Addressing Oʻahu’s housing shortage and its impact on affordability, the City and County of Honolulu’s Office of Housing, in partnership with the University of Hawaiʻi Economic Research Organization (UHERO), has unveiled the Subsidized Housing Explorer, a first-of-its-kind tool for the island. This interactive tracker consolidates data on government-subsidized housing units across Honolulu County, offering an unprecedented resource for policymakers, stakeholders, and residents.
The housing crisis on Oʻahu continues to affect thousands of families, with the median sales price of a single-family home exceeding $1.1 million and median rents approaching $2,000. According to the Hawai‘i Housing Factbook, 58% of Oʻahu renters are rent-burdened, spending more than 30% of their income on housing, while 29% are severely rent-burdened, allocating over half of their income to rent.
To combat this crisis, the City has implemented various programs, including Bill 7, which provides property tax exemptions, increases building density, and relaxes building standards for affordable rental projects. The Subsidized Housing Explorer takes these efforts further by offering a centralized database that tracks over 50 government programs and more than 35,000 cost-restricted units across 332 properties.
“This tool is a major step forward in our ongoing efforts to make housing more affordable for Oʻahu’s residents,” said Kevin Auger, Executive Director, Office of Housing. “By consolidating and visualizing data on subsidized housing, the Subsidized Housing Explorer provides critical insights to support effective policy decisions.”
The Explorer identifies properties across Oʻahu that participate in federal, state, and local housing programs. The Honolulu metro area accounts for nearly 20,000 cost-restricted units, reflecting its dense population and housing demand, while the west side contains approximately 9,000 units. Properties such as temporary housing shelters and those intended for victims of domestic violence are excluded to ensure the tool focuses on long-term housing solutions.
“By bringing together detailed information on subsidized housing programs, this tool enables us to bridge gaps in understanding and improve the ways we tackle housing affordability,” said Rachel Inafuku, UHERO Research Economist. “We hope it will serve as a resource for policymakers, researchers, and residents working toward long-term solutions to Oʻahu’s housing challenges.”
A CSV file containing detailed data and a comprehensive list of government programs is available for download on the Subsidized Housing Explorer page, enabling users to make data-driven decisions that improve housing affordability. For more information about the Subsidized Housing Explorer, visit here.