Local Pride? Most Hawaii Towns Saw Decline in Hawaii-Born Residents

Flickr: E.Yoshio

Hawaii is a place where being "local" can seem important.

But fewer residents are making the cut.

A smaller proportion of island residents can say they were born in the state than could make that claim 10 years ago, according to a Civil Beat analysis of data from the U.S. Census Bureau. The state saw the third biggest decline in the nation.

All four counties and the majority of communities — 93 of 131 towns — saw the percentage of Hawaii-born residents go down over the past 10 years. Local populations in Maalaea and Kapalua on Maui dropped by more than half, though both of those had very small local-born populations to begin with and had seen increases between the 1990 Census and 2000 Census, throwing some doubt on the numbers.

Paia, also on Maui, saw its Hawaii-born population dip from 59 percent of residents in 2000 to 33.1 percent of residents in 2009. Not far away, Hana has remained one of the most local towns in Hawaii.

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