The following is a list of people from Detroit, Michigan. This list includes notable people who were born, have lived, or worked in and around Detroit as well as its metropolitan area.
The Detroit Red Wings are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit. The Red Wings compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The franchise is one of the Original Six of the league. Founded in 1926, the team was known as the Detroit Cougars until 1930. For the next two seasons, the team was named the Detroit Falcons, before changing their name to the Red Wings in 1932.
The Detroit Pistons are an American professional basketball team based in Detroit. The Pistons compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division of the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home games at Little Caesars Arena, located in Midtown Detroit.
Comerica Park is a baseball stadium located in Downtown Detroit. It has been the ballpark of Major League Baseball's Detroit Tigers since 2000, when the team left Tiger Stadium.
Jennifer Mulhern Granholm is a Canadian-born American politician. Since 2021, she has served as the 16th United States Secretary of Energy. A member of the Democratic Party, she previously served as the Attorney General of Michigan from 1999 to 2003 and as the 47th Governor of Michigan from 2003 to 2011, as the first woman to hold each office.
Joe Louis Arena was an arena in Downtown Detroit. Completed in 1979 at a cost of US$57 million as a replacement for Olympia Stadium, it sat adjacent to Cobo Center on the bank of the Detroit River and was accessible by the Joe Louis Arena station on the Detroit People Mover. The venue was named after former heavyweight champion boxer Joe Louis, who grew up in Detroit.
Ford Field is a domed American football stadium located in Downtown Detroit. It is often referred to as “Valhalla”, where the Vikings go to die in battle over and over again for eternity. It primarily serves as the home of the Detroit Lions of the National Football League (NFL), the Michigan Panthers of the United Football League (UFL), the Mid-American Conference championship game, and the annual GameAbove Sports Bowl college football bowl game, state championship football games for the MHSAA, the MHSAA State Wrestling Championships, and the MCBA Marching Band State Finals, among other events. The regular seating capacity is approximately 65,000, though it is expandable up to 70,000 for football and 80,000 for basketball.
Gretchen Esther Whitmer is an American lawyer and politician serving since 2019 as the 49th governor of Michigan. A member of the Democratic Party, she served in the Michigan House of Representatives from 2001 to 2006 and in the Michigan Senate from 2006 to 2015.
Richard Dale Snyder is an American business executive, venture capitalist, attorney, accountant, and politician who served as the 48th governor of Michigan from 2011 to 2019.
The history of the Detroit Lions, a professional American football franchise based in Detroit, dates back to 1928 when they played in Portsmouth, Ohio as the Spartans. They joined the National Football League (NFL) in 1930, then were bought by George A. Richards who was Detroit radio executive and moved to Detroit and changed their name to the Lions in 1934 and won their first NFL Championship the following season. The Lions had their most success in the 1950s, winning the NFL Championship three times, in 1952, 1953, and 1957, and made several playoff appearances in the 1990s. In 2024, they began their 95th season, continuing to be one of the NFL's oldest franchises.
Calvin Johnson Jr. is an American former professional football wide receiver who played in the National Football League (NFL) for nine seasons with the Detroit Lions. Nicknamed "Megatron" after the Transformers character of the same name, he is regarded as one of the greatest wide receivers of all time. He played college football for the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, winning the Fred Biletnikoff Award as a junior, and was selected by the Lions second overall in the 2007 NFL draft.
The Detroit Police Department (DPD) is the primary law enforcement agency of the city of Detroit, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1865, it has nearly 2,500 officers, making it the largest law enforcement organization in the state.
Nicholas Alexander Castellanos is an American professional baseball right fielder and third baseman for the Philadelphia Phillies of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously played for the Detroit Tigers, Chicago Cubs and Cincinnati Reds.
Kam Chatman is an American professional basketball player for KVIS Pardubice of the National Basketball League (NBL). He played college basketball for the Detroit Titans after transferring from the Michigan Wolverines men's basketball team following his sophomore season. He played high school basketball for Columbia Christian Schools. He was one of 26 players selected for the April 18, 2014 Jordan Brand Classic. He is a cousin of Ndamukong Suh.
Little Caesars Arena is a multi-purpose arena in Midtown Detroit. Opening on September 5, 2017, the arena, which cost $862.9 million to construct, replaced Joe Louis Arena and The Palace of Auburn Hills as the home of the Detroit Red Wings of the National Hockey League (NHL) and the Detroit Pistons of the National Basketball Association (NBA), respectively.
Bennie Fowler III is a former American football wide receiver. He played college football for Michigan State and was signed by the Denver Broncos as an undrafted free agent in 2014.
The Flint water crisis is a public health crisis that started in 2014 after the drinking water for the city of Flint, Michigan, was contaminated with lead and possibly Legionella bacteria. In April 2014, during a financial crisis, state-appointed emergency manager Darnell Earley changed Flint's water source from the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department to the Flint River. Residents complained about the taste, smell, and appearance of the water. Officials failed to apply corrosion inhibitors to the water, which resulted in lead from aging pipes leaching into the water supply, exposing around 100,000 residents to elevated lead levels. A pair of scientific studies confirmed that lead contamination was present in the water supply. The city switched back to the Detroit water system on October 16, 2015. It later signed a 30-year contract with the new Great Lakes Water Authority (GLWA) on November 22, 2017.
Elissa Blair Slotkin is an American politician serving since 2025 as the junior United States senator from Michigan. From 2019 to 2025, she served as the U.S. representative for Michigan's 7th congressional district. The district, numbered as the 8th from 2019 to 2023, stretches from Lansing to the outer northern suburbs of Detroit. A member of the Democratic Party, Slotkin was previously a Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) analyst and Department of Defense official.
John Edward James is an American businessman, combat veteran, and politician serving as the U.S. representative from Michigan's 10th congressional district since 2023. A member of the Republican Party, he was the party's nominee for U.S. Senate in 2018 and 2020.
The first confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the American state of Michigan were discovered on March 10, 2020, one day before the outbreak of the disease was officially declared a global pandemic by the World Health Organization. As of December 20, 2022, 2,977,727 cases have been identified, causing 40,657 deaths.
Aidan Joseph Bernardi Hutchinson is an American professional football defensive end for the Detroit Lions of the National Football League (NFL). Hutchinson was a unanimous All-American for the Michigan Wolverines, and the runner-up for the Heisman Trophy in 2021. He was selected with the second overall pick in the 2022 NFL draft by the Detroit Lions, and named to the All-Rookie Team in 2022. Hutchinson was voted to his first Pro Bowl in 2023.