Metro Detroit is known for its automotive heritage, arts, entertainment, popular music, food, cultural diversity, and sports. The area includes a variety of natural landscapes, parks, and beaches, with a recreational coastline linking the
Great Lakes. Metro Detroit also has one of the largest metropolitan economies in the U.S. with 17
Fortune 500 companies.
The Detroit
Urban Area, which serves as the metropolitan area's core, ranks as the
12th most populous in the United States, with a population of 3,776,890 as of the
2020 census and an area of 1,284.83 square miles (3,327.7 km2).[3] This urbanized area covers parts of the counties of
Macomb,
Oakland, and
Wayne.[4] These counties are sometimes referred to as the Detroit Tri-County Area and had a population of 3,862,888 as of the
2010 census with an area of 1,967.1 square miles (5,095 km2).
The nine county area designated by the OMB as the Detroit–Warren–Ann Arbor
Combined Statistical Area (CSA) includes the Detroit–Warren–Dearborn MSA and the three additional counties of
Genesee,
Monroe, and
Washtenaw (which include the metropolitan areas of
Flint,
Monroe, and
Ann Arbor, respectively). It had a population of 5,318,744 as of the 2010 census, making it one of the largest metropolitan areas in the United States, covering an area of 5,814 square miles (15,060 km2).
Lenawee County was removed from the CSA in 2000, but added back in 2013.[5]
Detroit–Warren–Ann Arbor Combined Statistical Area
With the adjacent city of
Windsor, Ontario, and its suburbs, the combined Detroit–Windsor area has a population of about 5.7 million.[6] When the nearby
Toledo metropolitan area and its commuters are taken into account, the region constitutes a much larger population center. An estimated 46 million people live within a 300-mile (480 km) radius of Detroit proper, including the major metropolitan areas of
Chicago,
Toronto and
Cleveland.[7] Metro Detroit is at the center of an emerging
Great Lakes Megalopolis.
Conan Smith, a businessperson quoted in a 2012 article by The Ann Arbor News, stated the most significant reason
Washtenaw County, including Ann Arbor, is not often included in definitions of Metro Detroit is that there is a "lack of affinity that Washtenaw County as a whole has with Wayne County and Detroit or Oakland County and Macomb".[8] Ann Arbor is nearly 43 miles by car from
Downtown Detroit, and developed separately as a university city, with its own character. Smith said that county residents "just don't yet see ourselves as a natural part of that [Detroit] region, so I think it feels a little forced to a lot of people, and they're scared about it".[8]
Detroit and the surrounding region constitute a major center of commerce and global trade, most notably as home to America's
'Big Three' automobile companies:
General Motors,
Ford, and
Chrysler. Detroit's six-county Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) has a population of about 4.3 million and a workforce of about 2.1 million.[9] In December 2017, the Department of Labor reported metropolitan Detroit's unemployment rate to be 4.2%.[10] The Detroit MSA had a
Gross Metropolitan Product (GMP) of $252.7 billion as of September 2017.[11]
Metro Detroit is one of the leading health care economies in the U.S., according to a 2003 study measuring health care industry components, with the region's hospital sector ranked fourth in the nation.[12]
Casino gaming plays an important economic role, with Detroit the largest US city to offer casino resort hotels.[13]Caesars Windsor, Canada's largest, complements the
MGM Grand Detroit,
MotorCity Casino, and
Hollywood Casino in the city. The casino hotels contribute significant tax revenue along with thousands of jobs for residents. Gaming revenues have grown steadily, with Detroit ranked as the fifth-largest gambling market in the United States for 2007. When Casino Windsor is included, Detroit's gambling market ranks either third or fourth.
