Even Hawaii has a gradient of pricing. General cost of living is more expensive than most places on the mainland because almost everything has to be brought in on a ship, but outside of the major tourist cities prices are more manageable.

Is Hawaii more expensive than the Bay? It looks like you can find some very reasonable stuff, right downtown in Honolulu, for less than $500k.

Housing is slightly cheaper, but food and utilities are substantially more. All-in -- especially if you're renting -- HI is more expensive than SF proper.

http://money.cnn.com/calculator/pf/cost-of-living/

I expect that the point is they're working remotely, not that they're working remotely from another expensive location.

Not more expensive anymore