Hawaii has more board certified behavior analysts per resident than all but five states. That surprises most people looking at BCBA jobs in Hawaii, because the state feels remote and expensive, and it is both. But the headcount is not the problem. The problem is momentum. Hawaii's BCBA workforce grew 43% in 2021, then slowed every year after, to 5.7% in 2025. That was about half the national rate and one of the slowest in the country, and it is happening in the second most expensive state to live in.

This guide covers what that means if you are job hunting in the islands. We look at where the openings are, what Hawaii employers actually post for pay, how far that pay goes on Oahu versus the neighbor islands, who pays for ABA services, and what it takes to get the Hawaii license you need before your first day.

BCBA jobs in Hawaii at a glance

These figures come from the Behavior Analyst Certification Board's region-specific certificant data, pulled on September 24, 2026, the BACB and Lightcast 2025 demand report, and Census Bureau population estimates for July 2025 (BACB, 2026; US Census Bureau, 2026).

Two things stand out. First, Hawaii is not a thin market. Only Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Connecticut, New Jersey and Florida have more BCBAs per resident. Second, Hawaii has more technicians per resident than any state but Florida, more than twice the national density. It also has about 4.67 RBTs for every BCBA, roughly one more than the national ratio of 3.49. For a BCBA, that staffing mix shapes the job as much as the salary does.

Where Hawaii's BCBA pipeline stalled

Between December 2018 and December 2021, Hawaii's BCBA count more than doubled, from 162 to 377. Growth outpaced the national rate every one of those years, and in 2021 it was nearly double. Then it cooled quickly. By 2024 and 2025 the state was adding BCBAs at about 6% a year while the country added them at about 11% to 12.5%. In 2025, Hawaii's growth rate ranked 45th of the 50 states (BACB, 2026).

The technician side slowed too. Hawaii added 9.1% more RBTs in 2025, against 25.9% nationally. Over the full five years from 2020 to 2025, Hawaii's BCBA growth (96%) still edged out the country's (90%), so the early boom has not been erased. It has simply stopped compounding.

The data does not say why, and we would be guessing if we named a single cause. Several conditions line up with the slowdown, though. Hawaii's population has shrunk 1.5% since the 2020 census, with more residents leaving for other states than arriving from them (US Census Bureau, 2026). The state has one in-state graduate route to the credential that we could verify, the University of Hawaii at Manoa's online special education master's with an ABA track, and its first-time BCBA exam cohorts have been 14 to 16 people a year since 2022, down from 41 in 2021, when the count also included a now-expired course-sequence-only program (University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2026). Its next intake is summer 2027. And Medicaid rates for ABA were set in 2015 and, according to a 2023 state House resolution, had not been raised since (Hawaii House of Representatives, 2023); the first increase came in January 2025. The freeze also covered the boom years, so it cannot by itself explain the timing.

Providers told the state's rate consultant the same story from the inside. The consultant's 2023 study notes that BCBAs are hard to recruit and retain, partly because they leave employers to open their own practices, and that the path from RBT to BCBA "can take up to 7 years" (Milliman, 2023).

Hawaii's shortage is not a headcount problem. It is a growth problem, in a state that already has more technicians per BCBA than the national norm.

Where the BCBA jobs in Hawaii are

On September 24, 2026, we found 54 live BCBA-level job listings tied to a Hawaii location, from 19 employers. Most were on Oahu, in Honolulu, Kapolei, Waipahu, Kailua, Kaneohe, Aiea, Ewa Beach, Mililani and Pearl City. Maui came next, then Hawaii Island, with Kauai the thinnest.

That listing count overstates the choice, because a few employers post one role many times. One practice-ownership program posted the same pay band 16 times across 10 towns on the same day. Another provider posted one band in seven towns. Once you collapse those, the market is roughly 19 employers, not 54 openings.

The licensing data tells the same geographic story. Hawaii's Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, which licenses behavior analysts, publishes where its licensees live. In September 2024, before it added a new "foreign and unknown" address category that makes later reports hard to compare, Oahu had 360 active licensees for about 990,000 residents. Hawaii Island had 39 for about 209,000 (Hawaii DCCA, 2024).

