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

A year after the wildfires, about half of respondents have lower incomes now than before the wildfires. Almost 20% are earning significantly less, i.e. less than half of their pre-fire incomes. This suggests a persistent income shock for much of the fire-impacted community. In contrast, less than 5% of respondents earn significantly more than before the disaster.

The majority of people who earn less work fewer hours. But notably, more than a third 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 because of a reduction in available work opportunities.

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 and a smaller share into higher income brackets. This suggests that many who were previously higher income earners have experienced a drop in income. The percentage of participants earning less than $2,000 per month has more than doubled, increasing from 9% to 23%. For full-time employees, the largest increase happened in the $2,000-$4,000 per month income group. For part-time employees and people who are not employed, the under $2000 per month income group saw the largest rise.

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

Before the wildfires, 87% of the survey respondents were living above the poverty line. Only 68% remained above it a year later. Among the 14% who were already below the poverty line, 3% have risen above it in the past year. This may be due to increased support and disaster relief from government and non-profit organizations. However, 10% continue to live below the poverty threshold and alarmingly, 18% of respondents have fallen into poverty and have remained below the poverty line one year after the disaster. In total, this means that almost 30% of fire-impacted households in the survey are below the poverty line. This is more than three times higher than the Maui County average in 2023 (9% of households below the poverty line). It suggests that fire-impacted households remain very vulnerable and at risk of long-term poverty. Notably, the survey cohort included a higher-than-average number of low-income people who were still above the poverty line before the fires and may have fallen below the poverty line since. Nonetheless, much of the large persistent increase in poverty likely applies to the overall population of fire-impacted Maui residents. The sharp and persistent increase in poverty is very concerning and suggests ongoing and substantial gaps in assistance for the fire-impacted community.