According to the National Alliance to End Homelessness, Hawaii ranks as the fourth worst regarding homeless problems. Hawaii is slightly better than Alaska, California, and Colorado, but not by much.

The report stated that about 733,000 people are homeless in America, which is about 0.3% of the entire U.S. population. In comparison, the 2005 data from this report showed that Hawaii had 6000 homeless people, which is about 0.47% of the state’s population of 1.2 million.

I’m sure there are many reasons why there are so many homeless people here, but I personally think one big reason is the cost of living and low paying jobs in Hawaii. For some odd reason, the salaries given out to employees are far less than the national average. And we all know that Hawaii is an expensive place to live. In fact, by working in Hawaii, I took a $15k pay cut compared to what I could have got in Los Angeles working in a similar field.

Some people are OK with sacrificing some pay to live in Hawaii, but those who can’t even get a steady job are almost hopeless with the high cost of living here. Even those who have a steady job are struggling to make ends meet. If the trend continues to go this way, we’ll see an even higher increase in homeless people.

Let’s try our best to get the homeless off the streets. It will make everyone happier.

• Live Longer, Live in Hawaii
• Home Prices Slowy Decrease in Oahu
• Hawaii Ranked the Most Expensive State for Renters

               
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