Wahiawa is a medium-sized coastal town (i.e. on the ocean, a bay, or inlet) located in the state of Hawaii. With a population of 18,658 people and 11 associated neighborhoods, Wahiawa is the 12th largest community in Hawaii.

Housing costs in Wahiawa are among some of the highest in the nation, although real estate prices here don't compare to real estate prices in the most expensive communities in Hawaii.

There are quite a few people in the armed forces living in Wahiawa, and when you visit or drive around town, you will see military people in and out of uniform, shopping, enjoying life, and being part of the community.

One of the nice things about Wahiawa is that it is nautical, which means that parts of it are somewhat historic and touch the ocean or tidal bodies of water, such as inlets and bays. Because of this, visitors and locals will often go to these areas to take in the scenery or to enjoy waterfront activities.

One downside of living in Wahiawa is that it can take a long time to commute to work. In Wahiawa, the average commute to work is 32.80 minutes, which is quite a bit higher than the national average. On the other hand, local public transit is widely used in the town, so leaving the car at home and taking transit is often a viable alternative.

Even though Wahiawa is a smaller town, it has many people who hop on public transportation – mostly the bus for their daily commute to work. Typically, these people are commuting to good jobs in the surrounding cities.

The education level of Wahiawa citizens is a little higher than the average for US cities and towns: 21.48% of adults in Wahiawa have at least a bachelor's degree.

The per capita income in Wahiawa in 2018 was $36,808, which is middle income relative to Hawaii, and upper middle income relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $147,232 for a family of four. However, Wahiawa contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.

Wahiawa is an extremely ethnically-diverse town. The people who call Wahiawa home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Wahiawa residents report their race to be Asian, followed by White. Wahiawa also has a sizeable Hispanic population (people of Hispanic origin can be of any race). People of Hispanic or Latino origin account for 11.72% of the town’s residents. Important ancestries of people in Wahiawa include Portuguese, German, English, Italian, and Irish.

In addition, Wahiawa has a lot of people living here who were born outside of the US (19.53%).

The most common language spoken in Wahiawa is English. Other important languages spoken here include Pacific Island languages and Tagalog.