Kahului-Wailuku → Lafayette
Relocation analysis based on 7 federal data sources
Pros of Moving
- + 22% lower cost of living
- + $1612/mo cheaper rent (2BR)
- + More affordable childcare
Cons of Moving
- - $16K lower median salary
- - Higher violent crime rate
- - Higher student-teacher ratios
- - More environmental violations
Moving from Kahului-Wailuku to Lafayette shifts your BEA Regional Price Parity from 109.4 to 87.2 (100 = US average), so a Kahului-Wailuku salary needs to be multiplied by 0.80 to hold the same purchasing power in Lafayette. On rent, HUD Fair Market Rent for a 2-bedroom goes from $2,492/month in Kahului-Wailuku to $880/month in Lafayette - a lower monthly bill of $1,612, or $19,344/year. That rent delta alone is often the single biggest line item when relocating.
Wages tell the other half. BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics report a median salary of $72,704 in Kahului-Wailuku versus $57,165 in Lafayette - a raw gap of $15,539 lower. The Lafayette labor market has 163,850 tracked jobs against 67,610 in Kahului-Wailuku, shaping how easy it is to find a comparable role. Combine that with the cost-of-living shift above and you get the real purchasing-power delta, sometimes a "higher salary" is actually a pay cut once rent and RPP are applied.
Safety, schools, and childcare round out the move. FBI UCR violent crime rates near Kahului-Wailuku and Lafayette are 230 and 410 per 100,000 (state-level). NCES student-teacher ratios run 14.1:1 at origin versus 16.8:1 at destination. DOL center-based infant care costs $15,330/year in Kahului-Wailuku versus $7,396/year in Lafayette. Our composite verdict - Less Favorable - weighs all seven federal sources; the dimension table below lets you override that with your personal priorities.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Is Lafayette more expensive than Kahului-Wailuku?
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Source: BEA Regional Price Parities, HUD Fair Market Rents, BLS OES, FBI UCR, NCES, DOL, EPA June 2026
Data Sources
- Cost of Living: Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) Regional Price Parities
- Rent: HUD Fair Market Rents (FMR)
- Wages: Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OES)
- Crime: FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) - state level
- Schools: National Center for Education Statistics (NCES)
- Childcare: Department of Labor (DOL) - state level
- Environment: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.