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ZIP Code96746

Kapaa, HI

Kauai County · Hawaii · United States
Home to 20,566 people across 29.843 square miles.

Hawaii17 ZIPs in county

At a glance

96746 by the numbers

Every figure below comes from the 2019–2023 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, the Census Gazetteer, or is computed from those. Margins of error are shown where they matter.

Population
21k
±1,359 · top 25% nationally
Median household income
$89,681
US median $70,109 · top 25%
Median home value
$830,500
US median $207,500 · top 5%
Median age
45.4
US median 42 years
Population density
689/mi²
top 25% most dense
Land area
29.843 mi²
plus 2.932 mi² water

Location

Where 96746 is

22.092807, -159.3525 · Census ZCTA internal pointOpen larger map →
Coordinates22.092807, -159.3525
Time zonePacific/Honolulu
CountyKauai County
StateHawaii (HI)
Land area29.843 mi²
Coordinate sourceCensus ZCTA internal point

Local time

Pacific/Honolulu

—:—:—

Current weather

Live from the National Weather Service

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Distance to major cities

Straight-line, computed from coordinates

San Francisco, CA2441.2 mi
Los Angeles, CA2619.0 mi
San Diego, CA2671.1 mi
Seattle, WA2698.4 mi

People

Who lives in 96746

20,566 residents in 6,792 households, averaging 3.03 people per household. The largest age group is 65+ at 21.9% of residents.

Age distribution

Share of residents by age band

Under 1819.6%
18-245.2%
25-3410.4%
35-4414.3%
45-5412.7%
55-6415.9%
65+21.9%

Households

Composition and size

Total households6,792
Average household size3.03
Family households64.8%
Living alone21.1%
Median age45.4 years
Households with internet92.3%

Race & ethnicity

Census race categories. Hispanic or Latino origin is asked separately and overlaps these groups.

White38.8%
Black0.4%
Asian26.6%
Native American0.3%
Pacific Islander6.3%
Other1.4%
Two or more26.1%
Hispanic / Latino10.9%

Income & work

What people earn in 96746

The median household here earns $89,681 a year, above the US median of $70,109, which puts 96746 ahead of 75% of American ZIP codes. 8.8% of residents live below the poverty line.

Compared to the US

This ZIP against the national median

Median household income$89,681
LowestHighest
Higher than 75% of all US ZIP codes.
Median household income$89,681 ±$9,089
Per capita income$44,336
Poverty rate8.8%
Unemployment rate3.4%
Labor force participation64.3%

Household income distribution

Share of households in each bracket

<$25k11.0%
$25-50k9.3%
$50-75k21.0%
$75-100k13.0%
$100-150k19.4%
$150-200k10.6%
$200k+15.7%

Educational attainment among residents 25 and older: 32.2% hold a bachelor's degree or higher, 94.5% finished high school.

Housing

Homes and rent in 96746

A typical home is valued at $830,500, and median rent runs $2,053 a month. This is an owner-majority area — 68.3% of occupied homes are owned, and the typical building went up in 1983.

Costs

Typical values

Median home value$830,500
Median gross rent$2,053/mo
Median year built1983
Housing units8,178
Vacancy rate16.9%

Own vs. rent

Of 6,792 occupied units

Owner-occupied68.3%
Renter-occupied31.7%
Owner households4,640
Renter households2,152

Building types

Units by structure size

Single family80.8%
2-4 units5.7%
5-19 units5.4%
20+ units8.1%

Getting to work

How 96746 commutes

73.9% of workers drove alone, and the average one-way trip takes 27.6 minutes.

Mode of transport

Workers 16 and older

Drove alone73.9%
Carpooled15.2%
Public transit0.9%
Walked1.0%
Worked from home8.8%

Travel time

Mean commute 27.6 minutes

<10 min6.6%
10-1928.0%
20-2929.1%
30-4424.7%
45-598.4%
60+3.3%

Overview

Understanding ZIP code 96746

ZIP code 96746 is assigned to Kapaa, HI, and falls within Kauai County. Like every US postal code, it began as a mail-routing device rather than a geographic boundary — the US Postal Service groups delivery routes under a single code so carriers and sorting equipment can process mail efficiently. Today it also serves as a practical shorthand for the area itself: roughly 20,566 people live inside it.

At 689 residents per square mile spread over 29.843 square miles, 96746 reads as a small-town area. It is a mid-sized postal code by population, and density shapes almost everything else on this page — how people get to work, whether they own or rent, and what housing costs.

Household earnings run above the national median. At $89,681, 96746 sits comfortably in the upper half, ahead of 75% of them. The US median for comparison is $70,109. Bear in mind that median income describes the midpoint household, not the average — it is not pulled upward by a handful of very high earners the way a mean would be.

Living here

What life in Kapaa looks like

Housing in 96746 costs far above the national median. A typical home is valued at $830,500 against a US median of $207,500, and median gross rent runs $2,053 a month. The split between owning and renting is fairly even at 68.3% owner-occupied, which tends to indicate a mix of housing types rather than one dominant form.

The building stock is dominated by detached single-family houses, which account for 80.8% of housing units here. The median construction year is 1983, making the housing here from the later twentieth century.

The population skews older than the national median, with a median age of 45.4 against 42 nationally. Households are relatively large at 3.03 people on average, with 64.8% classified as family households.

Getting to work takes 27.6 minutes on average one way. The dominant mode is drove alone at 73.9% of workers.

Where to stay

Where to stay in Kapaa, HI

Kapaa is a smaller community, so options inside 96746 may be limited to a handful of independent inns, motels or bed-and-breakfast properties. Travellers often widen the search to the surrounding area, where the choice is greater and prices are usually competitive.

