A seldom remarked aspect of Hawai‘i’s unique population mix has been its long-standing surplus of males. This gender imbalance, moreover, has characterized the Islands for more than a century. It was first evident in the earliest modern census conducted in Hawai‘i, back in 1832, when the missionaries counted more than 105 males for every 100 females in the kingdom.

The sex ratio (as it is called) peaked in 1900, when it reached 223, and then slowly subsided, eventually falling to 104 in the most recent official count, made in 1990. In all twenty-one censuses conducted over the past 162 years, males have significantly outnumbered females.

The male surplus becomes even more evident when statistics are limited to the marriageable population, namely, single, widowed, or divorced persons fifteen years old or over. For this group, the number of males per 100 females rose from 192 in 1866, when first calculated, to 820 in 1900—that is, more than eight unattached adult males for every unattached adult female.

Although the ratio has declined since the turn of the centruy, it still stood at 105 in 1990—meaning, twenty-one eligible males for every twenty eligible females. This persistent imbalance in part reflects the presence of a large military population as well as many older plantation workers. Even today, Hawai‘i far exceeds the Mainland in its sex ratio. The national ratio is 95 males per 100 females, compared with the Islands’ 104 and only two other states surpass the Hawai‘i ratio.

By Robert C. Schmitt