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 (3,327.7km2).[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 (5,095km2).
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 (15,060km2). 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 (480km) 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 Region Within Southeast MichiganDetroit Region Within Michigan
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 4.3million and a workforce of about 2.1million.[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 $252.7billion 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 $13billion 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]
The Ford World Headquarters in Dearborn, also known as the Glass House.
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]
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 Wildlife Interpretive Gallery at the Detroit Zoo
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]
view of I-696 and M-1 (Woodward Avenue)View of the Ambassador Bridge
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 (1.6km) 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.
Genesee, St. Clair, and Lapeer counties, eastern Livingston County, and part of northern Oakland County are covered by 810.
Washtenaw, Monroe, and most of the Wayne County suburbs are in the 734 area.
The Windsor area (and most of southwestern Ontario) is served by an overlay complex of three codes — 519, 226, and 548.
Related Research Articles
Wayne County is the most populous county in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of 2020, the United States Census placed its population at 1,793,561, making it the 19th-most populous county in the United States. The county seat is Detroit. The county was founded in 1796 and organized in 1815. Wayne County is included in the Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI Metropolitan Statistical Area. It is one of several U.S. counties named after Revolutionary War-era general Anthony Wayne.
Oakland County is a county in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is a principal county of the Detroit metropolitan area, containing the bulk of Detroit's northern suburbs. Its seat of government is Pontiac, and its largest city is Troy. As of the 2020 Census, its population was 1,274,395, making it the second-most populous county in Michigan, and the most populous county in the United States without a city of 100,000 residents.
Macomb County is a county on the eastern shore of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is part of the Detroit metropolitan area, bordering Detroit to the north and containing many of its northern suburbs. Its seat of government is Mt. Clemens, and its largest community is Warren. As of the 2020 census, the county had a population of 881,217, making it the third-most populous county in the state, behind neighboring Wayne and Oakland.
Southeast Michigan, also called southeastern Michigan, is a region in the Lower Peninsula of Michigan that is home to a majority of the state's businesses and industries as well as slightly over half of the state's population, most of whom are concentrated in Metro Detroit.
M-153 is an east–west state trunkline highway in the Metro Detroit area of the US state of Michigan. It is also known as Ford Road for nearly its entire length, except for its westernmost portion where the highway follows a short expressway to M-14. Named for William Ford, father of Henry Ford, Ford Road runs from near Dixboro to the Dearborn–Detroit border. The M-153 designation continues along Wyoming Avenue where it terminates at a junction with Interstate 94 (I-94) and US Highway 12 (US 12) on the city line.
The Detroit–Windsor region is an international transborder agglomeration named for the American city of Detroit, Michigan, the Canadian city of Windsor, Ontario, and the Detroit River, which separates them. The Detroit–Windsor area acts as a critical commercial link straddling the Canada–United States border and has a total population of 5,976,595. It is North America's largest cross-border conurbation.
As the world's traditional automotive center, Detroit, Michigan, is an important source for business news. The Detroit media are active in the community through such efforts as the Detroit Free Press high school journalism program and the Old Newsboys' Goodfellow Fund of Detroit. Wayne State University offers a widely respected journalism program.
Tourism in metropolitan Detroit, Michigan is a significant factor for the region's culture and for its economy, comprising nine percent of the area's two million jobs. About 19 million people visit Metro Detroit spending an estimated 6 billion in 2019. In 2009, this number was about 15.9 million people, spending an estimated $4.8 billion. Detroit is one of the largest American cities and metropolitan regions to offer casino resort hotels. Leading multi-day events throughout Metro Detroit draw crowds of hundreds of thousands to over three million people. More than fifteen million people cross the highly traveled nexus of the Ambassador Bridge and the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel annually. Detroit is at the center of an emerging Great Lakes Megalopolis. An estimated 46 million people live within a 300-mile (480 km) radius of Metro Detroit.
The metropolitan area surrounding and including Detroit, Michigan, is a ten-county area with a population of over 5.9 million, a workforce of 2.6 million, and about 347,000 businesses. Detroit's six-county Metropolitan Statistical Area has a population of about 4.3 million, a workforce of about 2.1 million, and a gross metropolitan product of $200.9 billion. Detroit's urban area has a population of 3.9 million. A 2005 PricewaterhouseCoopers study estimated that Detroit's urban area had a gross domestic product of $203 billion.
