Hawaii County, Hawaii Eviction Risk: Moderate

Hawaii County's average eviction-risk score of 5.1/10 (Moderate) places it third out of four counties in Hawaii eviction laws, meaning two counties carry higher risk and only one is more landlord-friendly. For investors underwriting rental assets across the Big Island's 54 cities and communities, that moderate aggregate reflects a relatively measured operating environment, one where tenant-side pressures exist but state law still gives landlords workable tools. With a countywide average rent of $1,559 and an average rent burden of 34.7%, a meaningful share of tenants is stretched thin, which does elevate default risk even in quieter submarkets.

The intra-county score range runs from 3.8 to 8.6/10, a full 1.2-point spread that matters in practice. A score of 3.8 signals genuinely low risk, while 5 sits at the top of the Moderate band. That spread means a landlord choosing between two communities just a few miles apart can be operating in meaningfully different risk environments, so county-level averages alone should not drive acquisition decisions.

The cities inside Hawaii County

The highest-risk communities sit noticeably above the county average. Tiki Gardens leads at 8.6/10, followed closely by Pepeekeo at 5.9/10, and a cluster of communities including Mountain View, Honaunau-Napoopoo, Kealakekua, Nanawale Estates, Keaau, and Kaloko each scoring 6.5/10. These smaller communities tend to combine higher poverty concentrations with lower owner-occupancy rates, the conditions that typically drive eviction frequency upward.

The county's largest cities tell a more balanced story. Hilo, the county seat with a population of 50,404, scores exactly at the county average of 5.7/10. Kailua (population 21,851) also lands at 4.2/10, while Hawaiian Paradise Park and Kaiminani each come in at 4.6/10. At the lower-risk end of the spectrum, Hawaiian Ocean View scores 5.2/10, the most landlord-favorable reading among the county's larger communities. The lesson is consistent: risk is hyper-local on the Big Island, and city-level scoring should anchor any underwriting conversation.

State-level laws that apply here

All Hawaii County landlords operate under HRS § 521 (Residential Landlord-Tenant Code). The notice structure is relatively tight: non-payment of rent triggers a 5-day notice, a lease violation with an opportunity to cure requires 10 days, and a no-cause or end-of-term termination requires 30 days. Landlords must provide 48 hours notice before entering a unit. Understanding the full Hawaii eviction process is important here because even an uncontested case takes 30 to 60 days, and a contested matter can run 75 to 150 days. Court filing fees range from $155 to $265, sheriff lockout fees from $50 to $200, and attorney fees from $750 to $3,500, so total out-of-pocket costs vary widely depending on whether a tenant contests the action.

Hawaii eviction laws state law does not require just cause for termination and, notably, preempts any local rent-control measures, meaning no county or city within Hawaii eviction laws can impose its own rent cap. For landlords researching Hawaii eviction costs before acquiring Big Island assets, the fee ranges above represent the realistic floor-to-ceiling cost of a single removal. The Hawaii eviction laws Civil Rights Commission enforces fair housing compliance; source-of-income is not a protected class under current state law.

With an average poverty rate of 14.8% and only 27.7% of residents renting, Hawaii County's renter pool is relatively small but economically stressed, a combination that rewards careful tenant screening; the city-level scores in the grid above identify exactly where that stress concentrates most.