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Every year, more and more people leave Hawaiʻi in search of better opportunities found elsewhere, often in the mainland, better known as the contiguous 48 states. For decades, leaving Hawai’i was often viewed as a personal choice or simply part of growing up. But today, data shows a much deeper problem. As young people, educated professionals, and Native Hawaiian families continue to leave, Hawaiʻi risks losing an important part of its workforce, communities, and generations that will shape its future.

Between July 2020 and July 2024, the state suffered a net loss of about 20,000 residents to the U.S. mainland (Park). While 2023 saw a temporary “stabilization,” with 58,000 residents leaving and 72,000 moving in, the outmigration trend is still very clear (Park). Former residents of the Aloha state are mostly concentrated in California, Washington, and Nevada which is famously nicknamed “Hawaiʻi’s Ninth Island” (Park). This movement shows how families are seeking attainable homeownership.

The root of almost every decision to leave Hawaii is the cost of shelter. According to the UHERO Hawaiʻi Housing Factbook 2026, Hawaii leads the nation in housing costs (Tyndall et al.). The statewide median price of a single-family home reached $950,000 in 2025 (Tyndall et al.). Renting isn’t any different. About 57.7% of local renters are cost-burdened and spend more than 30% of their income on rent (Tyndall et al.). The housing crisis is made worse by Hawaiʻi’s slow permitting process, which makes it difficult to build enough new housing to meet demand. Permit processing times are roughly three times the national average, taking a median of 238 days for a single-family home (Tyndall et al.). With new housing taking so long to approve and build, the supply remains extremely limited and prices stay out of reach for many local families.

While Hawaiʻi’s high cost of living is a large part of the problem, it is only half of the equation. The other half is that wages and economic growth has struggled to keep up with rising costs. A 2026 UHERO report, “Beyond the Price of Paradise,” argues that Hawaii’s economy has increasingly resembled a stagnating, “left-behind” region rather than a prosperous coastal city (Bond-Smith and Schwartz). When adjusted for Hawaii’s high costs, the state’s per-capita GDP has grown at less than half the national rate since the early 90’s (Bond-Smith and Schwartz). In simpler terms, while the cost of living has continued to rise, the economic opportunities and incomes available to the people of Hawaii have not also grown.

Because Hawaiʻi’s economy relies so heavily on tourism, opportunities for high-paying professional careers are extremely limited. This has contributed to a growing “brain drain,” as many educated residents leave the islands in search of better opportunities. According to DBEDT data, between 51.4% and 54.5% of Hawaiʻi-born college graduates now live on the mainland (Weltman). Graduates in fields such as engineering, technology, and advanced sciences often have to relocate to mainland cities where there are more jobs and higher salaries for their skills.

This economic pressure has been especially damaging for Kanaka Maoli, or Native Hawaiians. The 2020 Census marked a major turning point where for the first time, more Native Hawaiians lived in the continental United States (53%) than in Hawaiʻi (47%) (Office of Hawaiian Affairs). What is even more concerning is that the Native Hawaiian population on the mainland is growing nearly five times faster than the population remaining in the islands (Office of Hawaiian Affairs). These numbers show that Hawaiʻi’s high cost of living and limited economic opportunities are making it increasingly difficult for Native Hawaiians to remain in their ancestral homeland in addition to causing people to leave.

For Native Hawaiians, the land, or ʻāina, is deeply connected to their identity, culture, and genealogy. Being forced to leave Hawaiʻi can weaken that connection and make it more difficult to pass down traditions such as the Hawaiian language, hula, and cultural values to future generations. It can also separate extended families (ʻohana) that have traditionally depended on one another for support. As more Native Hawaiians are pushed away by economic pressures, there is a growing concern that Hawaiʻi could become a place increasingly shaped by outside wealth rather than a home where its Native people can afford to live and continue their culture (Office of Hawaiian Affairs).

In response to this crisis, state and county leaders are deploying bold policy tools. In 2025, Governor Josh Green signed the Green Affordability Plan (GAP), delivering the largest income tax cut in state history for households earning under $175,000 (Office of the Governor). On Maui, Bill 9 was enacted in December 2025 to phase out over 6,000 short-term vacation rentals, attempting to depress rental prices and return housing to local families (Tyndall et al.). Additionally, starting January 1, 2026, Act 96 established a tourist “Green Fee” projected to raise $100 million annually for climate resilience and environmental stewardship (Office of the Governor).

However, lowering the cost of living alone will not be enough to reverse this outmigration trend. Keeping more people in Hawaiʻi will require long-term efforts to diversify the economy, make it easier to build housing, and create more high-paying professional careers for local residents. Without these larger changes, Hawaiʻi will continue to lose many of its young people to the mainland. Over time, this could weaken the local communities, families, and cultural traditions that make Hawaiʻi what it is.