By population Detroit, MI is 14th of 387 US metropolitan areas, with 4.38 million residents. People, homes, work, and the shape of the local business landscape, drawn from public data.
The metropolitan statistical area covers Detroit, Warren and Dearborn.
The typical owner-occupied home is valued at $249,700, 25 percent below the national figure. The typical household income is $76,664, 5 percent below the national figure. For a business that sells to homeowners, that combination sets the ceiling on what a job is worth.
The unemployment rate stands at 6.4%, 1 points above the US share. 34.8% of adults finished a four-year degree or more (about the same as the US share). 71.2% of homes are lived in by their owners, 6 points above the US share. Age first: the median is 40.3, 1.4 years above the national median.
How does that compare with the state as a whole? Income in Detroit, MI is 5 percent higher than the Michigan figure, the median home value is 8 percent higher than the Michigan figure, and business density is 3 percent denser than the Michigan figure; the full numbers are on the Michigan page.
The establishment count for Detroit, MI is 102,430. That is 23.4 establishments per 1,000 people, 6 percent below the national figure. The busiest category listed below is restaurants (7,739 establishments). Contractors in the home-services trades total 4,659, or 4.5% of the base, about the same as the US share.
| Trade (NAICS) | Count | Per 100,000 | Index vs US |
|---|---|---|---|
| Restaurants and other eating places | 7,739 | 176.8 | 1.02× |
| Physicians' offices | 3,816 | 87.2 | 1.43× |
| General freight trucking | 2,563 | 58.6 | 1.79× |
| Legal services | 2,306 | 52.7 | 1.04× |
| Dentists | 1,921 | 43.9 | 1.16× |
| Personal care services (all) | 1,835 | 41.9 | 0.93× |
| Landscaping services | 1,711 | 39.1 | 1.18× |
| Lessors of real estate (all) | 1,262 | 28.8 | 0.75× |
| Beauty salons | 1,112 | 25.4 | 1.08× |
| Plumbing, heating and air-conditioning contractors | 1,107 | 25.3 | 0.81× |
| Grocery and convenience retailers | 1,081 | 24.7 | 0.88× |
| General automotive repair | 1,047 | 23.9 | 1.01× |
| Child day care services | 887 | 20.3 | 0.88× |
| Electrical contractors | 798 | 18.2 | 0.78× |
| Automobile dealers | 650 | 14.9 | 1.13× |
| Other specialty trade contractors (paving, asphalt, fencing) | 563 | 12.9 | 1.08× |
| Concrete foundation and structure contractors | 286 | 6.5 | 1.00× |
| Roofing contractors | 194 | 4.4 | 0.62× |
| Self-storage facilities | 146 | 3.3 | 0.64× |
| Highway, street and bridge construction | 105 | 2.4 | 0.93× |
The last column divides the local share of establishments by the national share (1.00 = the same mix as the US).
Some trades are heavier here than in the country at large: general freight trucking, physicians' offices, landscaping services and dentists. General freight trucking lead at 2,563 establishments, 1.8 times the US share. By contrast roofing contractors, self-storage operators, real estate lessors and electrical contractors are comparatively scarce in Detroit, MI. Roofing contractors are the clearest gap with 194 establishments, about 62% of the share they hold across the US. Concrete contractors, specialty trade contractors and road and paving contractors track the US share closely.
On a per-capita basis restaurants come first at 176.8 per 100,000, ahead of physicians' offices and general freight trucking. In absolute numbers restaurants lead with 7,739, followed by physicians' offices at 3,816 and general freight trucking at 2,563. The group picture: medical and dental practices above the national pattern at 1.3 times, the home-services trades below it at about the same as.
general freight trucking, physicians' offices and landscaping services face a full field here. Each new review, each answered call and each page that matches a specific search is a small edge, and the edges add up. For roofing contractors, self-storage operators and real estate lessors the picture is the opposite. Fewer competing profiles means a complete listing, a fast site and a modest search budget can take a disproportionate share of the searches that exist. Homeownership of 71.2% is above the national share; more of the households that search for home services are also the ones that decide and pay. An older-than-average market (median age 1.4 years above the national median) responds to search results, review counts and a phone number that is answered; it is less swayed by feed advertising.
Services for a business advertising in Detroit, MI, picked from the full list.
Search advertising that pays for intent, not impressions.
Profile upkeep, posts, Q&A and photos on the listing customers see first.
Site structure, pages and citations that earn organic placement in Detroit, MI.
A clean, fast site with one job: make the call happen.
Pay-per-lead placements at the very top of results for eligible trades.
Call and form tracking so every campaign is judged on leads, not clicks.
Tell us the trade and the area; we will show you what the competition looks like and what it takes to be found.
Data: US Census Bureau ACS 2024 5-year estimates and County Business Patterns 2023.