Private Report: Hawaiʻi is 50th in Work from Home Rankings – Maui Now

April 6, 2021, 11:11 AM HST
* Updated April 7, 5:11 AM

The State of Hawaiʻi launched Movers and Shakas, a program to lure people to the state to work remotely. But a private report finds Hawaiʻi as the 50th state for working from home. Logo of Movers and Shakas program.

With 71 percent of people — whose jobs can be done remotely — working from home all or most of the time during the COVID-19 pandemic, the personal-finance website WalletHub released its report on the Best States for Working from Home. Hawai’i was ranked 50th, with only Alaska ranking lower.

“Some of the reasons Hawai’i ranked second to last include the fact that it has the highest average retail price of electricity in the country and the lowest median square footage per average number of persons in a household [405],” WalletHub analyst Jill Gonzalez said in an email. “Plus, Hawai’i has a low share of detached housing units, just above 53% and the second smallest average home square footage [1,207].”

To identify which states are most conducive to working from home, WalletHub compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia across 12 key metrics. The data set ranges from the share of workers working from home before COVID-19 to internet cost and cybersecurity. Analysts also considered factors like how large and how crowded homes are in the state. Together, these metrics show how feasible working from home is in terms of cost, comfort and safety.

The state of Hawai’i launched a Movers and Shakas program in December. The program’s purpose is to attract purpose-driven remote workers, especially returning kamaʻaina, to come to Hawaiʻi and actively contribute to the community.

“The [WalletHub] report is focused specifically on working from home, and not working remotely from anywhere in the world,” Gonzalez said. “Basically, it rules out traveling to a certain location, and concentrates on the conditions people have available where they live.”

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Hawai’i Results:

• Share of Workers Working from Home (pre-COVID-19): 4.8%, rank 30
• Share of Potential Telecommuters: 95.41%, rank 32
• Households’ Internet Access: rank 5
• Cybersecurity: rank 23
• Average Retail Price of Electricity: rank 51
• Access to Low-priced Internet Plan: rank 25
• Internet cost: rank 8
• Median Square Footage Per Average Number of Persons Per Household: 405 square feet, rank 51
• Share of Detached Housing Units: 53.3%, rank 47
• Average Home Square Footage: 1,207, rank 50
• Share of for Sale Homes with Lot Greater Than 1,000 Square Feet: 78.13%, rank 34
• Share of for Sale Homes with Swimming Pools: 14.45%, rank 1

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OVERALL SCORE 45.7, rank 50

For the full report, click here.

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