The Detroit metropolitan area in southeast Michigan is served by a comprehensive network of roads and highways. Three primary Interstate Highways pass through the region, along with three auxiliary Interstates, and multiple state and U.S. Highways. These are supplemented by the Mile Road System, a series of local roads spaced one mile apart on a perpendicular grid.
Transportation in metropolitan Detroit comprises an expansive system of roadways, multiple public transit systems, a major international airport, freight railroads, and ports. Located on the Detroit River along the Great Lakes Waterway, Detroit is a significant city in international trade, with two land crossings to Canada. Three primary Interstate highways serve the region.
MotorCities National Heritage Area or Motor Cities National Heritage Area is a federally designated National Heritage Area that commemorates and promotes the automobile industry in Metro Detroit, with portions of 16 counties in southern Michigan, United States.
The Regional Transit Authority of Southeast Michigan (RTA) is a public transit agency serving Metro Detroit and the Ann Arbor area in the U.S. state of Michigan. It operates the QLINE, and coordinates and oversees public transit operations by other agencies, including DDOT, SMART, and the Detroit People Mover. Its area covers the counties of Macomb, Oakland, Washtenaw, and Wayne.
As of the census of 2010, there were 5,196,250 people, 1,682,111 households, and 1,110,454 families residing within the Detroit–Warren–Ann Arbor Combined Statistical Area. Within the Detroit–Warren–Dearborn Metropolitan Statistical Area, there were 4,296,250 people residing. 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.
The Detroit metropolitan area has one of the largest concentrations of people of Middle Eastern origin, including Arabs and Chaldo-Assyrians in the United States. As of 2007 about 300,000 people in Southeast Michigan traced their descent from the Middle East. Dearborn's sizeable Arab community consists largely of Lebanese people who immigrated for jobs in the auto industry in the 1920s, and of more recent Yemenis and Iraqis. In 2010 the four Metro Detroit counties had at least 200,000 people of Middle Eastern origin. Bobby Ghosh of TIME said that some estimates gave much larger numbers. From 1990 to 2000 the percentage of people speaking Arabic in the home increased by 106% in Wayne County, 99.5% in Macomb County, and 41% in Oakland County.
Ethnic Chinese and Chinese American people comprise one of the major Asian-origin ethnic groups in the Wayne–Macomb–Oakland tri-county area in Metro Detroit. Troy, Rochester Hills, Madison Heights and Canton Township are hubs of Chinese residents in the metropolitan area.
A 2013 report by the Global Detroit and Data Driven Detroit stated that of the immigrant ethnic groups to Metro Detroit, the largest segment is the Indian population. As of 2012, the Indian populations of Farmington Hills and Troy are among the twenty largest Indian communities in the United States. As of the 2000 U.S. Census there were 39,527 people with origins from post-partition India in Metro Detroit, making them the largest Asian ethnic group in the Wayne County-Macomb County-Oakland County tri-county area. People of those origins are found throughout Metro Detroit, with the majority being in Oakland County. Across the border, there is an equally large and growing Indian Canadian community in Windsor, Ontario, Canada.
Metro Detroit has the following ethnic groups:
The organization Global Detroit stated that the largest group of ethnic Albanians not in Europe is in Metro Detroit. As of 2014, 4,800 ethnic Albanians live in Macomb County, making up the fourth-largest ethnic group in that county, and the highest concentration of Albanians in Metro Detroit. There are also several thousand in Wayne County, with most living outside Detroit city limits; Hamtramck and St. Clair Shores are plentiful in Albanian American and Kosovar-Albanian American communities. There are at least ethnically 30,200 Albanian people in Michigan, consistuting 0.3% of Michigan's population.
↑ "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.
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Map of Wayne County highlighting City of Detroit (County seat) in red.
Map of Oakland County highlighting City of Pontiac (County seat) in red.
Map of Macomb County highlighting City of Mount Clemens (County seat) in red.
Map of Livingston County highlighting City of Howell (County seat) in red.
Map of St. Clair County highlighting City of Port Huron (County seat) in red.
Map of Lapeer County highlighting City of Lapeer (County seat) in red.
