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What People Earn in Hawai‘i

Nick Yee
Nick Yee

We hear a lot about how much it costs to live in Hawaii.  But how much do people in the Islands make? Pacific Business News has a paycheck report.  Editor in Chief A. Kam Napier has more. 

PBN and its parent company, American City Business Journals – Embarked on a national research project to find out how much money people earn at their jobs.  PBN focused on data for Honolulu and Hawai‘i, and offers some national comparisons.

Hawai‘i is a good place to be a doctor – from a pay standpoint.  Family and general practitioners here are in the highest paid profession in the state earning on average nearly $240,000.  Where do CEOs rank?  A corner office as the chief executive officer at a Hawai‘i company will come with, on average, pay of $160,000 – making CEO the 6th highest paid job in the state.

However, national comparisons yield some revelations.  Hawai‘i’s family doctors have the country’s second highest pay compared to doctors nationwide.  Our CEOs on the other hand may be happily surprised to learn that their pay ranks 88th out of 106 markets across the country.

We looked at job concentration too.  It won’t surprise you that Hawai‘i has high concentration of tour guides, baggage handlers, and travel agents – relative to its population.  But did you know that jobs with the highest concentration in Hawai‘i are Archaeologists and Anthropologists?  There are only 260 of them – buts that’s 11 times higher than the national average would have you expect.

Eleven profession in Hawai‘i pay at least 50% more than the national average.  In the top spot: Real Estate Brokers – for obvious reasons.  When you’re paid on commission for some of the nation’s most expensive real estate, you’re going to do well. 

A. Kam Napier is the editor-in-chief of Pacific Business News.
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