Yields across 37 suburbs in Honolulu (Honolulu County) range from 2.9% in Honolulu (96826) down to under 3% in premium coastal and resort-zone areas. That spread is wider than the gap between short-term rental and long-term rental strategies at the city median level, which means where you buy on Oahu matters more than how you rent it out. This ranking shows which suburbs lead on gross yield and why the pattern holds.
The city-median 3-bed house sells for roughly $1.24m and rents for around $2,800 a month, producing a long-term rental gross yield of 2.6%. The short-term rental picture at the city level looks stronger at 7.4%, but Honolulu's short-term rental rules are tight outside resort zones, so that headline number is not available to most investors. With that constraint in mind, long-term rental yield is the most useful lens for comparing suburbs.
Honolulu (96826) Yields 2.9% on Oahu, Above the City Median
Gross yields = annual income / sale price. Based on 3-bed house medians. The dashboard shows every property type and bedroom count.
Why the Top Suburbs Lead
Honolulu (96826) yields 2.9% because rent of about $3,000 is high relative to its entry price of about $1.25m. This is a density story: the 96826 ZIP code covers dense inner Honolulu neighborhoods where apartment-heavy stock and walk-to-work access to downtown employment keep rents firm even as sale prices stay below the single-family-house medians that dominate outer Oahu. For a long-term rental investor, this is the clearest yield play on the island.
Ewa Beach (96706) and Kapolei (96707) are the Ewa plain suburbs on Oahu's fast-growing southwest coast. Both deliver yields around 4.7% because they sit in the sub-$850,000 band for 3-bed houses while drawing strong rental demand from Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam personnel, Kapolei commercial-district workers, and families priced out of central Honolulu. The master-planned layout also supports consistent tenant pools, which matters when the alternative is a resort-facing suburb with seasonal swings.
Honolulu (96814) is an interesting case: at about $1.35m it is the most expensive of the top five, but rent of about $4,300 keeps the yield at 3.8%. This is the Ala Moana / Kakaako corridor where condo density, walkability, and proximity to the business district support rents that outer suburbs cannot match. Waimanalo (96795) on the windward side rounds out the top five at 2.6%, a classic lower-priced beach-adjacent suburb where rental demand comes from local workers rather than tourists.
The Yield-Price Trade-Off Is Sharper in Honolulu Than Most US Markets
The inverse relationship between price and yield is pronounced on Oahu because the upper end of the market is priced for capital appreciation and lifestyle, not income. An investor entering at about $1.25m in Honolulu (96826) faces a very different capital-risk profile than one paying about $1.24m for the city median or well above about $1.99m for premium coastal stock. The cheaper entry not only improves the yield arithmetic, it lowers the dollar exposure to any single tenancy gap or repair bill.
Honolulu's median yield of 2.6% sits well below the national median of 4.8%, although Honolulu (96826)'s yield of 2.9% edges just above the national figure. That is the defining feature of this market: Honolulu is a premium, appreciation-led market where cash-flow-focused investors need to be selective. The gap between the best and median suburb is the difference between a yield that edges above the national norm and one that runs at roughly half of it.
Premium Suburbs Sacrifice Yield for Amenity and Growth
For context, here is how some of Honolulu's most in-demand suburbs compare. These are established areas where investors typically accept lower yields in exchange for capital growth, resale liquidity, and the lifestyle premium that Oahu's best addresses command.
High-demand suburbs for context. Same methodology as the yield ranking above.
These suburbs yield less on long-term lease because buyers are paying for coastline access, school catchments, and the expectation of continued appreciation in a supply-constrained island market. The short-term rental yield column does not rescue the picture for most of them: Honolulu largely bans vacation rentals outside resort zones, so the short-term yield figures apply only to the subset of properties with grandfathered permits or resort-zone addresses.
Warning: short-term stays figures apply only where legally permitted. Honolulu largely bans vacation rentals outside designated resort zones, and statewide Transient Accommodations Tax plus General Excise Tax add to operating costs. Verify zoning and permit status for any specific property before modelling short-term rental returns.
What the Yield Ranking Doesn't Show
A high yield can signal depressed prices rather than strong rents. Honolulu (96826)'s 2.9% figure reflects steady rent relative to its entry price, but it also reflects older housing stock and density that some tenants and future buyers will discount. The ranking is a starting filter, not a verdict.
Capital growth is the other half of the return equation and does not appear in gross yield at all. Honolulu is a premium market where the highest-priced suburbs have historically delivered the strongest total returns through appreciation, even when their running yields look thin. Vacancy risk, tenant quality, insurance cost (hurricane exposure matters here), and property tax treatment all vary by suburb in ways a single yield number cannot capture. Data age also matters: these are medians from October 2026 and fast-moving suburbs can drift between updates.
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Honolulu Sits Well Below the National Median, Though the Top Suburb Edges Above It
Honolulu's yield range tells a distinct regional story. The city-median yield of 2.6% and the state median of 2.9% both sit well below the national median of 4.8%. Honolulu (96826) at 2.9% edges just above the national figure, though the city and state medians remain well behind. For investors who benchmark against mainland US markets, this confirms Honolulu as an appreciation play rather than a cash-flow play, and makes suburb selection unusually important: the yield spread within the market is doing more work than the city-versus-country comparison. These are city medians, individual suburbs differ, and the dashboard shows suburb-level data for every bedroom count and property type. Explore rental data in the dashboard, or review the market score methodology and data sources for how these figures are built.
Data reflects market conditions as of October 2026.
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Drill into individual suburbs, run your own price and rent assumptions, and compare property types side-by-side.
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This information is for educational purposes only and should not be considered financial or legal advice. Regulations and market conditions change frequently. Verify current rules with local authorities before making investment decisions.
Methodology and Assumptions
Defaults used in the figures above. All inputs are adjustable in the dashboard.
How available nights are determined
Available nights default to 330 per year, reflecting an active operator with minimal blocked time. Where local regulations cap whole-home short-term lets (for example New York City 30-day minimum stays and San Francisco un-hosted 90-night caps), the cap is applied. In markets where short-term rental requires owner-occupancy or is otherwise prohibited for investment properties, available nights drop to zero.
How occupancy is measured
The percentage of available nights that get booked, drawn from market data. A property listed for 200 nights with 100 bookings shows 50% occupancy. Adjustable in the dashboard.
Long-term rental management default
Defaults to self-managed (zero management fee), reflecting the most common arrangement for US individual investors. The dashboard slider lets you add a property manager fee if you plan to outsource.
Short-term rental management default
Set to self-managed (zero management fee) by default, the most common arrangement for individual investors. Hiring a professional manager typically costs around 20% of gross revenue and reduces net yield proportionally. Toggle in the dashboard.
How property tax is calculated
Calculated as a percentage of property value, varying by state and county. California properties show lower effective rates due to Proposition 13's 1% cap on assessed value. Property tax sits with the owner; long-term tenants do not pay it.
Local regulations
Check state, county, and HOA rules before investing; these change frequently. The regulations summary in this article reflects the latest data we hold. Always verify the live position with the local authority.
Sampling and data sources
Short-term rental yield figures reflect properties currently listed on short-term rental platforms. In high-tourism markets, listings tend to concentrate in central postcodes, which can pull city-median yields above what residential areas of the same city would achieve. Yields for any specific suburb may differ significantly from the city-wide median.
For metric definitions and broader methodology, see the About page.