A year and a half after the 2023 Maui fires, households continue to face poverty, housing struggles and limited job opportunities.
That’s according to the University of Hawaiʻi Economic Research Organization, which surveyed hundreds of families affected by the fires. Its latest report covers September 2024 to February 2025.
The report found that recovery will be slow, and researchers said they won’t see full recoveries until Lahaina and other fire-impacted areas on Maui are rebuilt.
Some of that depends on outside resources and aid, which UHERO said has declined.
“ Without the continued efforts of federal, state, county and nonprofit organizations, the situation would likely be even worse, with greater financial hardship, deepening housing instability and more households leaving Maui altogether,” UHERO policy researcher Trey Gordner said.
"So the extent to which future assistance programs remain available will shape whether fire-impacted households stabilize or face worsening conditions in the months ahead.”
About one-third of survey respondents indicated that they received no financial assistance in the past month.
The most positive sign of recovery was that the share of impacted families in temporary housing has fallen to 45% — and 70% have been in the same location for at least six months.
But other findings suggest an ongoing financial struggle for those families. Their rent has become 50% to 60% higher since the fires, and about a quarter of those households are making half the income they did before the fires.
The UHERO report said 20% are below the poverty line — a rate about twice as high as before the fires. That figure hasn't changed for about six months, “suggesting that many families have not been able to improve their financial circumstances.”
Many have seen their work hours cut — and impacted families are experiencing a higher rate of unemployment than Maui as a whole.
That’s because of the loss of jobs, especially in tourism. Only about 60% of those who were impacted and worked in the tourism sector still have jobs in the industry.
Despite the slow recovery, about a third of the surveyed households in West Maui who were displaced by the fires said they plan on moving back in the coming year.