There are about four thousand factories in the area.[14] The domestic auto industry is primarily headquartered in Metro Detroit. The area is an important source of engineering job opportunities.[15] A rise in automated manufacturing using robotic technology has created related industries in the area.[16][17]
A 2004 Border Transportation Partnership study showed that 150,000 jobs in the
Detroit–Windsor region and $13 billion in annual production depend on the city's international border crossing.[18]
In addition to property taxes, residents of the City of Detroit pay an income tax rate of 2.50%.[19]
Detroit automakers and local manufacturers have made significant restructurings in response to market competition. GM made its
initial public offering (IPO) of stock in 2010, after
bankruptcy,
bailout, and
restructuring by the federal government.[20] Domestic automakers reported significant profits in 2010, interpreted by some analysts as the beginning of an industry rebound and an economic recovery for the Detroit area.[21][22][23]
The region's nine-county area, with its population of 5.3 million, has a workforce of about 2.6 million and about 247,000 businesses.[24] Fourteen
Fortune 500 companies are based in metropolitan Detroit.[25] In April 2015, the metropolitan Detroit unemployment rate was 5.1 percent, a rate lower than the New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and Atlanta metropolitan areas.[26]
Metro Detroit has made Michigan's economy a leader in information technology, biotechnology, and advanced manufacturing.
Michigan ranks fourth nationally in high-tech employment with 568,000 high-tech workers, including 70,000 in the
automotive industry.[27][28]
Michigan typically ranks second or third in overall
Research & development (R&D) expenditures in the United States.[29][30] Metro Detroit is an important source of
engineering and high-tech job opportunities.[31] As the home of the "
Big Three" American automakers (
General Motors,
Ford, and
Chrysler), it is the world's traditional automotive center and a key pillar of the
U.S. economy.[32][33][34] In the 2010s, the domestic auto industry accounts, directly and indirectly, for one of ten jobs in the United States, making it a significant component for economic recovery.[35]
For 2010, the domestic automakers have reported significant profits indicating the beginning of rebound.[21][22][36][37][38]
Detroit is a major U.S. port[39] with an extensive toll-free expressway system.[40][41] A 2004 Border Transportation Partnership study showed that 150,000 jobs in the Detroit-Windsor region and $13 billion in annual production depend on Detroit's international
border crossing.[42] A source of top talent, the
University of Michigan in
Ann Arbor is one of the world's leading research institutions,[43] and
Wayne State University in Detroit has the largest single-campus medical school in the United States.[44]
IBM and
Google are among the technology companies with a major presence in Metro Detroit.
HP Enterprise Services makes Detroit its regional headquarters, and one of its largest global employment locations. The metropolitan Detroit area has one of the nation's largest office markets with 147,082,003 square feet.[45]Chrysler's largest corporate facility is its U.S. headquarters and technology center in the Detroit suburb of Auburn Hills, while
Ford Motor Company is in
Dearborn, directly adjacent to
Detroit. In the decade leading up to 2006, downtown Detroit gained more than $15 billion in new investment from private and public sectors.[46]
Tourism is an important component of the region's culture and economy, comprising nine percent of the area's two million jobs.[47] About 15.9 million people visit metro Detroit annually, spending about $4.8 billion.[48] Detroit is the largest city or metro area in the U.S. to offer casino resort hotels (
MGM Grand Detroit,
MotorCity Casino,
Hollywood Casino, and nearby
Caesars Windsor).[13]
The region's leading attraction is
The Henry Ford, located in the Detroit suburb of Dearborn; it is America's largest indoor-outdoor museum complex.[50][51]
The recent renovation of the
Renaissance Center, and related construction of a state-of-the-art cruise ship dock, new stadiums, and a new
RiverWalk, have stimulated related private economic development. Nearby Windsor has a 19-year-old drinking age with a myriad of entertainment to complement Detroit's
Greektown district. Some analysts believe that tourism planners have yet to tap the full economic power of the estimated 46 million people who live within a 300-mile (480-km) radius of Detroit.[7][52]
The Detroit region is a ten-county
Combined Statistical Area (CSA) with a population of 5,325,219—making it the
12th-largest CSA in the United States as enumerated by the 2020 Census.[53]
As of the
census of 2010, there were 4,296,250 people, 1,682,111 households, and 1,110,454 families residing within the metropolitan statistical area. The census reported 70.1%
White, 22.8%
African American, 0.3%
Native American, 3.3%
Asian, 0.02%
Pacific Islander, 1.2% from
other races, and 2.2% from two or more races.
