaiʻi’s strongest labor market translate its scale and diversity into living-wage opportunity for more of the young people entering it?
Evidence:
Questions this visualization helps answer
How many young people are projected to enter Honolulu’s workforce over the decade?
How many living-wage job openings are projected during the same period?
What share of Honolulu’s incoming workforce may have access to a living-wage opportunity?
How does Honolulu’s ratio compare with those of the Neighbor Island counties?
Does Honolulu’s large and diverse economy create enough quality jobs for its future workforce?
What does Honolulu’s remaining living-wage opportunity gap look like in absolute terms?
Curiosity:
Questions this visualization raises
Why does Honolulu’s living-wage coverage rate exceed those of the Neighbor Island counties so significantly?
How much of the difference is explained by Honolulu’s broader mix of industries and occupations?
What role does the concentration of higher education institutions, government agencies, healthcare systems, and large employers play?
Which industries account for most of Honolulu’s projected living-wage openings?
Which young people are most likely to benefit from those opportunities, and which remain least connected to them?
What happens to the approximately 44,616 projected entrants without a corresponding living-wage opening?
How many may leave Hawaiʻi, work multiple jobs, or remain in employment below the living-wage threshold?
Are living-wage opportunities distributed equitably across Oʻahu’s communities?
How do transportation, housing, education, and professional networks affect access to Honolulu’s strongest career pathways?
How can employers reduce unnecessary degree or experience requirements that may limit access to otherwise attainable jobs?
Which sectors could expand living-wage employment at meaningful scale?
What lessons from Honolulu’s labor market could inform workforce strategies on the Neighbor Islands?
Is the ratio of living-wage openings to workforce entrants improving or worsening over time?
How does access differ by race, gender, educational background, income, disability, or community?
Youth Perspective
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