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Detroit, MI

638,530 people · typical household income $39,938 · typical home price $83,900 · typical rent $1,074 a month

Compare towns All towns in Michigan · County: Wayne County

At a glance

  • Stronger than most towns on: Public transit, Walkability and Airport access.
  • Weaker than most towns on: Clean air and low disaster risk, Jobs and income and Safety.
  • The 1st largest of the 732 towns we track in Michigan.
  • Typical household income is 35% below the typical town in Michigan.
  • 10th of 443 in Michigan for most walkable towns.

A score of 60 or more is stronger than most towns. Under 40 is weaker than most.

Quick answers about Detroit

Where is Detroit?

Detroit is in Wayne County, Michigan. Nearby towns include Highland Park, Hamtramck and Hazel Park.

What is the ZIP code for Detroit?

Detroit has 26 ZIP codes: 48228 , 48219 , 48235 , 48221 , 48227 , 48224 , 48205 , 48234 , 48209 , 48210 , 48238 , 48223 , 48207 , 48204 , 48213 , 48214 , 48202 , 48206 , 48201 , 48215 , 48208 , 48226 , 48217 , 48216 , 48211 and 48233 . ZIP codes are mail delivery areas, not town borders, so check an address with the US Postal Service lookup.

How many people live in Detroit?

About 638,530 people live in Detroit , the 1st largest of the 732 towns we track in Michigan. This is a US Census Bureau estimate.

Is Detroit safe?

Detroit scores 8 out of 100 for safety, which is weaker than most towns we track. A higher score means lower crime. That includes 18.9 homicides per 100,000 people in the county. The state figure is 468 violent crimes per 100,000 people across the whole state.

How expensive is it to live in Detroit?

Detroit has everyday prices of 101.7 (100 is typical for the US), typical rent of $1,074 a month and a typical home price of $83,900. Its cost of living scores 37 out of 100 (a higher score means cheaper), which is weaker than most towns we track.

We compare this town with all 27,850 towns we track. A higher score is always better.

Cost of living 37 out of 100

What we measuredThis townBeats this share of towns
Everyday prices (100 = typical for the US) 101.7 33%
Typical rent $1,074 44%

Jobs and income 7 out of 100

What we measuredThis townBeats this share of towns
Typical household income $39,938 8%
Unemployment 14.0% 6%
Poverty rate 32.7% 5%

A place that is growing 40 out of 100

What we measuredThis townBeats this share of towns
Change in population (5 years) -5.4% 31%
Change in income (5 years) +29.3% 53%

Home internet and working from home 56 out of 100

What we measuredThis townBeats this share of towns
Homes with fast internet (whole county) 87.8% 52%
People who work from home 12.0% 65%

State taxes 56 out of 100

What we measuredThis townBeats this share of towns
State taxes per resident $4,049 53%
State income tax per resident $1,242 60%
State sales tax per resident $1,307 56%

Property taxes 32 out of 100

What we measuredThis townBeats this share of towns
Property tax as a share of home price 1.67% 15%
Typical property tax paid $1,402 65%

Housing affordability 55 out of 100

What we measuredThis townBeats this share of towns
Home price compared with yearly income 2.1× 75%
Share of income spent on rent 32.3% 4%
Typical home price $83,900 90%

Space and yard size 32 out of 100

What we measuredThis townBeats this share of towns
Typical rooms per home 5.7 48%
Stand-alone houses 64.3% 26%
People per square mile 4,603 5%

Schools 25 out of 100

What we measuredThis townBeats this share of towns
High-school students in AP or IB classes 13.3% 63%
High-school students taking college classes 4.4% 26%
Students who miss 15+ days a year 67.0% 1%
Graduation rate (class of 2018 or 2019) 76.8% 10%
Students per teacher 18.0 13%
Children in poverty (context, not scored) 46.9% 0%

Diversity & community 70 out of 100

What we measuredThis townBeats this share of towns
Variety of backgrounds (0 to 100) 42 69%
Residents born outside the US 6.6% 71%

Health and medical care 67 out of 100

What we measuredThis townBeats this share of towns
Family doctors per 100,000 people (whole county) 70 62%
Dentists per 100,000 people (whole county) 77 76%
Mental-health providers per 100,000 people (whole county) 365 75%
Hospitals in town 7 100%
People without health insurance 7.4% 40%

Long, healthy lives 19 out of 100

What we measuredThis townBeats this share of towns
Life expectancy (years) (whole county) 72.9 15%
Early deaths (before age 75) (whole county) 12,684 12%
Adults in fair or poor health 32.9% 4%
Adults who had a checkup this year 81.7% 99%

Safety 8 out of 100

What we measuredThis townBeats this share of towns
Homicides per 100,000 people (whole county) 18.9 3%
Violent crime per 100,000 people (whole state) 468 18%

Clean air and low disaster risk 6 out of 100

What we measuredThis townBeats this share of towns
Fine-particle air pollution (whole county) 10.7 8%
Risk of floods, storms and other disasters (0 to 100) (whole county) 99 5%

Short commute 52 out of 100

What we measuredThis townBeats this share of towns
Average commute 25 min 52%

Walkability 92 out of 100

What we measuredThis townBeats this share of towns
Walkability (1 = car needed, 20 = very walkable) 11.9 92%
People who walk, bike or ride to work 8.1% 87%

