Which occupation groups are projected to generate the most living-wage job openings in Hawaiʻi County between 2022 and 2032?
Workforce Understory Episode: Season 1, Episode 1 — The Geography of Opportunity
Geography: Hawaiʻi County
Topic: Living-wage opportunity, projected job growth, and occupation groups
The takeaway
Business and Management occupations are projected to account for 36% of Hawaiʻi County’s living-wage job openings between 2022 and 2032.
Construction and Repair occupations represent another 19%, followed by Healthcare and Education at 13% each.
Together, these four occupation groups account for more than four in five projected living-wage openings on Hawaiʻi Island.
Hawaiʻi County’s future living-wage opportunity is concentrated in a small number of occupation groups.
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
Hawaiʻi County is projected to have far fewer living-wage openings than workforce entrants over the coming decade. That makes the composition of those openings especially important.
The concentration of opportunity in Business and Management, Construction and Repair, Healthcare, and Education suggests that workforce strategies focused on these groups could potentially reach a significant share of the island’s living-wage labor market.
But concentration also creates vulnerability.
If construction activity slows, public education funding contracts, healthcare employers face financial pressure, or managerial opportunities remain inaccessible to local workers, Hawaiʻi Island may have relatively few alternative sources of living-wage employment.
The limited representation of fields such as Engineering and Technology may further constrain the range of available career pathways. Workers whose skills, interests, or circumstances do not align with the dominant occupation groups may have fewer options for reaching a living wage without leaving the island.
This suggests a dual strategy. Hawaiʻi County can strengthen access to the occupation groups already generating opportunity while also exploring how to diversify the local economy and expand living-wage work in additional fields.
This evidence invites Hawaiʻi Island to ask:
How can the county strengthen its largest living-wage pathways while creating a more diverse and resilient range of opportunities over time?
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?
Youth Perspective
Contributor:
Role:
Responding to:
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Integer placerat leo sit amet efficitur lobortis. Nulla sagittis orci in orci fermentum, id ornare urna dictum. Donec dapibus suscipit tortor, et ornare velit dictum id. Mauris libero quam, eleifend a lobortis in, facilisis at odio. Praesent sit amet ullamcorper purus, a pellentesque augue. Nullam enim purus, accumsan ut lobortis ut, venenatis id nisi. Mauris leo nunc, cursus vitae dui nec, porttitor gravida sem. Nunc varius metus sit amet mi porta blandit. Nam a lectus enim. Class aptent taciti sociosqu ad litora torquent per conubia nostra, per inceptos himenaeos. Mauris leo erat.
