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.

Wahiawa is home to a number of people employed in the armed forces. When you visit or walk around Wahiawa, some of the people you will bump into will be military people In and out of uniform, jogging, shopping and generally out and about town.

Wahiawa is also nautical, which means that parts of it are somewhat historic and touch the ocean or tidal bodies of water, such as inlets and bays. Such areas are often places that visitors and locals go for waterfront activities or taking in the scenery.

In Wahiawa, however, the average commute to work is quite long. On average, people spend 32.87 minutes each day getting to work, which is significantly higher than the national average. One bright side is that local public transit is widely used, so it may be an option to avoid the headache of driving in the heavy traffic by leaving the car at home and taking transit.

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: 23.86% of adults in Wahiawa have at least a bachelor's degree.

The per capita income in Wahiawa in 2022 was $37,553, 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 $150,212 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 14.21% of the town’s residents. Important ancestries of people in Wahiawa include German, Portuguese, Irish, English, and Polish.

Foreign born people are also an important part of Wahiawa's cultural character, accounting for 19.85% of the town’s population.

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