Median rent in 96746 is $2,053 a month, which sits in the middle of the national range; accommodation pricing locally tends to be similarly mid-market. For reference, San Francisco, CA is about 2441.2 miles away in a straight line, which is worth factoring in if you are comparing a stay here against one closer to the city centre.

Availability and pricing change constantly, so the live search below will give you a more accurate picture than any figure we could publish here. It opens results for this area on Booking.com.

Book a Hotel →

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Practical uses

What ZIP code 96746 is used for

Beyond addressing mail, 96746 does a lot of quiet administrative work. Retailers use it to calculate shipping and sales tax at checkout. Insurers use it to set premiums, since risk profiles vary geographically. Employers and marketers use it to define service areas. Government agencies use it to route benefits and organise reporting. If you have ever been asked for a postal code by a form that clearly does not intend to send you anything, this is why.

For anyone weighing a move, 96746 offers a compact profile of Kapaa: 20,566 residents, a median household income of $89,681, 32.2% of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher, and an unemployment rate of 3.4%. A handful of figures like these answer more relocation questions than most neighbourhood guides do.

One caution worth repeating: a postal code is not a neighbourhood. 96746 may cover parts of several distinct areas, and a single neighbourhood in Kapaa may be split across more than one code. Boundaries also shift as USPS adjusts delivery routes. Treat the figures here as describing a delivery area, which is what they actually measure.

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Questions

Common questions about 96746

What city is ZIP code 96746 in?
96746 serves Kapaa, Hawaii, in Kauai County, United States.
What is the population of 96746?
About 20,566 people live in ZIP code 96746, according to the US Census Bureau's 2019–2023 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates. The margin of error on that figure is ±1,359. That works out to roughly 689 people per square mile.
What is the average income in 96746?
The median household income in 96746 is $89,681 per year, compared with a US median of $70,109. Per capita income is $44,336. Median income is more representative than an average because it isn't skewed by a small number of very high earners.
How expensive is housing in 96746?
The median home value is $830,500 and median gross rent is $2,053 a month. 68.3% of occupied homes are owner-occupied.
Is 96746 a good place to live?
That depends on what you're looking for, but here are the facts: 32.2% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, the unemployment rate is 3.4%, and the median age is 45.4. The average commute is 27.6 minutes. We publish the numbers and let you weigh them.
What time zone is 96746 in?
96746 observes Hawaii Time (Pacific/Honolulu). This zone does not observe daylight saving time.
How big is ZIP code 96746?
ZIP code 96746 covers 29.843 square miles of land plus 2.932 square miles of water, per the US Census Bureau's 2023 Gazetteer files.
Is 96746 urban, suburban or rural?
By population density, 96746 reads as a small-town area. It holds 689 people per square mile across 29.843 square miles of land. For reference, densities above 10,000 per square mile generally indicate an urban core, 1,000–3,000 is typically suburban, and under 200 is rural. These are rules of thumb rather than official designations — the Census Bureau classifies urban and rural areas by census block, not by ZIP code.
How much is rent in 96746?
Median gross rent in 96746 is $2,053 a month, according to the American Community Survey. Gross rent includes contract rent plus the estimated cost of utilities and fuels, so it is closer to what a tenant actually pays than a headline rent figure. Of 6,792 occupied homes here, 2,152 are rented.
What is the commute like from 96746?
The average one-way commute from 96746 takes about 27.6 minutes. The most common way to travel is drove alone, used by 73.9% of workers aged 16 and over. Commute figures cover people who were employed and working outside the home during the survey period.
How many people work in 96746?
About 10,469 residents of 96746 are employed. Labor force participation stands at 64.3% and the unemployment rate is 3.4%. Note this counts residents by where they live, not by where they work — a ZIP with many offices can have far more jobs than employed residents.
Where should I stay when visiting 96746?
Accommodation in and around Kapaa, HI ranges with the character of the area. See the 'Where to stay' section on this page for local context, and use the live search there for current availability and pricing.
Does 96746 cover more than one city or county?
This page lists Kapaa as the primary place and Kauai County as the county. ZIP codes follow mail delivery routes rather than municipal or county lines, so a single code can straddle boundaries, and USPS also recognises alternate acceptable city names for many codes. If you need the definitive answer for a specific street address, the USPS ZIP Code Lookup is the authority.
Can ZIP code 96746 change?
Yes. USPS adjusts ZIP codes as delivery volumes shift — codes are occasionally split, merged, retired or newly created, and boundaries move more often than most people assume. The Census Bureau's ZCTA definitions, which underpin the demographic figures on this page, are redrawn only once a decade, so the two can drift apart between censuses.

Methodology

Where this data comes from

  • Postal geography — GeoNames open postal code database (CC BY 4.0), cross-checked against the US Census Gazetteer.
  • Demographics, income, housing, commute — US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2019–2023 5-Year Estimates, ZIP Code Tabulation Area 96746. Tables B01001, B01002, B01003, B02001, B03003, B08301, B08303, B11001, B15003, B17001, B19001, B19013, B19301, B23025, B25002, B25003, B25024, B25035, B25064, B25077, B28002.
  • Land and water area — US Census Bureau 2023 Gazetteer Files.
  • Weather — NOAA National Weather Service, fetched live in your browser.
  • Map — OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).
On accuracy. ACS figures are survey estimates, not counts. The margin of error shown alongside the population figure means the true value has a 90% chance of falling in that range. For small ZIP codes the error can be large relative to the estimate — treat the direction as more reliable than the exact number. This page reports data for ZCTA 96746, the Census approximation of the USPS delivery area.