Economic Impact | Income

How have the incomes of fire-impacted people changed since the wildfires?

A year after the wildfires, more than half of respondents have lower incomes now than before the wildfires. Roughly a quarter are earning much less, i.e. less than half of their pre-fire incomes. This suggests a persistent income shock for much of the fire-impacted community which is only exacerbated by elevated housing costs. In contrast, less than 10% of respondents earn significantly more than before the disaster.

Over half of survey respondents earn less than they did before the fires. Predictably, the vast majority of people who work fewer hours have less income. But notably, about half of participants whose employment status has remained unchanged since the wildfires have still experienced a decline in income. This means that people have likely suffered pay cuts in their existing jobs or had to switch to lower-earning jobs, likely due to fewer job opportunities. A slight trend towards higher incomes for people without changes in employment status is evident, and could in part result from rising prices and overall rising nominal incomes across the state.

How much income do fire-impacted people have?

Overall, there has been a shift in the income distribution since the wildfires. More survey participants are now falling into lower income categories while the share in higher income brackets has decreased. This suggests that many who were previously higher-income earners have experienced a drop in income. The percentage of respondents having less than $2,000 of income per month has tripled, increasing from about 6% to around 20% and it has remained broadly stable in the last six months. For full-time employees, the largest increase happened in the $4,000-$6,000 per month income group. For part-time employees and people who are not employed, the $2,000-$4,000 and under $2,000 per month income groups saw the largest rise respectively. For part-time employees, the percentage of respondents earning below $4,000 per month is at about two-thirds now compared to about 55% six months ago and under 30% before the wildfires. This may be due to wage reductions and/or changes in the composition of the part-time workforce.

How did the wildfires affect the poverty rates of fire-impacted people?

Before the wildfires, almost 90% of respondents were above the poverty line. Nearly 80% remain above the poverty line nearly a year and a half later and more than 20% of fire-impacted people in the survey are below the poverty line. This is more than twice as high as the Maui County average in 2023 (9% of households below the poverty line). There have been no significant changes in poverty rates since the start of the data collection in August 2024. This suggests that fire-impacted people remain very vulnerable and at risk of long-term poverty.

To further illustrate the poverty dynamics, this chart shows that, compared to their poverty status before the wildfires, around 15% of respondents have fallen into poverty. In addition, between 6 and 11% of fire-affected people continue to live below the poverty threshold. Only about 2-4% have risen above it in the period since the wildfires, which may be due to increased support and disaster relief from government and non-profit organizations. The sharp and persistent increase in poverty is very concerning and suggests ongoing and substantial gaps in assistance for the fire-impacted community.