Hawaii Island is home to about 15% of the state's residents but had about 8% of its in-state behavior analysts, which suggests where access is thinnest. A 2023 House resolution described families on "years long waitlists" statewide and noted that on the neighbor islands the Department of Education pays providers $25 an hour more than Med-QUEST does (Hawaii House of Representatives, 2023). If you are willing to work on Hawaii Island or Kauai, you are filling the scarcest seat in the state.

The June 2025 report shows the same pattern, with 76% of in-state licensees on Oahu. It also shows only 391 active licensees with Hawaii addresses, against 546 BCBAs and BCBA-Ds the BACB listed in the state in September 2026. The dates differ, but the gap is too large to be timing alone. About 43% of all Hawaii licenses are held by people with mainland, foreign or unknown addresses, which is consistent with telehealth and travel practice (Hawaii DCCA, 2025).

BCBA salary in Hawaii: what employers post

Six employers posted a closed annual base range for a Hawaii BCBA role. Counting each employer once, the median midpoint was $106,500. Leave out the practice-ownership program, whose band is far above everyone else's and reflects building a caseload rather than a salaried seat, and the median of the remaining five is $105,000. Treat $105,000 to $106,500 as the posted center of the Hawaii market.

Every one of those fixed salaries is on Oahu or statewide. We did not find a single neighbor-island employer posting a closed annual salary. Neighbor-island listings posted hourly or contract rates, an open-ended "up to" salary, or no pay at all, so if you are weighing a Maui or Hilo offer, you will likely be comparing an hourly rate or a ceiling, not a closed salary range.

Seven employers posted a closed hourly BCBA range, mostly for part-time or contract work, with a median midpoint of $72.50 an hour. That is actually a little below the $75 national hourly median we found across 90 employers in September (CertifyndABA, 2026a). The salaried market carries Hawaii's premium; the hourly market largely does not.

Why published Hawaii BCBA salaries disagree by $40,000

Search for a BCBA salary in Hawaii and you will see numbers from about $74,000 to $115,000. They measure different things, and knowing which is which keeps you from anchoring low in a negotiation.

• ✓Salary.com's $73,830 is a modeled estimate for the title, not a survey of Hawaii postings, and it runs below the floor of every employer range we found (Salary.com, 2026).
• ✓Indeed's $112,243 averages 165 salaries taken from job postings on Indeed over the past three years. It sits about 22% above Indeed's national BCBA average of $91,899 (Indeed, 2026).
• ✓The state's own rate study surveyed Hawaii providers in September 2023 and found a median wage of $61.50 an hour for licensed behavior analysts, against $24.50 for RBTs (Milliman, 2023).
• ✓Federal wage data has no behavior analyst category. The Bureau of Labor Statistics files most BCBAs under catch-all codes, and in Hawaii those put the median at $60,090 for one counselor code and $135,680 for "psychologists, all other." Neither measures BCBAs (BLS, 2026).

For a broader view, compare our BCBA salary by state guide and the California salary breakdown, the other state with a comparable price level.

How far a BCBA salary goes in Hawaii

Hawaii's overall price level was 110.0 in 2024, where the national average is 100. Only California, at 110.7, was higher. Housing is where the difference concentrates: Hawaii's housing index was 125.3, and Urban Honolulu's was 135.5 (Bureau of Economic Analysis, 2026).

Adjust the $106,500 posted median for Hawaii's overall price level and it is worth about $96,800 in national-average dollars. That is still roughly 7.6% more than the $90,000 national median we found across 168 employers in September, using a similar but not identical method (CertifyndABA, 2026a). So on overall prices, Hawaii's salaried BCBAs come out modestly ahead.

Housing is the part that does not adjust neatly. The median single-family home on Oahu sold for $1,240,000 in August 2026, and the median condo for $510,000 (Hawaii Realtors, 2026). At the posted median salary, a single-family home costs nearly 12 times a year's pay, and a condo about 4.8 times. Plenty of BCBAs rent, and plenty of households have two incomes, but if homeownership is part of your plan, that ratio matters more than the headline salary.

Who pays for ABA in Hawaii, and why it matters to your job

Your employer's revenue depends on a few payers, and each one sets rules that reach your daily schedule.

