According to a National Assoc of Realtors Commentary, in the second quarter of 2010, the state of Hawaii had the 2nd worst homeownership rate (55.7%) in the nation. The only state with a lower rate of homeowhership was New York (53.9%).
Historically, Hawaii has high rates of overcrowding. A 2000 US Census table shows Hawaii is #2 in the nation for "severely crowded" households. The website states, "Examples of states with high levels of crowding in 2000 were California and Hawaii, both with a crowding rate of about 15 percent."
Other HUD tables listing AMI (Area Median Income) seem rather high for Hawaii. One possibility is a growing gap between rich and poor or more likely, the Census is counting EVERYONE in the crowded household as ONE family.
That could explain why households have such high income. If the Census is counting all members of the extended family that lives together, you would of course have a very high AMI, and if that "household income" does not adjust for the # of occupants, it would be a very misleading statistic.
