Most Densely Populated Cities in Hawaii: Ranked by People per Square Mile

The densest city in Hawaii in our data is Waipahu, HI, with about 14,890 people per square mile, followed by Ewa Beach, HI (12,152) and Ewa Gentry, HI (12,033). This list ranks the top 50 places among the 58 Hawaii communities with at least 5,000 residents.

What are the top 50 in Hawaii?

How dense are the cities in Hawaii?

The densest place is about 5 times as dense as the median place in the state, which has about 3,169 people per square mile. At the other end, Hawaiian Ocean View, HI has about 137. Under our scale, 22 places are an urban core (over 5,000 per square mile), 23 are suburban, and the rest are small towns or rural. Honolulu County contributes 33 of the top 50.

Which counties do the top 50 belong to?

The 50 places on this list are spread across 4 counties of Hawaii. Honolulu County has 33 (Waipahu, Ewa Beach, Ewa Gentry, West Loch Estate, Waipio, Wahiawa, Waimalu, Ocean Pointe, ); Maui County has 9 (Wailuku, Napili-Honokowai, Kihei, Waihee-Waiehu, Kahului, Makawao, Pukalani, Lahaina, Wail); Kauai County has 5 (Hanamaulu, Kalaheo, Lihue, Kapaa, Wailua Homesteads). Counties with several entries are usually centers of a metropolitan area, where one large city is surrounded by many suburbs that each pass the 5,000-resident threshold.

How does Hawaii compare with the rest of the country?

The median Hawaii place with a page has about 11,363 residents, compared with about 13,459 nationwide, so the state's typical community is smaller than the national typical place. Waipahu, HI ranks 1245th among all US places by estimated population in our data. The state has 149 communities in total, of which 58 reach 5,000 residents. See the national ranking of the largest cities for comparison.

Quick answers about Hawaii cities

• Which is the densest city in Hawaii? Waipahu (14,890 per square mile).
• How many Hawaii cities have more than 100,000 people? 1 in our data.
• How many have 25,000 to 100,000? 9.
• What is the typical size? About 11,363 residents for a place with a page.

How is this ranking made?

The data comes from the SimpleMaps US Cities Database, which gives each place an estimated population and a density in people per square kilometer. We convert density to people per square mile and rank the places with at least 5,000 residents. Boundaries matter: a city that includes large parks or farmland scores lower on density than a compact city of the same size, and population estimates can include areas that share a city's ZIP codes. Read why population figures differ and how density is calculated before you quote a number.

Where to go next

Rankings use dataset estimates, not official counts.