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PantryPath Research · Rural & Persistent Poverty Atlas

Rural poverty in Hawaii

0 persistent-poverty counties

Hawaii has 2 nonmetro counties and no counties flagged by USDA ERS for persistent poverty. The state's all-ages poverty rate is 10.0% and child poverty is 12.5%.

0

Persistent-poverty counties

2

Nonmetro counties (RUCC 4–9)

0

Residents in PPCs

5

Total counties

Hawaii by county

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Toggle between the rural hunger risk score, all-ages poverty, child poverty, the Rural-Urban Continuum Code, and the binary persistent-poverty flag. Hover a county for its ERS typology and ACS poverty rate.

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Hawaii at a glance

Poverty rate

10.0%

All ages, ACS S1701

Child poverty

12.5%

Under 18

PPC share

0.0%

Of counties in state

Nonmetro share

40.0%

RUCC 4–9

Pantries / 100K

2.21

PantryPath verified

Risk score (mean)

0.15

Composite 0–1

"Pantries / 100K" divides Hawaii's 32 verified PantryPath pantries by the state population — a minimum-density indicator, not a saturated census. See methodology.

County-level hotspots

Top five counties across 5 in Hawaii.

Highest rural hunger risk

Composite 0–1 score

  1. 1 Hawaii 0.21
  2. 2 Kalawao 0.20
  3. 3 Kauai 0.19
  4. 4 Maui 0.11
  5. 5 Honolulu 0.04

Highest poverty rate

ACS all-ages

  1. 1 Kalawao 31.7%
  2. 2 Hawaii 14.6%
  3. 3 Maui 9.8%
  4. 4 Honolulu 9.1%
  5. 5 Kauai 8.8%

Persistent-poverty counties

PPCs ranked by current poverty

Hawaii has no persistent-poverty counties in the 2025 ERS typology.

Every county in Hawaii

All 5 counties with RUCC, typology flags, and ACS poverty data.

County RUCC PPC Flags Poverty Child poverty Population Risk
Hawaii 5 — Housing 14.6% 18.9% 203,684 0.21
Honolulu 1 — Housing 9.1% 11.4% 1,003,666 0.04
Kalawao 3 — Pop. loss 31.7% — 43 0.20
Kauai 5 — Housing 8.8% 11.2% 73,610 0.19
Maui 3 — Housing 9.8% 11.8% 164,632 0.11

Find a food pantry in Hawaii

Search Hawaii's 32 verified pantries, food banks, and meal programs — filtered by city, open-now status, and service type.

Hawaii pantry directory

Hawaii SNAP

Income limits, application steps, and EBT card details for residents of persistent-poverty counties and beyond.

Hawaii SNAP guide

Emergency food help

National hotlines, 211 referrals, and same-day food options — critical in rural counties where the nearest pantry may be 30+ miles away.

Emergency food

Food deserts atlas

Rural poverty and low food access often overlap. Compare persistent-poverty counties to USDA's low-income / low-access food desert designations.

Hawaii food deserts

Methodology

How we combined USDA ERS typology codes, the Rural-Urban Continuum, ACS poverty data, and PantryPath's own pantry directory — plus the risk-score formula.

Full methodology