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Short answer: Hawaii had 9,642,991 visitors in 2025, down 0.6% from 2024. Honolulu, Kahului, Kona and Lihue airports together handled about 37 million passengers. Among U.S. West visitors, the largest market, 72.1% used a rental car in 2024, down from 82.8% in 2017. The state’s rental car surcharge tax is $7.50 per day in 2026.
This page collects Hawaii car rental statistics from state sources: visitor counts, airport traffic, how many visitors rent a car, the state’s rental car tax and the fees at the parks we cover. Every figure comes from a state agency page or report, and each table links its source and shows the date we checked it. We left out anything we could not confirm on an official page, which is why there are no average rental prices or market size estimates.
Hawaii visitors and spending, 2025
| Measure | 2025 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|
| Total visitors | 9,642,991 | 9,701,499 |
| Total visitor spending | $21.75 billion | $20.58 billion |
| Visitors from the U.S. West | 5,010,108 | 4,997,064 |
| Visitors to Oahu | 5,679,047 | 5,794,854 |
| Visitors to Maui | 2,516,163 | 2,352,272 |
| Visitors to Hawaii Island | 1,752,589 | 1,735,380 |
| Visitors to Kauai | 1,419,943 | 1,393,101 |
Source: Hawaii DBEDT news release of January 29, 2026, “Visitor Spending Increased in December 2025 as Visitor Arrivals Declined”. Preliminary calendar year totals, checked October 16, 2026.
Maui was up 7.0% from 2024 while Oahu was down 2.0%. The island figures overlap: they add up to about 11.4 million against 9.6 million for the whole state, so do not add them together.
Airport passengers, 2025
| Airport | Passengers in 2025 | Change from 2024 | Change from 2019 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Honolulu (HNL) | 21,985,522 | Up 1% | Up 2% |
| Kahului (OGG) | 7,127,946 | Up 1% | Down 11% |
| Kona (KOA) | 4,172,484 | Flat (0%) | Up 3% |
| Lihue (LIH) | 3,754,658 | Up 2% | Up 11% |
Source: Hawaii Department of Transportation, Airports Division, Air Traffic Statistics through December 2025. Counts exclude transit passengers. Percent changes are the year-to-date comparisons printed in the report. Checked October 16, 2026.
Kahului is the only one of the four airports still well below its 2019 traffic.
Rental companies listed at each airport
| Airport | Companies | Who is listed | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Honolulu (HNL) | 10 | Alamo, Avis, Budget, Dollar, Enterprise, Hertz, National, Payless, Thrifty, Sixt | HDOT HNL page |
| Kahului (OGG) | 9 | Alamo, Avis, Budget, Dollar, Enterprise, Hertz, National, Sixt, Thrifty | HDOT OGG page |
| Kona (KOA) | 8 | Alamo, Avis, Budget, Dollar, Enterprise, Hertz, National, Thrifty | HDOT KOA page |
| Lihue (LIH) | 8 | Advantage, Alamo, Avis, Budget, Dollar, Enterprise, Hertz, National | HDOT LIH page |
Counts are the companies on each airport’s own car rental page, checked October 16, 2026. Off-airport companies are not counted.
HDOT says Honolulu’s ten companies share one consolidated rental car building, and that Kona’s companies work off the airport and are reached by shuttle. For Google ratings of the companies at each airport, see our own comparisons for Kahului, Honolulu, Kona and Lihue. Those ratings come from public Google Maps listings and change over time, so they are not repeated here.
How many visitors use a rental car
The state’s Visitor Satisfaction and Activity Study asks visitors from sampled markets about a recent trip, including which transportation they used. These are survey results for trips taken in 2024.
| Visitor market | Used a rental car, 2024 |
|---|---|
| U.S. West | 72.1% |
| U.S. East | 68.1% |
| Canada | 71.3% |
| Japan | 26.8% |
| U.S. West visitors to | Used a rental car, 2024 |
|---|---|
| Oahu | 57.8% |
| Maui | 83.6% |
| Hawaii Island | 80.2% |
| Kauai | 82.7% |
| U.S. West, by year | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Used a rental car | 82.8% | 80.0% | 79.3% | 74.8% | 77.8% | 74.5% | 74.1% | 72.1% |
Source: Hawaii DBEDT, Visitor Satisfaction and Activity Study, 2024 Annual Report, slides 68, 150 and 151. The question is “During this trip, which of the following activities did you participate in?” under transportation. Checked October 16, 2026.
Oahu is the outlier. Among U.S. West visitors, the share using a rental car on Oahu is 22 to 26 points below the other three islands. The report also warns that results from very small samples can carry sampling error above 10 points, so treat small differences with care.
Hawaii rental car surcharge tax
| Year | Rate | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | $7.50 per day or any portion of a day | Form RV-2 Instructions (Rev. 2025) |
| 2025 | $7.00 per day or any portion of a day | 2025 tax outline, Chapter 251 |
Source: Hawaii Department of Taxation. Checked October 16, 2026.
The tax is levied on the company that leases the vehicle, and the state’s instructions say it rises $0.50 each year until December 31, 2027. A rental bill also carries other taxes and airport charges. They are not listed here, because we could not confirm their current rates on an official page.
State park fees and reservation windows
| Park | Non-resident entry | Non-resident parking | Reservations | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Diamond Head | $5 | $10 per vehicle | Up to 30 days in advance | State Parks and DLNR |
| Waianapanapa | $5 per person | $10 per vehicle | Up to 30 days in advance | State Parks and DLNR |
| Iao Valley | $5 | $10 per vehicle | Required for out-of-state visitors | DLNR |
Hawaii residents enter free with a Hawaii ID or driver’s license, and children 3 and under are free at all three. Pages checked October 16, 2026. Fees and rules change, so confirm on the park page before you go.
For how to book each one, see our guides to Diamond Head, Waianapanapa and Iao Valley, or the full Hawaii reservations calendar.
How to cite this page
Island Car Guide, “Hawaii Car Rental Statistics 2026,” islandcarguide.com/hawaii-car-rental-statistics/, last updated October 16, 2026. If you republish a figure, please cite the original source linked in its table.
Planning a trip and wondering if you need a car? See Oahu, Maui, Kauai and the Big Island.
Compare rental rates across Hawaii →
Compiled by Neo Pecorro from the state agency sources linked in each table. Found an error? Tell us and we will check it against the source.
Last updated: October 16, 2026. We refresh this page every quarter, and the next update is planned for January 2027.