Med-QUEST (Hawaii Medicaid)

Med-QUEST covers ABA for members under 21 through its QUEST Integration health plans (Med-QUEST Division, 2024). On January 1, 2025, it raised the fee-for-service rate for RBT direct treatment (97153) from $12.50 to $17.66 per 15-minute unit, a 41% increase. The BCBA rates rose to $35.94 per unit for protocol modification (97155) and $46.20 for family training (97156). The state's own presentation described that increase as funded by a one-year, non-recurring appropriation (Med-QUEST Division, 2024). The June 2026 fee schedule still lists the same 97153 and 97155 rates, but we could not find a public memo explaining how 2026 funding was continued. Health plans are allowed to pay above those rates.

Med-QUEST also sets a supervision standard: typically one to two hours of case supervision for every 10 hours of RBT services, and direct supervision of at least 5% of RBT and BCaBA hours. With more RBTs per BCBA than the national norm, that standard can take a real share of a Hawaii BCBA's week.

TRICARE

Hawaii's large military population makes TRICARE's Autism Care Demonstration an important payer, and Hawaii has its own rate row. From May 1, 2026, TRICARE pays $19.02 per unit for behavior technician direct treatment, $31.66 for BCBA protocol modification, and $41.67 for parent training. That parent-training rate is about a third above the $31.25 median across TRICARE's localities (Defense Health Agency, 2026). The demonstration is authorized through December 31, 2028 (Federal Register, 2022).

Private insurance under Luke's Law

Hawaii's autism mandate, known as Luke's Law, requires state-regulated insurance policies (not self-funded employer plans) to cover ABA for children under 14, capped at $25,000 a year (Hawaii Revised Statutes 431:10A-133). To show the scale, at Med-QUEST's RBT rate of $70.64 an hour, $25,000 would cover about 354 hours of direct therapy, roughly seven hours a week. BCBA supervision and any higher commercial rates draw down the same cap, so real coverage is fewer hours. The same law excludes services provided outside the state, so if a mainland-based telehealth role is recruiting you to serve Hawaii families, ask how it handles that.

The Department of Education

Hawaii has a single statewide school district, and it hires behavior analysts directly. The Behavior Analyst class (SR-26) requires a master's degree, three years of post-master's experience with at least one in ABA, and a Hawaii license. The July 2026 schedule runs from $80,736 at the entry step to $114,912 at the top, with scheduled raises taking the entry step to $85,596 by July 2028 (Hawaii State Department of Education, 2026). The department has also said it struggles to hire licensed behavior analysts and contracts a large share of its ABA services statewide at high cost (Hawaii State Department of Education, 2023). That contracting is one reason several private providers recruit for school-based work. See our school-based BCBA jobs guide for what those roles involve.

Getting licensed to take a BCBA job in Hawaii

Hawaii requires a state license to practice ABA or to call yourself a behavior analyst, with fines of up to $1,000 per offense for practicing without one, and each day counts as a separate offense (Hawaii Revised Statutes 465D-4). The requirements are simple, and they run through the BACB, or through an equivalent license from another state.

• ✓BACB certification only. You need to have passed the BCBA exam and hold active BCBA or BCBA-D status, or hold an equivalent license in another state (HRS 465D-8, 465D-9). Hawaii's law does not recognize QABA or QBA credentials, unlike Texas and North Carolina.
• ✓Cost. Applying in 2026 costs $260; applying in 2027 costs $150, because even-year applicants also pay half a renewal and a larger compliance-fund fee (Hawaii DCCA, application form BA-00). Renewal is $220, due December 31 of odd-numbered years, so the next deadline is December 31, 2027 (Hawaii DCCA, program page).
• ✓No separate state CE. Hawaii has no continuing education requirement of its own, but you must keep your BACB certification active, which carries the BACB's 32 CEUs every two years.
• ✓No state credential for RBTs or BCaBAs. Both are exempt from licensure when they work under a licensed behavior analyst. Since 2023, RBTs can also work under a licensed psychologist (Act 167, 2023).
• ✓Military spouses can get a temporary license for the length of the service member's Hawaii assignment, if they actively used their out-of-state license in the prior two years.