Hispanic or
Latino of any race were 6.2% of the population.
Arab Americans were at least 4.7% of the region's population (considered
white in the US Census).
As of the 2010
American Community Survey estimates, the median income for a household in the MSA was $48,198, and the median income for a family was $62,119. The
per capita income for the MSA was $25,403. The region's foreign-born population sat at 8.6%. The region contains the largest concentration of
Arab-Americans in the United States, particularly in
Dearborn. The metro area also has the 25th largest
Jewish population worldwide.
Today, the Detroit suburbs in
Oakland County,
Macomb County, and northeastern and northwestern Wayne County are predominantly ethnic European American. Oakland County is among the most affluent counties in the United States, with a population of more than one million.[56] In
Wayne County, the city of Dearborn has a large concentration of
Arab Americans, mainly
Shi'ite MuslimLebanese, whose ancestors immigrated here in the early 20th century. Recently,[when?] the area has witnessed some growth in ethnic
Albanian,
Asian and
Hispanic populations.[citation needed]
Metro Detroit has a sizeable population of
Indian Americans, with an estimated 1.5% of the population being of Indian descent.
Indians Americans in Metro Detroit are employed in various engineering and medical fields.
In the 2000s, 115 of the 185 cities and townships in Metro Detroit were more than 95% white. African Americans have also moved to the suburbs: in 2000 44% of the more than 240,000 suburban blacks lived in
Inkster,
Pontiac,
Oak Park, and
Southfield.[57]
The Metro Detroit area is linked by an advanced network of major roads and
freeways which include
Interstate highways. Traditionally, Detroiters refer to some of their freeways by name rather than route number. The Davison, Lodge, and Southfield freeways are almost always referred to by name rather than route number. Detroiters commonly precede freeway names with the word 'the' as in the Lodge, the Southfield, and the Davison. Those without names are referred to by number.
Surface street navigation in Metro Detroit is commonly anchored by "mile roads", major east–west surface streets that are spaced at one-mile (1.6 km) intervals and increment as one travels north and away from the city center. Mile roads sometimes have two names, the numeric name (ex. 15 Mile Road) used in Macomb County and a local name (ex. Maple Road) used in Oakland County mostly.
The principal City of Detroit has struggled with high crime for decades. About half of all murders in Michigan in 2015 occurred in Detroit.[59][60]
Since 2013, the FBI has reported a 26% decrease in property crimes and a 27% decrease in violent crimes.[61]
Metro Detroit is served by nine
telephone area codes (six not including Windsor). The
313 area code, which used to encompass all of Southeast Michigan, is today confined exclusively to the City of Detroit and several neighboring Wayne County suburbs.
^"Michigan Cities". Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Archived from
the original on September 19, 2010. Retrieved December 26, 2008. [Detroit] is the automobile capital of the world
^Why MITA will be a successArchived 2007-08-15 at the
Wayback Machine.Michigan International Trade Association. Retrieved on September 3, 2007. "Detroit is the most active commercial port of entry in the USA." "Greater Detroit is the number one exporting region among 310 defined metropolitan areas (CMSA) in the U.S."
^Why doesn't Michigan have toll roads?.Michigan Department of Transportation. Retrieved on September 5, 2007. "A system of toll free highways has been viewed as important to commerce, industry, tourism, and general economic development."
^The Urban Markets Initiative, Brookings Institution Metropolitan Policy Program The Social Compact, Inc. University of Michigan Graduate Real Estate Program (October 2006).
Downtown Detroit In Focus: A Profile of Market OpportunityArchived 2011-09-18 at the
Wayback Machine. Downtown Detroit Partnership. Retrieved on July 14, 2010.
^Audi, Tamara (September 26, 2007). "What Happens In Detroit", The Wall Street Journal, B6. "But the market at issue, as MGM Mirage sees it, includes a 300-mile radius of potential overnight clients across the region,"
^"2004–05 Community profile Oakland County"(PDF). Archived from
the original(PDF) on 9 July 2007. Retrieved 11 July 2007. Oakland County also ranks as the fourth wealthiest county in the nation among counties with populations of more than one million people.