Public transit 96 out of 100

What we measuredThis townBeats this share of towns
Buses and trains per hour 5.7 94%
Distance to the nearest stop (meters) 279 98%

Airport access 88 out of 100

What we measuredThis townBeats this share of towns
Miles to major airport 17 88%

Dining and entertainment 37 out of 100

What we measuredThis townBeats this share of towns
Restaurants and bars per 1,000 residents (whole county) 2.0 51%
Entertainment and recreation businesses per 1,000 residents (whole county) 0.26 19%

Weather 51 out of 100

What we measuredThis townBeats this share of towns
Average temperature 53°F —
January low 21°F —
July high 83°F —
Yearly rain 39 in —
Yearly snow 21 in —

Pleasant weather for being outdoors 40 out of 100

What we measuredThis townBeats this share of towns
Comfortable days per year 103 51%
Sunshine hours per year 3,140 17%

Other facts

Typical age35.2
Adults with a college degree18.1%
Hot days per year (90°F+)10
Freezing days per year (low 32°F or less)95
Residents who belong to a religious group (whole county)47.2%

More towns to explore

Nearby towns in Michigan

Largest towns in Wayne County

Free tools for Detroit

Each calculator opens with this town's figures filled in. You can change any of them.

How we score towns, and where the figures come from

How we score

  • Cost of living: How expensive everyday life is compared with the rest of the US, adjusted for local rent, plus the typical rent.
  • Jobs and income: Typical household income, how many people are out of work, and how many live in poverty.
  • A place that is growing: How much the number of people and the typical income have grown between the two most recent Census survey periods (each covers five years).
  • Home internet and working from home: How many homes in the county have fast internet, and how many people work from home.
  • State taxes: Taxes each state government collects per resident: all taxes, income tax and sales tax (US Census). These are amounts collected, not what you would personally pay.
  • Property taxes: The typical property tax homeowners pay, and that tax as a share of the typical home price (US Census).
  • Housing affordability: Home prices compared with income, rent as a share of income, and the typical home price.
  • Space and yard size: Rooms per home, how many homes are stand-alone houses, and how spread out people are. We do not have yard or lot sizes from free sources.
  • Schools: The public schools located in the town: how many high-school students take AP/IB or college classes, how many students miss a lot of school, the graduation rate (older data) and class size. Child poverty is shown for context and is not scored. Towns with no high school or too little data are not rated. We do not have test scores yet.
  • Diversity & community: The mix of racial and ethnic backgrounds, and the share of residents born outside the US.
  • Health and medical care: Open hospitals in each town, family doctors, dentists and mental-health providers per person (county), and how many people have no health insurance.
  • Long, healthy lives: How long people live and how many die early (county), and how many residents report fair or poor health or get regular checkups (CDC).
  • Safety: Homicides in the county (County Health Rankings) and the state rate of violent crime (FBI, when available).
  • Clean air and low disaster risk: Fine-particle air pollution (county) and the risk of floods, storms, fires and other disasters (county, from FEMA).
  • Short commute: Average commute time of people who travel to work.
  • Walkability: How easy it is to get around on foot near the town center (connected streets, shops close to homes), and how many people walk or bike to work.
  • Public transit: How often buses and trains run near the town center, and how far the nearest stop is.
  • Airport access: Distance in a straight line to the nearest large airport with passenger flights.
  • Dining and entertainment: Restaurants, cafes and bars for every 1,000 residents, and arts, entertainment and recreation businesses for every 1,000 residents, across the whole county (US Census).
  • Weather: How close the average temperature and seasons are to the climate you pick, plus comfortable days.
  • Pleasant weather for being outdoors: Days that are 65–85°F and dry, and hours of sunshine.

The religious group figure counts members and regular attendees of congregations (US Religion Census 2020). It comes from congregations, not a survey, so every town in a county shows the same figure.

Where the figures come from

  • Population, income, housing and jobs: American Community Survey (US Census), 2024, five-year estimates
  • Walkability and public transit: EPA Smart Location Database (neighborhoods near the town center)
  • County health figures: County Health Rankings 2025 (Wayne County)
  • Disaster risk: FEMA National Risk Index (county)
  • Hospitals: US Homeland Security hospital list (HIFLD)
  • Nearest airport: OurAirports: nearest is Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport (DTW)
  • Health of residents: CDC local health estimates
  • Cost of living: US Bureau of Economic Analysis regional prices 2024 (state), adjusted by local rent
  • Safety: FBI crime data 2023 (state level)
  • State taxes: Census State Tax Collections FY2025 (state level, per resident)
  • Dining and entertainment: Census County Business Patterns 2023 (county, for every 1,000 residents)
  • Religious groups: US Religion Census 2020 (county level: members divided by population)
  • Weather: Open-Meteo archive 2024
  • Schools: US school district records (NCES) 2023 (169 public schools in town), US Education Department Civil Rights Data Collection (AP/IB, college classes, absences) 2021-22, graduation rates 2019, Census child poverty estimates 2024

These are estimates. Please check current listings and official sources before you decide.

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