For the black sand beach on the Big Island

Hawaii (island)

The Island of Hawaii, also called the Big Island or Hawaii Island , is a volcanic island in the North Pacific Ocean...

, please see Punaluu Black Sand Beach

Punaluu Black Sand Beach

Punaluu Beach is a beach between Pāhala and Nāālehu on the Big Island of the U.S. state of Hawaii. The beach has black sand made of basalt and created by lava flowing into the ocean which explodes as it reaches the ocean and cools...

.

Punaluu is a census-designated place

Census-designated place

A census-designated place is a concentration of population identified by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes. CDPs are delineated for each decennial census as the statistical counterparts of incorporated places such as cities, towns and villages...

 and rural community in the Koolauloa District on the Island of Oahu

Oahu

Oahu or Oahu , known as "The Gathering Place", is the third largest of the Hawaiian Islands and most populous of the islands in the U.S. state of Hawaii. The state capital Honolulu is located on the southeast coast...

, City & County of Honolulu

Honolulu County, Hawaii

The City and County of Honolulu is a consolidated city–county located in the U.S. state of Hawaii. The municipality and county includes both the urban district of Honolulu and the rest of the island of Oahu, as well as several minor outlying islands, including all of the Northwestern Hawaiian...

, Hawaii

Hawaii

Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...

, USA. In Hawaiian

Hawaiian language

The Hawaiian language is a Polynesian language that takes its name from Hawaii, the largest island in the tropical North Pacific archipelago where it developed. Hawaiian, along with English, is an official language of the state of Hawaii...

, punaluu means "coral dived for", or in the case of the fishpond once located here, possibly "spring dived for". There is a very small commercial center located beside Punaluu Stream, and several condominium projects, including a high rise building, located at Haleaha Beach and Kaluanui Beach. At the 2000 Census

United States Census, 2000

The Twenty-second United States Census, known as Census 2000 and conducted by the Census Bureau, determined the resident population of the United States on April 1, 2000, to be 281,421,906, an increase of 13.2% over the 248,709,873 persons enumerated during the 1990 Census...

, the CDP had a total population of 881.

A fringing reef

Reef

In nautical terminology, a reef is a rock, sandbar, or other feature lying beneath the surface of the water ....

 extends off the shoreline. There are several beaches and a beach park in Punaluu, including Punaluu Beach Park, Punaluu Beach, Haleaha Beach, and Kaluanui Beach. Sugar cane was once grown on the narrow coastal plain inland from the highway.

The U.S. postal code

Postal code

A postal code is a series of letters and/or digits appended to a postal address for the purpose of sorting mail. Once postal codes were introduced, other applications became possible.In February 2005, 117 of the 190 member countries of the Universal Postal Union had postal code systems...

 for Punaluu is 96717.

Geography

Punaluu is located at 21°35'33" North, 157°53'49" West (21.592600, -157.896989). The town is north of Kahana Bay and Kaaawa and south of Hauula along Kamehameha Highway (State Rte. 83). Kaluanui Stream and Sacred Falls is located between Punaluu and Hauula.

Demographics

At the 2000 census

Census

A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...

, there were 881 people, 305 households and 196 families residing in the CDP. The population density

Population density

Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...

 was 1,106.0 per square mile (425.2/km²). There were 439 housing units at an average density of 551.1 per square mile (211.9/km²). The racial makeup of the CDP was 32.69% White, 0.57% Black or African American, 0.23% Native American, 10.22% Asian, 24.06% Pacific Islander, 0.23% from other races, and 32.01% from two or more races. 6.02% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 305 households of which 34.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 44.3% were married couples

Marriage

Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...

 living together, 13.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 35.7% were non-families. 29.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 5.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.66 and the average family size was 3.32.

26.0% of the population were under the age of 18, 8.7% from 18 to 24, 24.3% from 25 to 44, 25.0% from 45 to 64, and 16.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 94.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 88.4 males.

The median household income

Median household income

The median household income is commonly used to generate data about geographic areas and divides households into two equal segments with the first half of households earning less than the median household income and the other half earning more...

 was $32,143, and the median family income was $32,500. Males had a median income of $32,188 versus $21,719 for females. The per capita income

Per capita income

Per capita income or income per person is a measure of mean income within an economic aggregate, such as a country or city. It is calculated by taking a measure of all sources of income in the aggregate and dividing it by the total population...

 for the CDP was $19,067. 19.9% of the population and 15.8% of families were below the poverty line. Of the total population, 24.5% of those under the age of 18 and 0.8% of those 65 and older were living below the poverty line.