Which Hawaii counties score best for off-grid living?

Of the 5 Hawaii counties we have scored, Maui County scores highest at 82 and Kalawao County lowest at 75. Hawaii ranks 36th of 50 overall, at 76 out of 100 (Significant challenges). Solar separates its counties most: 9 to 15 out of 15.

Updated 2026-09-27 · 5 counties · 202 spots of private rural land scored

Significant challengesHawaii ranks 36th of 50, 76 out of 100, in the Best States ranking: the typical parcel on the state's private rural land, with each scored spot weighted by the land it stands for. On a fresh draw of counties it would rank between #35 and #38. City counties with little private rural land have no page, and any parcel can be scored, free, below.

Every scored county in Hawaii, best score first


Maui → 141 people / sq mi	82	18	18	15	13	11	7
Kauai → 119 people / sq mi	81	24	15	15	11	11	5
Honolulu → 1647 people / sq mi	76	23	18	9	9	11	6
Hawaii → 52 people / sq mi	75	16	16	14	11	11	7
Kalawao → 7 people / sq mi	75	20	18	10	11	12	4

Score is out of 100: Water 25, Legal 20, Solar 15, Hazard 15, Food 15, Buildability 10. Green cells score 80% or better of their maximum; amber cells under 70%.

Where the good land is

36% of Hawaii's private rural land scores Good with caveats or better (80 or more). The strongest counties are Maui, Kauai and Honolulu. The weakest are Hawaii, Kalawao and Honolulu. Where the land falls short, it is most often on water (rain, wells and salty or weak wells) and building (slope, septic and land price).

What separates them

Solar: Maui County scores 15 of 15, Honolulu County 9. Year-round solar potential, including the darkest month, and how much energy it takes to heat and cool a house there. Matters most if you're fully off-grid.
Water: Kauai County scores 24 of 25, Hawaii County 16. Drinking, system, and irrigation water, the #1 reason off-grid and homestead plans collapse. A low score means a deep, costly well or hauled water.
Buildability: Maui County scores 7 of 10, Kalawao County 4. Slope, the septic the ground needs, footings, and the county's land price. A steep or soggy lot that fails a septic test is the dealbreaker photos hide.
Hazard: Maui County scores 13 of 15, Honolulu County 9. Flood, wildfire, seismic, and severe-weather exposure: the risks that raise insurance and build cost or strand a parcel.
Legal: Maui County scores 18 of 20, Kauai County 15. Whether you can reach the land and live on it: road access, distance to emergency care, internet and cell, and how built up the area is, which decides how many lot-size, livestock, and zoning rules you will meet.

Food barely moves across the sample: the counties score within two points of each other there, so those are state-level facts, not county choices.

The state's soft spot

Buildability is Hawaii's weakest dimension, at 6 of 10 for the state as a whole. Slope, the septic the ground needs, footings, and the county's land price. A steep or soggy lot that fails a septic test is the dealbreaker photos hide. Getting a parcel here off-grid runs $54k to $215k by our estimates across these counties, before the house. The full Hawaii row in the Best States ranking has the state-wide spread and how the popular off-grid guides rank it.

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Before you buy in Hawaii

The scores read the physical land. Whether you may legally live on it is a separate question, and it changes at the county line: Is it legal to live off-grid in Hawaii? covers zoning, building code, septic, and wells for the state, with the counties that opt out. For the reason water carries a quarter of the score, how you get water on off-grid land is the read. And the five-point check is the order to do it in.

Significant challengesHawaii: 76 of 100, 36th of 50. A good state is not a good parcel. Score the one you are looking at, free, in about a minute.

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