Census-designated place Fern Forest is a census-designated place in Hawaii, in Hawaii County. A census-designated place is an unincorporated community that the Census Bureau defines for statistics; it has no city government of its own.
The Census Bureau does not publish a reliable median property tax bill for Fern Forest. The Census estimate of the median home value is too imprecise to report.
| Measure | Fern Forest | Hawaii | United States |
|---|---|---|---|
| Population | 880 ± 286 | 1,445,635 | 332,387,540 |
| Median annual property tax bill (homeowners) | Too imprecise to report (estimate $503, margin of error ± $386) | $2,183 ± $29 | $2,969 ± $3 |
| Median home value | Too imprecise to report (estimate $173,800, margin of error ± $140,075) | $808,200 ± $6,690 | $303,400 ± $362 |
| Median household income | Too imprecise to report (estimate $33,173, margin of error ± $18,426) | $98,317 ± $980 | $78,538 ± $176 |
| Property tax as a share of home value (calculated) | Too imprecise to report (estimate 0.29%, margin of error ± 0.32 points) | 0.27% ± under 0.01 points | 0.98% ± under 0.01 points |
| Homes lived in by their owners | 86.6% ± 7.9 points | 62.6% ± 0.6 points | 65.0% ± 0.3 points |
| Owner households headed by someone 65 or older | 48.0% ± 18.7 pointsrough guide only: the margin of error is 39% of the estimate | 41.3% ± 0.4 points | 32.6% ± 0.2 points |
| Owners spending 30% or more of income on housing costs | Too imprecise to report (estimate 20.5%, margin of error ± 10.5 points) | 30.8% ± 0.7 points | 22.2% ± 0.1 points |
How to read these numbers
- These are estimates from a survey, not a count. The American Community Survey asks a sample of households. The ± figure is the Census Bureau’s margin of error: the true value is very likely within that range of the estimate. Small places have large margins.
- “Too imprecise to report” means the margin of error is at least half of the estimate, so printing the number would suggest accuracy that does not exist. A “rough guide only” note means the margin is a quarter to a half of the estimate.
- Property tax bill and home value are medians for owner-occupied homes. Half of the homes are above the figure and half below. A median bill is not the rate set by a city or town; the bill combines taxes levied by every local government that serves the home, such as the school district and county.
- “Calculated” rows are worked out by Untax the Roof from the Census figures above them. They compare two medians, so they describe the place, not a particular household.
- Missing is not zero. Where the Census Bureau publishes no figure, this page says so.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2019–2023: tables B25103 (real estate taxes), B25077 (home value), B19013 (household income), B01003 (population), B25003 (owners and renters), B25007 (age of householder), B25091 (housing costs as a share of income); see the Census ACS data page.
If property taxes go unpaid in Hawaii
How it works. County-administered real-property tax foreclosure/sale; county ordinances control details
Excess sale money. Hawaii County Code 19-45 directs remaining proceeds after enforcement costs and taxes first to lienholders of record who timely claim; county audit materials describe former-owner surplus claims and later general-fund treatment. Preserve county-specific rules
These rules are set by Hawaii, not by Fern Forest, so this section is the same for every place in the state. Last verified 2026-09-25. See the full Hawaii entry with statute links.