Also known as: Detroit Metro Authority
Detroit is a lower-income mid-sized city of 638,530 with home prices 2.8× below the Michigan median.
Detroit is a city that has been described, at various points in its history, as a cautionary tale, a comeback story, and a case study in what happens when a single industry decides to reorganize itself on a global scale. All three descriptions contain some truth, which is perhaps why the city resists easy summary. What the federal data show, more quietly, is a city of 638,530 people, according to Census ACS 5-Year 2023 estimates, with a median age of 35.2 years and a demographic composition that is, by any measure, one of the more distinctly African American major cities in the United States.
Population and Demographics
Census ACS 5-Year 2023 data place Detroit's total population at 638,530. Of that figure, 488,886 residents identify as Black or African American, 74,391 as white, 10,221 as Asian, and 50,816 as Hispanic or Latino. The city counts 253,207 total households, of which 131,125 are family households.
The age structure, also drawn from Census ACS, reflects a relatively young city. The median age of 35.2 years sits below the national median, and children under 18 account for 24.8 percent of the population, a share that the underlying data characterize as family-oriented. The 18-to-34 cohort numbers 158,569 residents, nearly identical to the under-18 count of 158,611, which gives the city an unusual demographic symmetry between its youngest and its young-adult populations.
Housing Affordability
One figure that tends to surprise people encountering Detroit's housing market for the first time is the price-to-income ratio of 2.1, calculated from Census median income and home value data. For context, ratios above 5.0 are common in coastal metropolitan areas and are generally associated with severe affordability stress. A ratio of 2.1 places Detroit in a category the underlying calculation describes as very affordable.
Rent-to-income stands at 32.3 percent, according to the same Census-derived calculation. That figure sits just above the conventional 30-percent threshold that housing researchers often use as a rough boundary between affordable and cost-burdened, which means renters in Detroit occupy a position that is technically affordable by the city's own price-to-income standard but modestly strained by the rent measure. The distinction is worth holding in mind: owning is unusually accessible by income; renting is somewhat less so.
Air Quality
The EPA AQI Annual Summary for 2024 recorded 366 monitored days in Detroit. Of those, 120 were classified as good days and 238 as moderate. Seven days fell into the unhealthy-for-sensitive-groups category, and one day was classified as unhealthy. No very unhealthy or hazardous days were recorded. The maximum AQI reading for the year was 181. For a large industrial city situated near significant freight corridors, the absence of days in the upper AQI categories is notable, though the preponderance of moderate days, rather than good ones, reflects the ambient reality of urban air in a region with heavy vehicle traffic and manufacturing activity.
Climate
The nearest NOAA ACIS weather station with reliable long-term data for Detroit is the Dearborn No. 2 station, located 4.4 miles from the city center. That station records an average annual temperature of 52.5 degrees Fahrenheit and annual precipitation of 32.5 inches. Detroit's climate is, in the plain sense of the word, moderate, though anyone who has spent a January there would reasonably dispute that characterization.
Broadband Access
FCC Broadband Data Collection figures as of June 2025 show that 100 percent of Detroit's 332,779 housing units have access to service meeting the 25/3 Mbps threshold, and 100 percent have access at 100/20 Mbps. Coverage at the 250/25 Mbps tier is also reported at 100 percent. At the highest measured tier, 1,000/100 Mbps, coverage reaches 60.4 percent of units. The gap between universal coverage at lower speeds and partial coverage at gigabit speeds is a pattern common to large cities where fiber deployment has proceeded unevenly across neighborhoods.
Education
Census ACS data identify 11 colleges and universities operating within Detroit, matched by city and state through NCES IPEDS 2022 records. Among them, Wayne State University is the most prominent by enrollment. College Scorecard data for Wayne State report an enrollment of 15,587 students, an in-state tuition of $15,190, an out-of-state tuition of $32,037, an admission rate of 81.2 percent, and a completion rate of 57.5 percent. The average SAT score for entering students is reported as 1,156.
The city also supports 209 licensed childcare facilities, ranging from religious-facility-based programs to standalone centers, according to state licensing records.
Civic and Religious Infrastructure
Detroit's civic infrastructure, as documented through IRS Exempt Organizations records, includes 22 civic service organizations, among them United Way for Southeastern Michigan and a YMCA trust. Eighteen arts organizations are registered, including the Detroit Symphony Orchestra Endowment Trust Fund. Three animal welfare organizations appear in the IRS EO BMF data: Michigan Humane Society, Humane Society of the Treasure Coast TR, and Tristate Pet Rescue and Transport.
The IRS records also identify 689 churches operating within the city, a count that reflects Detroit's historically dense network of congregations, many of which have served as anchors for neighborhood life through periods of significant population change.
The Indo American Chamber of Commerce is the chamber of commerce entity identified through the IRS Exempt Organizations BMF for Detroit, available at https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-soi/eo_michigan.csv.
Land Use and Zoning
Detroit's zoning framework operates under the Michigan Zoning Enabling Act, MCL 125.3101 et seq., and the Michigan Planning Enabling Act, MCL 125.3801 et seq., as noted in the Detroit Municipal Code. The city zoning ordinance, formally adopted February 16, 2010, is cited in the municipal code as the city zoning ordinance, per Section 42-1.
The stated intent of the ordinance, drawn from Section 1.2, is to ensure that uses of land are situated in appropriate locations and relationships, to limit overcrowding and congestion, and to facilitate adequate provision of transportation, sewage, water, energy, education, recreation, and other public services. That language, which appears in municipal zoning codes across Michigan with only modest variation, reflects the standard framework established by the state enabling act. The Detroit City Planning Commission, established under Chapter 151 of the municipal code, carries out planning functions under that same statutory authority. The full municipal code is available at https://library.municode.com/mi/detroit.
Banking
FDIC branch data identify multiple banking institutions operating within Detroit, including a Bank of America branch at 10700 Gratiot Ave (the Gratiot/Conner Branch, ZIP 48213) and a Fifth Third Bank branch, among others. The presence of named national institutions in specific neighborhoods is relevant context for understanding financial access across a city whose geography is, by any measure, large.
Further Reading
- Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates — https://data.census.gov
- EPA, Air Quality Index Annual Summary 2024 — U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
- NCES, Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) — https://nces.ed.gov/ccd/
- City of Detroit, Municipal Code — https://library.municode.com/mi/detroit