Report: Maui’s population diverse, growing

WAILUKU, Maui — A U.S. Census report last week put Maui County’s estimated population at 160,195 for 2013, up 3 percent from 2010, and offered a socio-economic view of Maui County residents.

The economic data in the “American Community Survey” for 2013 showed that 5.4 percent of Maui County families were below the poverty line, a 3.2 percentage point decline from 2012; that median household income (the middle number in the sorted list) adjusted for inflation was $65,558, up about 6 percent from 2011 and 2012; and that 44 percent of property owners and 38 percent of renters put 35 percent or more of their family incomes to mortgages and rent respectively.

In the social profile data of Maui County residents, the survey put average family size in 2013 at 3.53, down from 3.64 in 2012; showed that fewer men and women were married in 2013, continuing a three-year downward trend, and more of them were divorced; and among those who identified themselves as one race, whites were the highest portion of the population at 34 percent.

The American Community Survey is an ongoing survey that provides data every year to give communities the current information they need to plan investments and services, according to the Census Bureau. Information from the survey generates data that help determine how more than $400 billion in federal and state funds are distributed each year.

The survey also provided an in-depth look at the composition of residents in Maui County in 2013. There were slightly more men (50.9 percent) than women (49.1 percent); the median age of residents was 40.3 years; and there were 4 percent more residents ages 3 and older enrolled in school (37,344) compared to 2012.

Compared to 2012, there was an increase in the percentage of the school-enrolled population in nursery school (8.8 percent) but a decline in the percentage of high school youths in grades 9 to 12 (19 percent). For post-secondary education, the percentage of those 25 years and older obtaining associate’s (10.7 percent), bachelor’s (18.1 percent) and graduate or professional degrees (9.4 percent) increased year over year.

The percentage of high school graduates, 25 years old and older, grew to 93 percent, an almost 3 percentage point growth from 2012.

Economically, three quarters of the 82,975-member workforce, 16 years and older, were employed in the private sector, 17 percent were government workers and 9 percent were self-employed in 2013. There was a slight increase in the percentage of government workers and a slight decline in the percentage of private sector workers compared to 2012.

The largest sectors of employment were in arts, entertainment and recreation and accommodation and food services, 21.4 percent; educational services and health care and social assistance, 17.8 percent; and retail trade, 11.8 percent.

The report also included sociological information about Maui County residents, such as the percentage of divorced men 15 years and older, 12.3 percent, up 1.5 percentage points from the previous year; and 14.2 percent for women, up 1.1 percentage points.

The percentage of men who were in a marriage dipped below 50 percent to 47.7 percent in 2013; the percentage for women was 47.9 percent.

A vast majority of Maui County households had a computer, 85 percent; 77 percent had a broadband Internet subscription.

There also was an trend, maybe buoyed by the strengthening economy, of a growing percentage of drivers commuting to work alone in their vehicles, 74.9 percent, up from 68.4 percent in 2012. Carpooling was down to 10.9 percent from 15 percent in 2012, but public transportation use rose grew slightly to 2.8 percent.

Other tidbits from the report

— The average monthly cost for a homeowner with a mortgage was $2,261; the average monthly rent was $1,292.

— Filipinos represented 17.2 percent of the population, Native Hawaiians 8.1 percent and Hispanics 10.7 percent

— The percentage of residents with a disability was 9.5 percent.