Census Says Kauai Leading Growth, Hawaii County Third

Despite its increasing traffic jams and other growing pains, Hawaii County is next to last among the state’s counties when it comes to rising population, according to estimates released today by the US Census Bureau.

Kauai County had the biggest increase – 1.6% — in population between July 1, 2012 and July 1, 2013.

It was followed by Maui County at 1.4%, Hawaii County at 1.2% and Honolulu County at 0.9%.

In actual numbers, Honolulu’s population grew the most with 8,439 new residents during that period.

Next was Hawaii County with 2,246 new Big Islanders, followed by Maui County, 2,162, and Kauai County, 1,117.

The Census Bureau estimated the 2013 population of Honolulu County at 983,429. The Big Island was the state’s second most populous county with 190,821 residents, Maui was third at 160,202 and Kauai fourth with a population of 69,512.

Kauai County also leads the state’s growth over the past several years, the census data shows.

From April 1, 2010 to July 1, 2013, the Valley Isle’s population grew by 3.6%, followed by Maui County at 3.5%, Honolulu at 3.2% and Hawaii County at 3.1%.