Honolulu County

Honolulu County, Hawaii — key demographics

Population size

• 1,016,508 (2020 Census)
• ≈1.00 million (2023 estimate, U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates)

Age profile

• Under 18: 20.6%
• 65 and over: 19.6%
• Median age: ~39 years

Gender

• Male: ~50.6%
• Female: ~49.4%

Racial/ethnic composition (ACS)

• Asian (alone): 42.7%
• White (alone): 25.1%
• Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander (alone): 9.4%
• Black or African American (alone): 2.2%
• American Indian and Alaska Native (alone): 0.4%
• Two or more races: ~19–20%
• Hispanic or Latino (of any race): 10.6%
• White alone, not Hispanic or Latino: 19.4%

Household data

• Households: 331,677
• Persons per household: 2.95
• Owner-occupied housing unit rate: 56.5%

Insights

• Older age profile than the U.S. overall with nearly one in five residents 65+
• High multiracial population and the nation’s largest shares of Asian and Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander residents among large counties
• Larger households and a relatively high renter share compared with the U.S. average

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau (2020 Decennial Census; 2018–2022 American Community Survey 5-year estimates/QuickFacts; 2023 Population Estimates).

Honolulu County, HI (≈1.00M residents) is highly connected with mature email adoption.

• Estimated email users: 760,000 residents (75% of all residents; 88% of adults).
• Age distribution of users (adults): 18–29: 20%; 30–49: 32%; 50–64: 26%; 65+: 22%.
• Gender split among users: 50% men, 50% women; usage rates are near-parity across genders.
• Digital access: 94% of households have a computer; 90% subscribe to broadband; 12% are mobile‑only internet households.
• Connectivity: 100 Mbps+ fixed broadband reaches about 95% of households; gigabit via Spectrum and Hawaiian Telcom covers most urban areas; countywide 5G from AT&T, T‑Mobile, and Verizon. Email access is predominantly mobile-first.
• Local density and backbone: ~1,670 people per square mile (highest in Hawaii). Oahu hosts multiple trans‑Pacific submarine cable landings and major carrier interconnection points, supporting robust links to the U.S. mainland and Asia. Public libraries and tourist corridors (e.g., Waikiki, Downtown) provide extensive free Wi‑Fi, bolstering access for residents, students, and visitors.

These figures reflect ACS household connectivity and U.S. email adoption patterns applied to Honolulu’s demographics to yield a county‑level estimate.

Honolulu County, HI mobile phone usage profile (2022–2024)

User base and adoption

• Active smartphone users: approximately 730,000–760,000 residents use a smartphone in Honolulu County, anchored by near‑universal handset adoption among adults and the county’s roughly 1.0 million population. A point estimate commonly used for planning is about 740,000 adult smartphone users.
• Household access: 95–96% of households have a computing device and about 91% have a broadband subscription (any technology). Within that, smartphone access is effectively the default: about 9 in 10 households report having a smartphone and roughly 8½ in 10 report a cellular data plan.
• Reliance on mobile: About 1 in 8 Honolulu households rely primarily on cellular data for home internet (smartphone/hotspot only). That reliance rate is lower than the statewide share (closer to 1 in 7 to 1 in 6), reflecting better fixed-network options on O‘ahu.

How Honolulu differs from the rest of Hawai‘i

• Higher adoption, lower gaps: Honolulu County has slightly higher smartphone and broadband adoption and fewer “no internet” households than the Hawai‘i statewide average. Households with no internet access in Honolulu are in the high‑single digits (about 7–8%), versus roughly 9–10% statewide.
• Less “mobile-only” dependency: Because fiber/coax coverage is densest on O‘ahu, a smaller share of Honolulu households is mobile‑only compared with neighbor island counties.
• Heavier network load: Honolulu’s daily device density is boosted by visitors and the large military community. O‘ahu typically hosts around 90,000–120,000 visitors on an average day, adding substantial transient mobile demand, especially in Waikiki, Ala Moana, the airport corridor, and major attractions—far above visitor loads in other counties.
• Faster 5G in the urban core: Honolulu’s urban corridor posts higher median 5G download speeds than the Hawai‘i statewide median thanks to denser small‑cell deployments and mid‑band spectrum utilization.

Demographic patterns

• Age: Smartphone adoption is effectively universal among residents under 35, high in the 35–64 cohort, and in the mid‑ to high‑70s percent among those 65+, a few points higher in Honolulu than the statewide figure for seniors due to better device support ecosystems and urban carrier retail presence.
• Income and housing: Lower‑income renters in the urban core are more smartphone‑reliant for connectivity than homeowners, but the availability of affordable wireline plans on O‘ahu keeps mobile‑only rates below those seen on neighbor islands.
• Military and tourism: Active‑duty personnel, dependents, and seasonal visitor volumes raise eSIM usage, international roaming, and short‑term prepaid demand in Honolulu to levels materially above the rest of the state.

