You may have heard the phrase “priced out of paradise” mentioned on newscasts, podcasters, bloggers, or by Iam Tongi during an interview on American Idol 2024. But what does it actually mean, and why is it happening?

“Priced out of paradise” has become almost synonymous with living in Hawaii. The high cost of living in the state—housing, groceries, gas, and more—has driven many locals and Native Hawaiians to leave the place they grew up and where their ancestors lived. It’s just too expensive to stay within the State.

Housing Prices: According to the fair market rent data, the average cost to rent a 2-bedroom apartment in Honolulu, Hawaii at the time this blog was written was $2,252. The median listing home sales price is $728K. Although the list price on a home is on a downward trend, it is still too costly and almost impossible for most mod-income residents to purchase their first home in the State.

Grocery Prices: When it comes to groceries, I find it easy to hit the $100 spend threshold with just a few items in your shopping cart. The amount of items barely get people through their next pay check.

Minimum Wage and Employee Expenses: The cost of parking in the Honolulu business districts average $300/month and people often struggle with that

What I am grateful for is how more and more businesses have offered the opportunity to allow employees to work at home.

People often say “because you live in paradise”? I simply respond with, “what paradise”? Hawaii is portrayed as paradise in ads and on film, but if you’ve lived in Hawaii all your life, paradise is what was, but in my opinion, paradise no longer is.

Over the last few years, I’ve seen crime, suicide rates, and alcohol traffic related accidents rise. In the last week alone, there were random shootings in neighborhoods that were once peaceful.

Hawaii paradise? Maybe to some, but it surely isn’t what it once was.