What education levels are typically required for projected below-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 job openings below the living-wage threshold, 62% typically require no formal education and another 29% require only a high school diploma or equivalent.
Together, 91% of Maui’s projected below-living-wage openings are accessible without a postsecondary credential.
The jobs with the fewest formal barriers to entry are overwhelmingly concentrated below Maui’s living-wage threshold.
What this visualization shows
This visualization examines the education typically required for projected job openings in Maui County that pay below the living-wage threshold.
Nearly two-thirds of these openings require no formal education, while another three in ten require only a high school diploma or equivalent. Very few below-living-wage openings are classified as requiring an associate, bachelor’s, or graduate degree.
The pattern reveals an important distinction between access to employment and access to economic security.
Workers without postsecondary credentials may be able to enter many of the jobs expected to become available. But those opportunities are unlikely to provide enough income for a single adult to meet Maui’s cost of living.
Viewed alongside Maui’s living-wage education profile, the visualization suggests that the county’s labor market may function through two broad tracks. Many of the most accessible jobs pay below a living wage, while a substantial share of better-paying opportunities requires either a bachelor’s degree or access to skilled, experience-based occupations.
The challenge is not simply helping people find their first job.
It is creating realistic ways for them to continue advancing after they enter the workforce.
Why this matters
This visualization examines the education typically required for projected job openings in Maui County that pay below the living-wage threshold.
Nearly two-thirds of these openings require no formal education, while another three in ten require only a high school diploma or equivalent. Very few below-living-wage openings are classified as requiring an associate, bachelor’s, or graduate degree.
The pattern reveals an important distinction between access to employment and access to economic security.
Workers without postsecondary credentials may be able to enter many of the jobs expected to become available. But those opportunities are unlikely to provide enough income for a single adult to meet Maui’s cost of living.
Viewed alongside Maui’s living-wage education profile, the visualization suggests that the county’s labor market may function through two broad tracks. Many of the most accessible jobs pay below a living wage, while a substantial share of better-paying opportunities requires either a bachelor’s degree or access to skilled, experience-based occupations.
The challenge is not simply helping people find their first job.
It is creating realistic ways for them to continue advancing after they enter the workforce.
Evidence:
Questions this visualization helps answer
What share of Maui’s below-living-wage openings requires no formal education?
How many projected below-living-wage openings require only a high school diploma or equivalent?
What proportion of below-living-wage work is accessible without a postsecondary credential?
How does Maui’s below-living-wage education profile compare with its living-wage profile?
Are the jobs with the lowest formal barriers to entry also the least likely to provide economic security?
Curiosity:
Questions this visualization raises
What realistic pathways exist for workers without postsecondary credentials to reach a living wage?
Which occupations account for most of Maui’s below-living-wage openings requiring no formal education?
How many of those occupations offer clear advancement into higher-paying roles?
What skills, experience, licenses, or credentials would help workers move upward within those fields?
Can apprenticeships, incumbent-worker training, or employer-supported education help workers advance without leaving employment?
Which living-wage occupations are genuinely accessible without a bachelor’s degree?
How can Maui make community college, technical education, and short-term training more accessible to working adults?
Are employers recognizing and rewarding skills gained through experience and workplace learning?
What wage, benefit, scheduling, or job-design changes could improve the quality of Maui’s most accessible jobs?
How do these patterns differ across tourism, food service, retail, healthcare, construction, transportation, and other major sectors?
Do residents in different parts of Maui County face unequal access to education, training, and living-wage employment?
How often do workers who begin in below-living-wage jobs successfully advance into living-wage careers?
Is the divide between accessible work and living-wage work narrowing or widening over time?
Youth Perspective
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