What education levels are typically required for projected living-wage job openings in Maui County?
Workforce Understory Episode: Season 1, Episode 1 — The Geography of Opportunity
Geography: Maui County
Topic: Living-wage opportunity and education requirements
The takeaway
Among Maui County’s projected living-wage job openings, 41% typically require a bachelor’s degree and another 41% require only a high school diploma or equivalent.
By comparison, occupations typically requiring an associate degree or another postsecondary credential account for only about 1% of projected living-wage openings.
Maui’s living-wage economy appears divided between bachelor’s-level careers and occupations accessible without a four-year degree, with very little opportunity formally concentrated in between.
What this visualization shows
This visualization examines the education typically required for projected living-wage job openings in Maui County.
The distribution is unusually balanced at the two ends of the education spectrum. Bachelor’s-degree occupations account for 41% of living-wage openings, reflecting the importance of professional, managerial, technical, and other higher-education pathways. At the same time, an equal share is found in occupations that typically require no more than a high school diploma or equivalent.
What is much less visible is the traditional middle of the education spectrum. Occupations classified as typically requiring an associate degree or another postsecondary credential account for only a very small share of Maui’s projected living-wage openings.
This does not necessarily mean that community college education, technical credentials, or short-term training have little value. Many occupations classified as requiring a high school diploma may still depend on apprenticeships, licenses, industry certifications, technical preparation, significant work experience, or employer-based learning.
The visualization therefore describes the education typically required to enter an occupation, not every form of preparation workers may need to qualify, succeed, or advance.
Still, the pattern raises important questions about the structure of Maui’s living-wage economy and whether the pathways between high school and a bachelor’s degree are producing enough clearly rewarded opportunities.
Why this matters
The equal shares of bachelor’s-level and high-school-level living-wage openings suggest that Maui may offer two very different routes toward economic security.
One route runs through higher education into professional, managerial, and specialized careers. The other may run through skilled trades, construction, transportation, repair, public safety, supervisory roles, and occupations in which experience or workplace learning matters more than a four-year degree.
Both pathways are important.
The concern is the limited visibility of opportunities formally associated with associate degrees and other postsecondary credentials. Community colleges and workforce-training programs are often expected to create affordable, accessible routes into middle-skill careers. If those credentials appear in only a small share of projected living-wage openings, communities need to understand whether the labor market is failing to reward them—or whether their value is hidden within occupations classified under broader entry requirements.
This distinction matters for students and working adults deciding how much time and money to invest in education. It also matters for institutions determining which programs to offer and for funders and policymakers deciding which pathways to expand.
This evidence invites Maui County to ask:
How can Maui strengthen the pathways between high school and a four-year degree so that more forms of education and training lead clearly to living-wage careers?
Evidence:
Questions this visualization helps answer
What share of Maui’s living-wage openings typically requires a bachelor’s degree?
How many projected living-wage opportunities are accessible in occupations requiring only a high school diploma or equivalent?
What role do associate degrees and other postsecondary credentials play in Maui’s projected living-wage job market?
How evenly are living-wage opportunities distributed across education levels?
Does Maui offer meaningful living-wage pathways for workers without four-year degrees?
Curiosity:
Questions this visualization raises
Why does Maui have such a large share of living-wage openings classified as requiring only a high school diploma or equivalent?
How much of that share is driven by construction, repair, transportation, skilled trades, public safety, or supervisory occupations?
Which specific occupations account for most of the high-school-level living-wage openings?
What apprenticeships, licenses, certifications, technical skills, or work experience do those occupations require in practice?
Why do associate-degree and postsecondary-credential occupations represent such a small share of projected living-wage openings?
Are Maui’s community college and workforce-training programs aligned with occupations that provide living-wage earnings?
Do short-term credentials help workers enter occupations formally classified as requiring only a high school diploma?
Are employers rewarding postsecondary credentials through higher wages or advancement, even when those credentials are not listed as entry requirements?
What happens to the earnings of associate-degree and certificate holders several years after completion?
Does Maui’s education profile reflect a workforce economy divided between professional careers and skilled trades?
What pathways allow workers to move from high-school-level entry occupations into higher-paying technical, supervisory, or managerial roles?
How does Maui’s education profile compare with those of the other counties?
What additional middle-skill pathways could Maui develop in healthcare, construction, technology, renewable energy, and other fields?
Youth Perspective
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