What education levels are typically required for projected below-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
Among Hawaiʻi County’s projected job openings below the living-wage threshold, 58% typically require no formal education and another 31% require only a high school diploma or equivalent.
Together, nearly nine in ten projected below-living-wage openings are accessible without a postsecondary credential. Occupations typically requiring an associate degree or another postsecondary credential represent only a very small share of this category.
Hawaiʻi Island offers many jobs with relatively low barriers to entry, but most of those accessible opportunities do not provide a living wage.
What this visualization shows
This visualization examines the education typically required for projected job openings in Hawaiʻi County that pay below the living-wage threshold.
More than half of these openings require no formal education, and nearly one-third 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 a clear distinction between access to employment and access to economic mobility.
Residents without postsecondary credentials may be able to enter many of the jobs projected to become available. But those opportunities are unlikely to provide enough income for a single adult to meet Hawaiʻi Island’s cost of living.
Viewed alongside the county’s living-wage education profile, the visualization suggests an economy with a low floor and a difficult-to-reach ceiling. Many jobs are relatively easy to enter, while a substantial share of the opportunities providing economic security requires a bachelor’s degree or access to specialized, experience-based occupations.
What is less visible is a clear set of pathways connecting the two.
Why this matters
Accessible jobs are essential to Hawaiʻi Island’s economy. They provide entry points into tourism, food service, retail, agriculture, maintenance, caregiving, transportation, and other fields that support communities across the island.
But when most low-barrier jobs pay below the living-wage threshold, entering the workforce does not necessarily lead to financial stability.
Workers may need to hold multiple jobs, commute long distances, rely on family support, or delay major life decisions. Those seeking advancement may find that higher-paying positions require education, experience, or credentials that are difficult to obtain while already working.
This challenge may be intensified by Hawaiʻi Island’s geography. Education, training, employers, and workforce services are spread across a large county, and opportunities available in one region may not be realistically accessible to residents in another.
The limited presence of associate-degree and other postsecondary pathways also raises questions about the middle of the workforce system. Community colleges, short-term training programs, apprenticeships, and employer-based learning are often expected to help workers advance without requiring a four-year degree. Communities need to understand whether those pathways are leading to meaningful wage progression—or whether workers remain concentrated in jobs below the living-wage threshold.
This evidence invites Hawaiʻi Island to ask:
How can accessible entry-level work become the beginning of a clear and attainable pathway toward a living wage?
Evidence:
Questions this visualization helps answer
What share of Hawaiʻi Island’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 Hawaiʻi County’s below-living-wage education profile compare with its living-wage profile?
Are the jobs with the fewest formal barriers to entry also the least likely to provide economic security?
What role do associate degrees and other postsecondary credentials play within the county’s below-living-wage job market?
Curiosity:
Questions this visualization raises
Which industries and occupations account for most of Hawaiʻi County’s below-living-wage openings?
Are those openings concentrated in tourism, food service, retail, agriculture, caregiving, maintenance, transportation, or other sectors?
Which of these occupations offer realistic opportunities for wage growth and advancement?
How often do workers move from below-living-wage jobs into living-wage positions within the same industry?
What skills, credentials, licenses, or experience are required to make those transitions?
Which living-wage careers are genuinely accessible without a bachelor’s degree?
Can apprenticeships, employer-supported training, or short-term credentials bridge the gap between accessible employment and economic security?
Are community college programs aligned with occupations that offer clear wage progression?
Do employers recognize and reward skills gained through workplace experience?
How do advancement opportunities differ across West Hawaiʻi, East Hawaiʻi, North Hawaiʻi, Kaʻū, Puna, and other communities?
What geographic, transportation, childcare, or scheduling barriers make education and training difficult to access?
What changes in wages, benefits, job design, or advancement structures could improve the quality of the county’s most accessible jobs?
Is the divide between low-barrier work and living-wage opportunity narrowing or widening over time?
