Hawai‘i’s Quality of Life

We asked respondents in both surveys about the overall quality of life for Hawaiʻi’s people and then about their personal quality of life. Not surprisingly, business owners and executives, an affluent group overall, were more upbeat on average about their personal quality of life than the general public.

We began this section of both surveys with a broad question: Compared to five years ago, is Hawaiʻi a better or worse place to live? Each answer has a score, from 5 to 1, the higher the score, the more positive the respondents’ answers.

Among business leaders, exactly half believe Hawaiʻi is now a worse place to live. Among the general public, almost two-thirds do.

The numeric midpoint on a five-point rating scale is 3.00. The mean scores of 2.59 and 2.30 fall substantially below this threshold, signifying a net negative perception of life in the state compared to five years ago.

This negative assessment was shared by every demographic group tracked in the surveys: high income, low income and in-between respondents; those with college degrees and without; and all age groups and ethnic groups.

Can You Thrive in Hawaiʻi?

Each respondent was asked: How do you feel about your family’s income and overall ability to thrive in Hawaiʻi over the next few years?

Among business leaders, two-thirds were very optimistic or somewhat optimistic. Among the general public, the split between optimists and pessimists was 50-50.

What About Your Personal Quality of Life?

Our next question made the issue personal: How would you rate your own overall quality of life in Hawaiʻi today? People were much more positive about their personal quality of life than they were about the overall quality of life for Hawaiʻi’s people.

The numeric midpoint on a four-point rating scale is 2.50. The mean scores of 2.91 and 2.61 are both above this threshold, signifying a net positive result.

It’s no surprise that business owners and executives reported a higher quality of life on average than the general public. And among the general public, retirees and survey respondents in the highest income group reported substantially higher quality of life overall than other groups.

Digging Deeper Into Your Quality of Life

Next question: How satisfied are you with your job?

It may not be surprising that if you own a company or help run one, you are more likely to be happy with your job than if you are a regular employee. Still, 22% of those owners and executives assess their job as awful or only so-so. People not working were excluded from this question.

Your Financial Situation

Respondents in both surveys were asked: How would you rate your satisfaction with your financial situation?

Among the general public, people age 65 and older, those with college degrees and those living on Oʻahu reported better financial situations. Of course, those with the highest household incomes had the highest financial scores.

Your Health

How would you rate your satisfaction with your health? This question elicited the most “great” and “good” responses among our quality of life questions. Lucky we live Hawaiʻi.

Interestingly, among the general public, the mean score among people 65 and older was 2.86, slightly higher than the overall mean score. That means they are equally satisfied with their health as younger respondents, not necessarily that they’re as healthy as younger people.

Are You Happy with Your Leisure Life?

Our question to respondents: How would you rate your satisfaction with your leisure life?

Among the general public, women, Oʻahu residents, and people 65 and older had somewhat higher scores overall.