Housing | Conditions

Do fire-impacted people live in permanent or temporary housing?

More than two years after the fires, the share of survey respondents still living in temporary housing has declined by almost 10 percentage points to about a third of the fire-affected population since mid-2025. The share of people who do not have their own home at all (i.e. living with friends, family, or being unhoused) sits around 5-8% in the last several months. Housing instability is a risk factor for many negative health and life outcomes. It may weaken education, employment and physical and mental health. Meanwhile, more than a quarter have moved into a permanent new home and recent data suggests a slight upward trend. Approximately 30% of respondents still live in the same house as before the fires.

What types of temporary housing do fire-impacted people live in?

More than 30% of survey respondents are in temporary housing without assistance and about 20% are staying with family and friends or are currently unhoused. The largest share of displaced residents are living in other types of temporary housing and receive some form of assistance, either from FEMA, the State of Hawai‘i, or community organizations. If FEMA funding was recently extended for another year providing continued support for the more than a third of fire-affected households still living in FEMA-assisted housing.

Do fire-impacted people live in crowded conditions?

Many displaced residents are now living with family, friends, or in smaller accommodations than they had before the fire. As a result, respondents may be more likely to live in crowded conditions. Depending on the definition of crowding used, crowding may be affecting between about 10% and over 50% of fire-impacted households and may be subject to monthly fluctuations due to fixed thresholds separating categories. Given larger and multigenerational households are more common in Hawaiʻi for both cultural and economic reasons, the lower estimates based on the Canadian standard might be a more appropriate crowding measure in the Hawaiʻi context. Crowding is linked to health issues, such as the spread of infectious diseases and mental health problems. It has also been shown that crowding is associated with lower educational outcomes for children.