Everything to Hawaii crosses an ocean, and the price table shows it: services that cost ten dollars between mainland states run two to five times that to Honolulu, and the gap between carriers is wider than almost anywhere else in the country. That makes Hawaii the one destination where comparing before you buy matters most. The tables below are live quotes we ran, not estimates.
One box, both coasts, the Honolulu lane, all quoted live on 2026-07-27 and published unedited.
Honolulu's numbers come from one controlled test: a 12 × 10 × 6 in box at 5 lb of household goods, run through the SMKlog calculator from Newark, then from Los Angeles. Below is the output as received. The figure you see is the figure you'd pay, with SMKlog's charge already inside it.
| Carrier | Service | Price | Quoted transit |
|---|---|---|---|
| USPS | Ground Advantage | $21.28 | 8-9 business days |
| USPS | Priority Mail | $31.29 | 3-4 business days |
| UPS | Ground Saver | $32.54 | 7 business days |
| UPS | Ground | $49.62 | 7-8 business days |
| UPS | 2nd Day Air | $57.14 | 2-3 business days |
| Carrier | Service | Price | Quoted transit |
|---|---|---|---|
| USPS | Ground Advantage | $21.28 | 13-14 business days |
| USPS | Priority Mail | $31.29 | 3-4 business days |
| UPS | Ground Saver | $32.54 | 5 business days |
| UPS | Ground | $49.62 | 3-4 business days |
| UPS | 2nd Day Air | $57.14 | 2-3 business days |
USPS ran away with both Honolulu legs on 2026-07-27, Ground Advantage undercutting every UPS row by a wide margin. USPS reaches every Hawaii ZIP at domestic rates, neighbor islands included. The trade is time: ground tiers quoted over a week, so a parcel with a deadline belongs on a faster tier rather than on hope. As always, the quote ages; rerun it with your ZIPs when you're ready to buy.
Hawaii addresses are domestic addresses. USPS delivers to Oahu, Maui, Kauai and the Big Island at its regular domestic rates, and tracking works the same as on the mainland. The zone is far, but the rules are the ones you already know.
Over-ocean rates make dimensional weight sting more. Carriers bill the greater of scale weight and a volume-based figure, so bulky-but-light packages pay as if they were heavy. Trimming box size before quoting a Hawaii lane pays off disproportionately.
The gap here was stark: $21.28 for a 13-14 day window from Los Angeles, or $31.29 for 3-4 days on USPS Priority Mail. That second number is the one to weigh when a person is waiting on the box. When nobody is, the slow tier wins.
Our 2026-07-27 benchmark, a 12 × 10 × 6 in box at 5 lb, quoted $21.28 with USPS Ground Advantage from either coast, and that price is checkout-complete with SMKlog's charge in it. UPS started at $32.54 on the same routes. Live quotes for your own box will differ; run one.
Ground Advantage quoted 8-9 business days from Newark and 13-14 from Los Angeles on 2026-07-27, while USPS Priority Mail quoted 3-4 from both. Fast tiers exist for a reason on this lane. The exact window for each service sits next to its price above.
No separate Hawaii charge exists; you pay standard domestic postage for the zone. The zone happens to be the top one from most mainland origins, which is why $21.28 here buys what a smaller figure buys into a nearby state. Distance is the whole story.
You can. The calculator quotes as a guest, checkout runs as a guest, and the label prints with tracking regardless. Signup never enters the flow.