The State of Safety in Hawaii 2023

The SafeWise team is pleased to release the fifth annual State of Safety report.

According to our 2023 State of Safety Survey, Hawaiians report lower experiences with violent crime and a low statewide violent crime rate. And for the first time in State of Safety history, Hawaiians' concern about overall crime decreased year over year. 

Hawaii didn't provide enough data to the FBI this year so we're unable to update state crime rates. Here's the latest data available, from 2022:

Hawaii’s violent crime rate of 2.5 incidents per 1,000 people is lower than the national rate of 4.0 and it’s one point lower than what the state reported last year (2.6). Hawaii is one of only 15 states to see a decrease in violent crime year over year, bucking the national trend of rising violent crime.

The property crime rate in The Aloha State continues to be higher than both national and regional rates, although it dropped statewide year over year. Between our 2021 and 2022 reports, the property crime rate fell 17%, from 28.7 incidents per 1,000 to 24.1. Despite that decrease, Hawaii reports over four more property crime incidents per capita than the nationwide average.

For better crime reporting in Hawaii in the future, we recommend telling local lawmakers and law enforcement agencies that this information matters to you.

Hawaiians' concerns about violent crime and gun violence have risen slightly year over year, but Hawaiians told us they've experienced steep increases in violent crime and gun violence experiences.

• Daily concern about violent crime is 47%—2 percentage points lower than the national average.
• 13% of Hawaiians said they experienced violent crime in the 12 months prior to our survey—an increase of 117% year over year.
• 50% of Hawaiians feel safe in their state, which matches the national sentiment. 
• 71% of Hawaiians think that crime is on the rise.
• 51% say their personal safety has been affected by the pandemic (US 44%).
• 21% of survey respondents use some kind of personal protection, with pepper spray being used most often. Nationwide, 39% of respondents carry a personal protection device.

• Daily concern about gun violence is 34%—lower than the national average of 47%.
• 8% of Hawaiians said they experienced gun violence in the 12 months prior to our survey—a 60% increase year over year.
• For the third consecutive year, Hawaii hasn’t seen any mass shooting incidents, making it one of only five states without any mass shootings recorded between 2019 and 2021.
• Only 5% of Hawaiian respondents indicated they carry a concealed firearm for protection (US 41%) and 13% said they use a firearm for property protection (US 30%).

Property crime is the biggest concern among Hawaiians, with 55% indicating they worry about it happening to them. Hawaiians' experiences with property crime increased year over year, so their concerns may be justified. 

• Experience with property crime rose by 138% year over year.
• Concern about package theft fell by 15% while package theft experiences increased by 65%.
• 28% of respondents said the pandemic affected the safety of their property, which matches the national sentiment.
• 21% of Hawaiians said they increased their safety or security measures in the 12 months prior to our survey, which is the second-lowest percentage in the nation.
• 41% of Hawaiians protect their properties with security cameras. Full security systems are used far less frequently at 15%.
• Hawaiians prefer to use doorbell cameras for package theft prevention.

We asked Hawaii residents which crimes they worry may happen to them. See if Hawaiians are concerned about the same crime issues as the rest of the country.

View the complete 2023 State of Safety report.

For the purposes of this report, the terms “dangerous” and “safest” refer explicitly to crime rates as calculated from FBI crime data—no other characterization of any community is implied or intended.

We couldn’t rank the safest cities in Hawaii this year due to limited information reported to the FBI. Statewide crime rates are detailed below.

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• The State of Safety in America in 2022

FBI Crime Data Explorer, "Documents & Downloads." Accessed February 6, 2023.

• 2021 and 2020 Crime in the United States Annual Reports
  • Offenses Known to Law Enforcement
• 2021 NIBRS Estimation Tables

FBI Uniform Crime Reporting Program, "Offenses Known to Law Enforcement [2019]." Accessed February 6, 2023.

Bureau of Justice Statistics, "National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS)." Accessed February 6, 2023.

US Census Bureau, "2021: ACS 5-Year Estimates Subject Tables." Accessed February 6, 2023.

US Census Bureau, "2021: ACS 5-Year Estimates Detailed Tables." Accessed February 6, 2023.

SafeWise, "2022 State of Safety survey." Accessed February 6, 2023.

Gun Violence Archive, "General Methodology." Accessed February 6, 2023.

Gun Violence Archive, "Past Summary Ledgers." Accessed January 3, 2023.

Gun Violence Archive, "Congress."

• 2022 totals: Accessed January 3, 2023.
• 2021 and 2020 totals: Accessed December 19, 2022.