[2] The consolidated city-county was established in the city charter adopted in 1907 and accepted by the Legislature of the Territory of Hawaii.

[5] Because of Hawaii's municipal structure,[6] the United States Census Bureau divides Honolulu County into several census-designated places for statistical purposes.

Honolulu County is administered under a mayor–council system of governance overseeing municipal services: civil defense, emergency medical, fire, parks and recreation, police, sanitation, transportation, and water, among others.

The office of neighborhood board member is an advisory position for public policy and civil investment.

He took controversial and aggressive measures to reclaim property, demolish massive concrete structures in the area, construct underground parking facilities and open a green campus above ground with manicured lawns and specially commissioned sculpted artwork.

He also oversaw the construction of new government buildings, to house the departments that fell within mayoral jurisdiction.

[17] The United States Postal Service operates post offices in Honolulu County.

[20] The Kunia Regional SIGINT Operations Center of the National Security Agency (NSA) and the Wheeler Army Airfield are in Honolulu County.

[29][30] According to the county's 2022 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report,[31] the top employers in the county are the following: Other major companies headquartered in Honolulu CDP include Hawaiian Airlines,[32] Aloha Air Cargo, and Bank of Hawaii.

As of December 2017, TheBus is the nation’s most heavily used public transportation system per capita among major cities.

[41] The system is operated in contract with the nonprofit Oahu Transit Services Inc. Skyline is a light metro line in the city and county of Honolulu.

The first 10.8-mile (17.4 km) phase of the line between East Kapolei (on the ʻEwa Plain) and Aloha Stadium, opened on June 30, 2023.

The second phase, connecting to Pearl Harbor and Daniel K. Inouye International Airport before reaching Middle Street, is anticipated to open in the summer of 2025.

The final phase, continuing the line across urban Honolulu to Downtown, is due to open in 2031.

Skyline was planned, designed, and constructed by the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation (HART), a semi-autonomous agency of the city-county government.

[44] Honolulu County has one of the highest rates of private school enrollment in the United States.

The main music venues include the Neal Blaisdell Center Concert Hall, the Waikiki Shell, and the Hawaii Theatre.

The museum hosts a film and video program dedicated to arthouse and world cinema in the museum's Doris Duke Theatre, named for the academy's historic patroness Doris Duke.

The Honolulu Zoo is the main zoological institution in Hawaii while the Waikiki Aquarium is a working marine biology laboratory.

Honolulu's Aloha Stadium was a long time host of the NFL's annual Pro Bowl from 1980 to 2016.

Fans of spectator sports in Honolulu generally support the football, volleyball, basketball, and baseball programs of the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa.

In 2004, Men's Fitness magazine named Honolulu the fittest city in the nation.