Waialua () is a

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counte ...

and North Shore community in the Waialua District on the island of

Oahu Oahu (, , sometimes written Oahu) is the third-largest and most populated island of the Hawaiian Islands and of the U.S. state of Hawaii. The state capital, Honolulu, is on Oahu's southeast coast. The island of Oahu and the uninhabited Northwe ...

, City & County of Honolulu,

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

, United States. As of the 2020 census, the CDP had a population of 4,062. Waialua was one of the six original districts of

ancient Hawaii Ancient Hawaii is the period of Hawaiian history preceding the establishment in 1795 of the Kingdom of Hawaii by Kamehameha the Great. Traditionally, researchers estimated the first settlement of the Hawaiian islands as having occurred sporad ...

on the island, known as ''moku''. Waialua is a former (sugar) mill town and residential area, quite different in its quiet ambiance from nearby Haleiwa, which is more commercial and tourist oriented. The Waialua Sugar Mill is the center of this town and the historical base of its plantation history. The U.S.

postal code A postal code (also known locally in various English-speaking countries throughout the world as a postcode, post code, PIN or ZIP Code) is a series of letters or numerical digit, digits or both, sometimes including spaces or punctuation, inclu ...

for Waialua is 96791.

Geography

Waialua is located at 21°34'31" north, 158°7'46" west (21.575300, -158.129457), southwest of Haleiwa, reached on Waialua Beach Road (State Rte. 82) or Kaukonahua Road (State Rte. 830). Kaukonahua Road turns eastward and, as State Rte. 803 then 801 runs up into the central plateau of Oahu to Wahiawā or (as 803) to Schofield Barracks. Farrington Highway (State Rte. 930) runs westward to Mokulēia. According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, the CDP has a total area of , of which is land and is water. The total area is 8.30% water.

Demographics

As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2000, there were 3,761 people, 1,128 households, and 882 families residing in the CDP. The population density was . There were 1,219 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the CDP was 15.34%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 0.37%

Black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 0.05% Native American, 51.85% Asian, 3.96%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

, 1.04% from other races, and 27.39% from two or more races. 6.54% of the population were

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race. There were 1,128 households, out of which 29.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.4% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 14.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 21.8% were non-families. 17.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 8.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.31 and the average family size was 3.71. In the CDP the population was spread out, with 23.9% under the age of 18, 7.7% from 18 to 24, 26.4% from 25 to 44, 23.1% from 45 to 64, and 18.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 104.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 101.3 males. The median income for a household in the CDP was $46,763, and the median income for a family was $51,801. Males had a median income of $29,607 versus $23,716 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the CDP was $17,220. 11.7% of the population and 8.9% of families were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

. Out of the total population, 15.0% of those under the age of 18 and 9.0% of those 65 and older were living below the poverty line.

Government and infrastructure

The

United States Postal Service The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or simply the Postal Service, is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the executive branch of the federal governmen ...

operates the Waialua Post Office at 67-079 Nauahi Street. The postal code is 96791. In 2017, the state approved NRG Energy, Inc., to build a 49 megawatt solar farm project near Waialua called Kawailoa Solar. HECO will buy electricity from this solar farm at 11 cents per kilowatt-hour (kWh) for 22 years. On September 10, 2019, the 49 megawatt Kawailoa Solar developed by Clearway Energy Group began its operation. Originally started by the developer

SunEdison SunEdison, Inc. (formerly MEMC Electronic Materials) is a renewable energy company headquartered in the U.S. In addition to developing, building, owning, and operating solar power plants and wind energy plants, it also manufactures high-purity ...

, Hawaiian Electric broke its ties to the firm in February 2016 before SunEdison's bankruptcy proceedings. San Francisco-based Clearway's predecessor, NRG Energy's Community Solar division, took over the project at the end of November 2016. On January 22, 2019, the Clearway Energy Group obtained NRG Community Solar's assets.

Education

Hawaii Department of Education The Hawaii State Department of Education (HIDOE, ) is a statewide public education system in the United States. The school district can be thought of as analogous to the school districts of other cities and communities in the United States, ...

operates public schools. Waialua Elementary School and Waialua High & Intermediate School are in the CDP. The

Roman Catholic Diocese of Honolulu The Diocese of Honolulu () is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese for the state of Hawaii in the United States. It is a suffragan diocese in the ecclesiastical province of the metropolitan Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Francisc ...

operates St. Michael School, a

K-8 school K8 or K-8 may refer to: * K-8 (Kansas highway), two highways in Kansas, one in northern Kansas, one in southern Kansas * K-8 school, a type of school that includes kindergarten and grades one through eight * K8 telephone box, designed by Bruce M ...

. Hawaii State Public Library System operates the Waialua Library.

History

Many of the current families living in Waialua are the results of agricultural industry which began in the early 20th century. There was an increased demand for workers as the industry grew, resulting in workers being brought in from China, Portugal, Japan, Korea, Puerto Rico, Philippines, Spain and other areas. Upon arriving in Hawaii, many of these workers were assigned to work in the

sugarcane Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of tall, Perennial plant, perennial grass (in the genus ''Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar Sugar industry, production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with stout, jointed, fib ...

plantation Plantations are farms specializing in cash crops, usually mainly planting a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. Plantations, centered on a plantation house, grow crops including cotton, cannabis, tob ...

s in Waialua. During the late 1980s and into the 1990s, the sugar production decreased as increasing labor and production costs caused producers to move overseas. Many of the families brought to Waialua during the sugar rush remained here and many of their descendants reside there today. During World War II the twin guns from USS Saratoga were installed off Kamehameha Highway near Waialua for use as gun batteries attached to Hawaiian Pineapple Company Camp Brodie 4.

References

{{Authority control Census-designated places in Honolulu County, Hawaii Populated coastal places in Hawaii Sugar plantations in Hawaii