Digital infrastructure highlights

• Coverage: 4G LTE is effectively universal across O‘ahu. 5G NR coverage is county‑wide, with:
  • T‑Mobile mid‑band 5G covering the vast majority of the population (island‑wide),
  • Verizon C‑band and AT&T 5G broadly deployed along the H‑1/H‑2/H‑3 corridors and the urban shoreline,
  • mmWave nodes concentrated in high‑traffic zones such as Waikiki, Downtown Honolulu, and around major venues.
• Capacity and performance: Honolulu has the state’s densest macro‑ and small‑cell footprint, supporting median 5G download speeds in the urban core that typically exceed statewide medians by a meaningful margin, with peak speeds well over 1 Gbps on mmWave in select hotspots.
• Backhaul and core: Multiple trans‑Pacific submarine cables land on O‘ahu, and internet exchange and carrier POPs are concentrated in Honolulu. This concentrates backhaul capacity and reduces latency variability relative to neighbor islands.
• Resiliency: Carriers in Honolulu have more hardened sites (backup power, microwave ring backhaul) and prioritized restoration plans due to population density, tourism, and critical facilities, improving post‑storm recovery compared with more remote islands.

Key takeaways for planning

• Honolulu concentrates the majority of Hawai‘i’s mobile subscribers and traffic, with the highest 5G capacity, the lowest share of unserved/no‑internet households, and less mobile‑only dependence than the statewide average.
• Visitor and military dynamics materially shape demand peaks and device mix in Honolulu in ways not observed elsewhere in the state, requiring denser small‑cell deployments and sustained mid‑band spectrum utilization in the urban corridor.
• The county’s superior wireline backhaul and multiple submarine cable landings underpin consistently higher mobile performance than in neighbor island counties, reinforcing a mobile experience that is distinctly more urban, faster, and better provisioned than the Hawai‘i statewide profile.

Social media usage in Honolulu County, HI (2024 snapshot)

Method note: Where county-specific platform data aren’t directly published, figures are modeled by applying current U.S. adult usage rates (Pew Research Center, 2024) to Honolulu County’s adult population (ACS 2023). Numbers are rounded.

Population and overall usage

• Population: ~1.0 million; adults (18+): ~820,000 (ACS).
• Broadband-connected households: ~90% (ACS, Hawaii; Honolulu aligns closely).
• Estimated adult social media users: ~590,000 (≈72% of adults, in line with Pew’s U.S. rate).

Most-used platforms (adult reach; modeled local estimates)

• YouTube: ~83% → ~681,000 adults
• Facebook: ~68% → ~558,000
• Instagram: ~47% → ~385,000
• Pinterest: ~35% → ~287,000
• TikTok: ~33% → ~271,000
• LinkedIn: ~30% → ~246,000
• WhatsApp: ~29% → ~238,000
• Snapchat: ~27% → ~221,000
• X (Twitter): ~22% → ~180,000
• Reddit: ~22% → ~180,000
• Nextdoor: ~19% → ~156,000

Age-group patterns (adult usage tendencies; Honolulu mirrors U.S. urban patterns)

• 18–29: YouTube ≈90%+, Instagram ≈78%, Snapchat ≈65%, TikTok ≈62%, Facebook ≈33%.
• 30–49: YouTube ≈90%+, Facebook ≈75%, Instagram ≈49%, TikTok ≈39%, Snapchat ≈24%.
• 50–64: YouTube ≈80%+, Facebook ≈69%, Instagram ≈29%, TikTok ≈24%.
• 65+: Facebook ≈62%, YouTube ≈60%, Instagram ≈15%, TikTok ≈10%. Interpretation: Under 30s drive TikTok/Snap and short-form video; 30–49s are mixed but video-first; 50+ concentrate on Facebook and YouTube.

Gender breakdown

• Overall user base is roughly evenly split by gender (reflecting the county’s near 50/50 population).
• Platform tendencies: women over-index on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest; men over-index on YouTube, Reddit, X, and Discord. Local brand and community groups thus see higher female engagement on Facebook/Instagram, while tech, gaming, and news skew male on YouTube/Reddit/X.

Behavioral trends in Honolulu County

• Mobile-first, video-forward: Reels/Shorts/TikTok dominate discovery; YouTube remains the go-to for long-form how-to, travel, and education.
• Community-centric usage: Heavy reliance on Facebook Groups and Nextdoor for neighborhood updates, events, surf/traffic alerts, and emergency info; high engagement with City/County and local news pages during storms or infrastructure updates.
• Tourism and local business discovery: Instagram and TikTok drive food, hikes, and attractions; geotagged short videos and Stories are key for restaurants, activities, and pop-ups; Google/YouTube used for deeper planning.
• Messaging layer: WhatsApp usage is meaningful for family/community groups; LINE is present among Japan-linked households and businesses; Messenger and iMessage remain ubiquitous.
• Cultural and multilingual content: Notable presence of Hawaiian, Japanese, and Filipino language content; cross-posting between Instagram and Facebook is common for community reach.
• Timing: Peaks in early evening (6–10 pm HST) and lunchtime; many local creators time posts to also catch West Coast prime time due to the HST–PT offset.

Sources

• U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey (ACS) 2023 (population, broadband).
• Pew Research Center, Social Media Use (2024) for U.S. adult platform reach and age patterns.