How big is Hawaiʻi County agriculture, and which way is it heading?
Total farms, 1997–2022
Number of operations (Census)
Who earns the sales?
Line every farm up smallest-to-largest by sales; the curve shows how little of the total sales $ the small farms add up to. Flat-then-spike = a few big farms earn almost everything.
NASS publishes no sales bracket above $500K for this county (disclosure), so $500K+ is the top group.
Other ways to see the same thing
Farms vs. sales dollars, by size tier
Each bar = 100%. The biggest farms are a sliver of operations but most of the money.
Share of farms vs. share of sales
For each sales tier — gap between the pair = how over/under-represented in $
Who are the producers — and what does the next generation look like?
Producers by age & sex
2022 Census
Producers by race
Alone or in combination (2022)
Community context — by district (ACS 2019–2023)
Median household income
By Census subdivision (CCD)
Population change, ~2010→2023
10-year % change by CCD (ACS)
ACS data also feeds the District Snapshots (population, change, race, income).
What's grown — and what's changing on the ground right now?
Crops: many-small vs. few-large
Operations × acres, each point a commodity (2022)
Crop acreage change, 2023→2025
Island-wide, 2023 vs 2025 (HCDL)
Where is the cropland — and what dominates each part of the island?
Total crop acreage
By area (2025 HCDL)
Dominant crop
Each area's #1 crop by acreage (2025)
How does food and farming show up in the economy?
Jobs by sector (2024)
Avg annual employment (QCEW)
Sector employment, 2014–2024
Over time
Farm economics (2022 Census)
Do farms turn a profit?
Operations with a net cash gain vs. loss
Income beyond crop & livestock sales
Farm-related income, $ (ag-tourism, forestry, custom work…)
Where can people get food — and who is most stretched?
Food-access map
Grocers, SNAP retailers, food pantries, commercial kitchens, organic operations
Population — by ZIP
Where people live (ACS 2019–2023), to read the rate maps against — does color follow population or diverge from it?
Financial hardship (ALICE)
% of households in poverty or below the ALICE survival budget, by ZIP (2024)
Food insecurity index — by ZIP
Composite index, where need concentrates (Hawaiʻi Health Matters / HCI, 2025)
Population — county trend
Hawaiʻi County total population, 2000–2023 (US Census decennial + ACS)
SNAP participation over time
Hawaiʻi statewide (Supersistence Hawaii-SNAP)
Food insecurity rate — county trend
% of residents food insecure, Hawaiʻi County (Feeding America Map the Meal Gap)
Sources: USDA FNS (SNAP retailers, current), USDA Organic Integrity / Supersistence OID (2026), The Food Basket (pantries), Hawaiʻi Island grocery & commercial-kitchen lists, United Way ALICE 2024 (county report, ZIP/ZCTA), Supersistence Hawaii-SNAP (through May 2025). Grocer/pantry/kitchen lists are working drafts (2021 vintage); SNAP & ALICE refreshed to current.