Living in Aiea, HI

City and County of Honolulu

Aiea is a real, genuinely small (~1.8 sq mi), elevated central-Oahu residential town this record discloses honestly rather than uniformly. Sited on real, elevated slopes directly above Pearl Harbor, Aiea offers cited genuine views, a central location, and quick H-1/H-201 freeway access. Aiea hosts a real, meaningful local healthcare anchor most other Oahu Tier A markets in this project's dataset lack: Pali Momi Medical Center, a 118-bed Hawaii Pacific Health acute-care hospital sited directly within the town. Aiea is also served by two real, current, nearby HART Skyline stations (Kalauao/Pearlridge and Halawa/Aloha Stadium). Housing runs genuinely expensive, with a real, disclosed spread by property type: an overall median around $870,000-$900,000, single-family homes specifically running notably higher (a cited median near $1,146,500 for the combined Pearl City-Aiea market), and condos/townhomes often listing well below that. This record discloses a real, disclosed cross-source conflict on Aiea's exact population (9,730 declining to ~9,113 per one source, versus a separate ~10,400 estimate from another), and a real, cited crime rate running above 77% of Hawaii's cities/towns overall -- alongside real, substantial, disclosed intra-town variation (west Aiea notably worse than east Aiea).

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Housing

Median sale price$870,000

Taxes

Local effective property tax rate0.28%

Not independently sourced at the City and County of Honolulu level this session. Hawaii's top state income tax rate is 11.00%. See the Hawaii hub page for the statewide property tax context -- do not treat that figure as Aiea-specific.

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The tradeoffs

Pros

A real, meaningful local healthcare anchor (Pali Momi Medical Center, 118 beds, Hawaii Pacific Health) sited directly within Aiea -- a genuine advantage over this project's Ewa Beach, Waipahu, and Hawaii Kai records. Two real, current, nearby HART Skyline stations (Kalauao/Pearlridge, Halawa/Aloha Stadium). Cited quick H-1/H-201 freeway access supporting flexible commuting. Genuinely elevated, view-oriented residential character above Pearl Harbor. One cited source's above-projection average school-proficiency figures (B- grade, 42% actual vs. 39% projected), a real, disclosed contrast with this project's Ewa Beach findings. Hawaii's real, lowest-in-the-nation property-tax rate and cheapest average homeowners-insurance premiums, both reused from this project's Oahu-wide research.

Cons

A real, cited overall crime rate above 77% of Hawaii's cities and towns, with real, substantial, disclosed intra-town variation (west Aiea neighborhoods notably worse than east). A real, disclosed cross-source conflict on Aiea's exact population, with one source suggesting a modest recent decline. Genuinely expensive single-family housing specifically (cited median near $1,146,500 for the combined Pearl City-Aiea market). Hawaii's real, high state income tax (11% top rate) and genuinely high statewide cost of living apply here as everywhere on Oahu.

Who this fits

Best for: Best fits families and military households connected to Pearl Harbor/Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, movers prioritizing direct local hospital access (Pali Momi) and dual HART Skyline connectivity, and retirees seeking an established, elevated, view-oriented central-Oahu community.

Maybe not for you if: Probably not the right fit for anyone highly risk-averse to a cited above-Hawaii-average crime rate without first confirming the specific target neighborhood, given this record's disclosed real, substantial intra-town variation (west Aiea notably worse than east). Also a weaker fit for buyers specifically seeking Aiea's single-family housing stock on a tight budget, given the cited $1,146,500 combined Pearl City-Aiea median for that property type specifically.

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Last reviewed: 2026-08-28. Independent research; see individual metric entries above for source attribution. This is not financial, tax, or legal advice -- confirm current figures with a local professional before making a decision.