How are Hawaiʻi Island’s STAR workers distributed across income bands relative to the living-wage threshold?
Workforce Understory Episode: Episode Four — Mobility Through Lifelong Learning
Geography: Hawaiʻi County
Topic: STARs, living-wage attainment, economic mobility, and targeted upskilling
The takeaway
Among Hawaiʻi Island’s 105,257 STAR workers, 53,049 earn more than $20,000 below the living-wage threshold.
Another 32,008 already earn above a living wage.
Between those groups are 20,200 workers who may be closer to economic security: 8,750 are within $10,000 of the threshold, while 11,450 are between $10,000 and $20,000 below it.
Nearly one in five Hawaiʻi Island STAR workers is within $20,000 of a living wage, creating a potentially significant opportunity for targeted mobility strategies.
What this visualization shows
This visualization distributes Hawaiʻi Island’s STAR workforce across four income bands based on the difference between workers’ earnings and the living-wage threshold:
Far Below: More than $20,000 below a living wage — 53,049 workers
Below: Between $10,000 and $20,000 below — 11,450 workers
Near: Within $10,000 of the threshold — 8,750 workers
Above: Already earning a living wage — 32,008 workers
The largest group consists of workers earning far below the threshold. More than half of Hawaiʻi Island’s STAR workforce falls into this category, indicating that many workers face an earnings gap too large to close through a modest raise or short-term training intervention alone.
The workers in the Near and Below categories present a different kind of opportunity. Together, they represent approximately 20,200 people whose earnings fall within $20,000 of a living wage.
Some may be able to cross the threshold through a promotion, additional hours, a targeted credential, a transition into a related occupation, or an employer wage increase. Others may face barriers that require more substantial support.
The visualization identifies the size of each income group. It does not show workers’ occupations, industries, hours worked, household circumstances, or the specific intervention that would be most appropriate for each person.
Why this matters
A single workforce strategy will not serve every STAR worker equally well.
For the 53,049 workers earning more than $20,000 below a living wage, a short training program or small wage increase is unlikely to be sufficient. Many may need access to a substantially different occupation, a longer-term career pathway, wraparound support, or broader improvements in the quality of the jobs available in their current industry.
The 20,200 workers within $20,000 of the threshold may represent a more immediate mobility opportunity.
These workers may already possess substantial experience and occupational knowledge. The distance between their current earnings and a living wage could potentially be closed through focused interventions such as incumbent-worker training, recognized credentials, promotions, structured career ladders, or transitions into adjacent higher-paying roles.
The 8,750 workers in the Near category are especially important. A relatively modest earnings increase could move them across the living-wage threshold, but only if suitable opportunities exist at sufficient scale.
That brings the analysis back to the structure of Hawaiʻi Island’s economy. Construction and Healthcare may offer promising routes for some workers, but the number of living-wage openings, training capacity, geographic accessibility, and ability of employers to absorb additional workers all require further examination.
The visualization therefore identifies a population that may be within reach without establishing that Hawaiʻi Island currently has enough pathways to move them forward.
This evidence invites Hawaiʻi Island to ask:
Which targeted changes could help the workers closest to a living wage cross the threshold—and are enough quality jobs available to do so at meaningful scale?
Evidence:
Questions this visualization helps answer
How many STAR workers already earn above a living wage?
How many earn more than $20,000 below the threshold?
How many are within $10,000 of reaching a living wage?
How many fall between $10,000 and $20,000 below it?
What share of the STAR workforce may be within reach of a living wage through targeted support?
How large is the population likely to require more substantial pathway or job-quality interventions?
Curiosity:
Questions this visualization raises
Which industries employ the 8,750 STAR workers closest to the living-wage threshold?
Which occupations account for most workers in the Near and Below categories?
Are these workers concentrated in Healthcare, Construction, Hospitality, Administration, or other sectors?
What wage increase would move the typical Near worker across the threshold?
Could promotions within existing workplaces close the gap?
Which short-term credentials produce reliable wage gains of $10,000 or more?
How many workers could benefit from incumbent-worker training rather than changing industries?
Would additional hours move some workers across the threshold, or are they already working full time?
How much of the earnings gap reflects low hourly wages versus limited or unstable hours?
Could wage supplements, retention bonuses, or public reimbursement changes close the gap in essential occupations?
Which employers already have internal career ladders that move STAR workers into higher-paying roles?
What prevents workers from accessing those advancement opportunities?
Do Construction and Healthcare have enough living-wage openings to absorb thousands of workers?
Which specific occupations within those industries are accessible without a bachelor’s degree?
How much training capacity exists to prepare workers for those roles?
Are training and job opportunities geographically accessible across Hawaiʻi Island?
What transportation, childcare, scheduling, or financial barriers could prevent workers from participating?
How do income bands differ by race, gender, age, disability, and region?
How many workers in the Far Below category are employed in industries where wages must improve rather than workers simply changing occupations?
Which workers would benefit from sector transitions, and which would be better served by improving their current jobs?
How should Hawaiʻi Island prioritize limited workforce investments across workers who are Near, Below, and Far Below the threshold?
What data would allow the county to track whether workers are actually moving between these categories over time?
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