McGregor Memorial Conference Center · Photo: Matt Joseph · CC BY-SA 4.0Detroit has lower household incomes than 96% of U.S. towns
About one in three work in Detroit; the top destination outside it is Warren (6%, 9 miles). 32.7% of residents live below the poverty line, where Michigan as a whole has 13.2%. For jobs and income Detroit is better than 17% of U.S. towns (C−); for walkability it is more walkable than 95% of U.S. towns (A+).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2021, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Detroit, in a few figures
The jobs in Detroit pay better than its residents’ jobs
67% of the jobs based in Detroit pay over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year), against 39% of the jobs Detroit residents hold. 76% of the jobs here are held by people who live outside Detroit. The jobs ↓
Detroit draws workers from far and wide
The 217,738 jobs in Detroit are filled from a wide area. Detroit’s own residents hold 24% and the ten next-biggest home towns 20%; the other 56% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2021, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey; 2021 is the newest year Michigan has published.
How Detroit earns its Jobs & income grade
Job access by car holds Detroit’s grade up; unemployment pulls it down (14.0%, U.S. 5.2%).
The commuting and job counts on this page are Census LEHD 2021: Michigan reports later than other states, so its newest year is three years behind.
A firm grade. At either end of the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Detroit stays C−.
67% of the jobs in Detroit pay over $3,333 a month
217,738 jobs are based in Detroit.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Detroit, 2011 → 2021: 231,817 → 217,738. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.
Primary jobs covered by unemployment insurance (not the self-employed). Pay is monthly earnings. LEHD 2021.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Detroit’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Where the trip to work from Detroit ends
Where Detroit clocks in
6% of workers
6% of workers
5% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
In and out of Detroit on a workday
On a workday 118,258 residents head out to work, 51,963 work right here, and 165,775 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.28 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2021, primary jobs.
About 25 minutes each way, about the MI average
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Detroit workers work from home, vs 14% across Michigan. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 196,481 commuters (the 12% who work from home are left out). Across Michigan: 86% drive alone, 1% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
How far it is to work from Detroit
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2021.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Detroit is more walkable than most U.S. towns, with limited transit
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 223,334 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). Nearly all residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 68% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 7.2 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 90% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 20.1% of Detroit households have no vehicle (Michigan 7.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 6% of Detroit’s commuters take a bus or train.
These are town averages; neighborhoods differ.
Detroit next to U.S. towns of 454,000 to 876,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hempstead NY | 795,734 | $141K | 5.9% | 5.2% | 28% | A |
| 2 | Seattle WA | 784,777 | $124K | 9.9% | 4.6% | 58% | A− |
| 3 | Brookhaven NY | 496,410 | $120K | 7.0% | 5.2% | 32% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 26 | Tucson AZ | 548,371 | $57K | 18.9% | 6.2% | 55% | C |
| 27 | Memphis TN | 609,647 | $52K | 23.1% | 8.3% | 71% | C− |
| 28 | Detroit MI | 649,095 | $40K | 32.7% | 14.0% | 31% | C− |
Census ACS 2020–24 (income, poverty, unemployment), Census LEHD (work in town), TownRatings Jobs & income grades. Each town links to its Work & commute page.
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Detroit, the top three, the last and three more from Michigan.
Detroit and its neighbors: 11% work next door
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Detroit workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Detroit | – | C− | A+ | 25 min | $39,938 |
| Dearborn | 5% | C | A− | 22 min | $65,324 |
| River Rouge | under 2% | C− | A | 26 min | $41,053 |
| Grosse Pointe Park | under 2% | A | A | 25 min | $124,111 |
| Dearborn Heights | under 2% | C | B | 24 min | $60,391 |
| Melvindale | under 2% | C− | B+ | 25 min | $42,185 |
| Harper Woods | under 2% | C+ | B+ | 26 min | $65,022 |
| Redford Township | under 2% | B− | B | 25 min | $69,414 |
| Lincoln Park | under 2% | C | B | 24 min | $58,616 |
| Warren | 6% | C+ | B+ | 25 min | $64,016 |
| Grosse Pointe Woods | under 2% | A− | B | 24 min | $126,395 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Warren. Darker towns draw more of Detroit’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Two sources, two years. Trips, distances and jobs based here: Census LEHD 2021, primary jobs, where the employer reports them. Income, poverty, unemployment, commute time and how people travel: Census ACS 2020–24 averages.
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Detroit: questions
What is the median household income in Detroit?
$39,938 (±$937) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,875 across Michigan and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Detroit?
32.7%, against 13.2% across Michigan and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Detroit?
25 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Michigan and 26 nationally. 12% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Detroit work?
31% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Warren (6%, 9 mi), Southfield (6%, 10 mi), Dearborn (5%, 7 mi) (Census LEHD 2021).
Is Detroit walkable?
Detroit is more walkable than 95% of U.S. towns (Walkability A+): an EPA walkability index of 12.7 out of 20, and 9% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Detroit without a car?
6% of commuters take transit and 20% of households have no car. 68% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Detroit, from the people who make the trip.
More of Detroit
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2021, primary jobs. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Distances are straight lines between home and work; real drives run longer. Walkability index, job access and transit service: U.S. EPA Smart Location Database. The two grades are our own summaries of these figures, not official ratings.