What education levels are typically required for projected living-wage job openings in Hawaiʻi County?
Workforce Understory Episode: Season 1, Episode 1 — The Geography of Opportunity
Geography: Hawaiʻi County
Topic: Living-wage opportunity and education requirements
The takeaway
Hawaiʻi County’s projected living-wage job openings are divided almost evenly between occupations that typically require only a high school diploma or equivalent, at 43%, and those requiring a bachelor’s degree, at 42%.
Occupations typically requiring an associate degree or another postsecondary credential represent only a very small share of the county’s projected living-wage openings.
Hawaiʻi Island’s living-wage economy appears concentrated in two distinct pathways: bachelor’s-level careers and occupations accessible without a four-year degree, with relatively little opportunity formally concentrated between them.
What this visualization shows
This visualization examines the education typically required for projected living-wage job openings in Hawaiʻi County.
The distribution is strikingly balanced at two ends of the education spectrum. Bachelor’s-degree occupations account for 42% of projected living-wage openings, reflecting the importance of professional, managerial, healthcare, education, and other specialized careers. At the same time, 43% of living-wage openings are found in occupations typically requiring only a high school diploma or equivalent.
Much less visible are occupations classified as requiring an associate degree or another postsecondary credential.
This does not necessarily mean that community college education, technical training, or short-term credentials have little value. Many occupations categorized as requiring only a high school diploma may still depend on apprenticeships, licenses, certifications, technical skills, substantial work experience, or employer-based learning.
The visualization captures the education typically required to enter an occupation. It does not show every form of preparation workers may use to qualify, advance, or increase their earnings over time.
Still, the pattern raises an important question for Hawaiʻi Island: whether the pathways between high school and a bachelor’s degree are sufficiently visible, accessible, and connected to living-wage work.
Why this matters
Hawaiʻi Island’s education and workforce landscape is shaped by geography.
Many residents live far from the island’s education and employment centers. Pursuing a bachelor’s degree may require substantial travel, relocation, online learning, or costs that are difficult for students and working adults to absorb.
That makes the large share of living-wage openings requiring a bachelor’s degree important. These careers represent meaningful opportunity, but access may depend on whether local students can realistically enter and complete four-year pathways.
The equally large share of openings requiring only a high school diploma suggests another route toward economic security. These opportunities may be concentrated in skilled trades, construction, repair, transportation, public safety, utilities, supervisory roles, and other occupations where experience or workplace learning matters more than a four-year degree.
The limited presence of associate-degree and postsecondary-credential occupations creates a potential gap between those two pathways. Community colleges and workforce programs are often expected to provide affordable, locally accessible routes into living-wage careers. If those credentials appear only marginally in the projections, communities need to understand whether their labor-market value is genuinely limited or simply hidden within occupations classified under broader entry requirements.
This evidence invites Hawaiʻi Island to ask:
How can Hawaiʻi County strengthen locally accessible pathways between high school and a four-year degree so that more residents can reach living-wage careers without leaving the island?
Evidence:
Questions this visualization helps answer
What share of Hawaiʻi Island’s living-wage openings typically requires a bachelor’s degree?
How many projected living-wage opportunities are found in occupations requiring only a high school diploma or equivalent?
What role do associate degrees and other postsecondary credentials play in the county’s projected living-wage job market?
Does Hawaiʻi County offer meaningful living-wage pathways for workers without four-year degrees?
How evenly are living-wage opportunities distributed across education levels?
How does Hawaiʻi County’s education profile compare with those of the other counties?
Curiosity:
Questions this visualization raises
Given the geographic and financial barriers to four-year education, how accessible are bachelor’s-degree pathways for Hawaiʻi Island residents?
Which occupations account for most of the living-wage openings requiring a bachelor’s degree?
Are enough local programs available to prepare residents for those careers?
Which occupations account for the 43% of living-wage openings requiring only a high school diploma or equivalent?
How many of those jobs require apprenticeships, licenses, certifications, technical preparation, or significant work experience?
Why do associate-degree and postsecondary-credential occupations represent such a small share of projected living-wage openings?
Are community college 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 associate degrees and technical credentials through higher wages or advancement, even when those credentials are not formal entry requirements?
What barriers prevent residents from moving from entry-level work into skilled, technical, supervisory, or managerial roles?
How do education requirements and available pathways differ across West Hawaiʻi, East Hawaiʻi, North Hawaiʻi, Kaʻū, Puna, and other communities?
Could employer-supported education, apprenticeships, hybrid learning, or regional training partnerships make living-wage pathways more accessible?
What additional middle-skill pathways could Hawaiʻi County develop in healthcare, construction, renewable energy, technology, agriculture, and other fields?
Is the county’s living-wage economy becoming more or less accessible to people without four-year degrees over time?
Youth Perspective
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