Survey: Hawaii household, family incomes increased last year
HONOLULU — Household and family incomes in Hawaii increased last year to remain among the highest in the country, according to a U.S. Census Bureau survey.
The annual American Community Survey released last week shows housing costs and poverty rates also increased in the state while the percentage of the population without health insurance remained low.
The median household income for Hawaii increased by 2.4 percent to $77,765 last year, the fourth highest among states, according to the survey. Median family income increased by 3 percent to $91,460, the sixth highest in the U.S.
Nearly 40 percent of Hawaii families had two earners, and nearly 17 percent had three or more, according to the survey. Oahu had the most families with three or more earners at nearly 18 percent.
The median monthly housing cost for renters was nearly $1,600 last year, increasing from about $1,500 the prior year. The median monthly housing cost for owners with mortgages was $2,337, which the report noted was not statistically different from 2016 after adjusting for inflation.
More than 7 percent of Hawaii families were in poverty last year, an increase from 6 percent in 2016. About 9.5 percent of Hawaii residents were in poverty, the third lowest in the country last year.
About 3.8 percent of Hawaii’s population did not have health insurance coverage last year, ranking the state the second lowest. The percentage was not statistically different form the prior year, according to the survey.
The U.S. Census Bureau surveyed about 1.7 percent of the state’s population to formulate the figures. Data for the American Community Survey is collected for areas with 65,000 people or more.
Man found guilty in deadly Christmas Day shooting
HONOLULU — A man accused of a deadly shooting outside a Honolulu shopping center on Christmas Day has been found guilty.
A jury convicted Dae Han Moon on Tuesday of second-degree murder and firearms charges in the death of 20-year-old Stevie Feliciano in 2016.
Moon, 22, shot Feliciano in the back of the head following a fight inside the parking garage of Ala Moana Center, authorities said. Feliciano died a few days later.
“We did it. We got justice for Stevie,” his mother Fiti Feliciano said following the hearing. “I know we’re not going to get him back but this is it. Now it’s time to move on.”
Defense attorney Victor Bakke claimed the gun went off accidentally when Moon used it to hit Feliciano on the head.
“My client hit Mr. Feliciano in the head with a gun. He did not point it at him and shoot him,” Bakke said. “He hit him with it and the gun went off. It was an accident. The jury didn’t buy that. That’s what it is.”
Prosecutors said the defense’s explanation of the shooting was “factually impossible.”
Moon is scheduled to be sentenced in December.