Hawaii's Economy: Small Employers And The Visitor Industry
Hawaii's employer base is compact and mostly small: the Census Bureau's 2023 County Business Patterns counts 32,911 employer establishments statewide, 94.8% of them with fewer than 50 employees. Retail trade leads with 4,395 establishments and accommodation and food services follows at 4,044, which tracks with the state's economic identity: the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism counted 910,055 visitors to the Hawaiian Islands in December 2024 alone, spending $2.04 billion that month. Tourism statewide frames the market; the Oahu numbers below are their own geography.
- U.S. Census Bureau: 2023 County Business Patterns: State file (cbp23st) (2023 CBP; retrieved 2026-10-05)
- State of Hawaii Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism: Visitor Industry Continued Improvement in December 2024 (news release, January 30, 2025) (December 2024 preliminary visitor statistics; retrieved 2026-10-08)