The state's older guidance estimates 15 to 20 business days to review an application for completeness, so apply as soon as you have an offer. Our licensed behavior analyst guide compares Hawaii's rules with other states'.

How to land a BCBA job in Hawaii

1. Decide on your island first. Oahu has most of the salaried roles. Hawaii Island and Kauai have the fewest analysts per resident and the most room to negotiate, but offers there are more often hourly or contract.
2. Get the pay structure in writing. Ask whether the number is a base salary, an hourly rate or a total including bonuses. One Oahu provider paired a $95,000 to $115,000 base with up to $30,000 in annual performance incentives, and those are two very different promises.
3. Ask how drive time is paid. Providers told the state's rate consultant that staff are paid minimum wage while traveling to community sessions (Milliman, 2023). On a neighbor island, that policy can decide your real hourly pay.
4. Ask about supervision load. With 4.67 RBTs per BCBA statewide, find out how many technicians you will oversee and how many billable hours are expected on top of supervision.
5. Ask about relocation. Only one employer in our sample mentioned relocation assistance, and none mentioned a housing stipend. If you are moving from the mainland, it is a fair thing to negotiate rather than expect.
6. Start your license before you move. Budget $260 for a 2026 application and allow several weeks.

Our BCBA salary negotiation guide covers how to use the data above in the conversation, and you can research specific employers in our directory of ABA companies in Hawaii. If you are thinking about serving Hawaii families remotely, read our guides to telehealth BCBA jobs and travel BCBA jobs.

Frequently asked questions

How many BCBA jobs are there in Hawaii?

On September 24, 2026, we found 54 live BCBA-level listings tied to Hawaii locations, from 19 employers, with most on Oahu. For 2025 as a whole, Hawaii had fewer than 895 BCBA job postings, since it did not make the top 30 states in the BACB and Lightcast demand report. That works out to at most about 1.7 postings per BCBA against 1.8 nationally, so Hawaii's posting volume per BCBA is no higher than the national rate and may be well below it. Postings are an annual count of ads, not open jobs.

What is the average BCBA salary in Hawaii?

Hawaii employers that posted a closed base range had a median midpoint of $106,500 across 6 employers in September 2026, or $105,000 excluding a practice-ownership program. Published figures range from Salary.com's modeled $73,830 to Indeed's $112,243, and the state Department of Education pays $80,736 to $114,912.

Do BCBAs make more in Hawaii after cost of living?

Slightly, on overall prices. Hawaii's price level was 10% above the national average in 2024, which turns the $106,500 posted median into about $96,800 in national-average dollars, still about 7.6% above the $90,000 national median. Housing is the exception: the median Oahu single-family home cost $1,240,000 in August 2026, nearly 12 times the posted median salary.

Do I need a license to work as a BCBA in Hawaii?

Yes. Hawaii requires a behavior analyst license from the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs under HRS chapter 465D. You qualify with active BACB certification as a BCBA or BCBA-D, or by endorsement from an equivalent state license. A 2026 application costs $260, renewal is $220 every two years, and there is no state continuing education requirement beyond keeping your BACB certification active.

Does Hawaii accept QABA or QBA credentials?

No. Hawaii's licensing law is written around the BACB and does not mention QABA or any other credentialing body. The only other route is endorsement of another state's license that the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs deems equivalent. Texas and North Carolina accept QBA, but Hawaii does not.

Is there a BCBA shortage in Hawaii?

Not by headcount. As of September 2026, Hawaii had 37.1 BCBAs per 100,000 residents, the 6th highest rate in the country. The shortage is in growth and geography: Hawaii added BCBAs at 5.7% in 2025, about half the national rate, and as of September 2024, Hawaii Island and Kauai had roughly half to 60% of Oahu's licensed behavior analysts per resident.

The bottom line

Hawaii is a well-staffed state that has stopped adding BCBAs as fast as the rest of the country, and it relies heavily on technicians. Salaried roles cluster on Oahu around $105,000 to $106,500. That holds up against overall prices, but not against home values. The neighbor islands have the widest gaps and the least pay transparency. If you want a BCBA job in Hawaii, pick your island, get the pay structure in writing, and ask the supervision and drive-time questions before you sign.