Detroit, MI
Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI Metro Area
Figures are medians for the whole Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI Metro Area, not the city proper.
Among the 300 U.S. metros CityLedger tracks, Detroit ranks 192nd for affordability — how far a typical paycheck stretches after local prices — and 143rd for income. A household earns $76,403 a year while median rent runs $1,248/mo, making it expensive relative to what residents earn. Affordability and price level are different lenses: the raw cost of living here runs 0% above the U.S. average.
Its strongest card is hazard safety (34th of 300), while air quality is the soft spot (273rd). Housing usually decides a move: rent ranks 148th and home prices 116th among the 300 metros CityLedger tracks.
For your salary & household
Enter your pay and household size to see what it's really worth here — the numbers update live and the link stays shareable.
On $75,000 for just you in Detroit, your take-home is worth about $57,953 once local prices are factored in — local prices stretch it less than the U.S. average.
Take-home estimates a single filer taking the standard deduction (2025 federal brackets, FICA, and state income tax) and isn't tax advice. “Real value” rebases take-home to average U.S. prices using the BEA cost-of-living index; the per-person figure uses the OECD square-root equivalence scale.
The numbers
Income & cost
- Median income
- 143rd of 300↑20.4%$76,403
- Cost of living?The local price level vs. the U.S. average of 100 (BEA). Lower means cheaper. This is raw prices, not adjusted for income.
- 227th of 300100 (US=100)
- Cost-adj. income?Median household income divided by the local price level — what the typical paycheck is really worth here.
- $76,176
- Per-capita income
- $43,509
- Full-time pay
- $47,043
Housing
- Median rent
- 148th of 300↑29.7%$1,248/mo
- Home value
- 116th of 300↑41.6%$271,600
- Property tax
- $3,489/yr · 1.3%
- Sales tax
- 6.00%
Jobs & education
- Unemployment
- 198th of 3004.9%
- Bachelor's+
- 126th of 30035.6%
- Avg commute
- 215th of 30026.2 min
People
- Population
- 4,400,578
- Population change
- +1.9%
- Median age
- 40.3 yrs
- Foreign-born
- 11.5%
- Broadband
- 93.9%
Environment & risk
- Air quality (AQI)
- 273rd of 30055
- Natural-hazard loss
- 34th of 300$8/$10k
Health
- Fair/poor health
- 157th of 30018.8%
- Uninsured (18–64)
- 7%
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau (ACS), U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S. EPA, FEMA, CDC, NOAA — every figure's source is listed on our methodology page. Data built 2026-06-14. ↑↓ mark the change since 2019.
How CityLedger scores it
Transparent weights — see our methodology.
Strengths
- + Hazard safety
Watch-outs
- – Cost of living
- – Commute
- – Air quality
Climate
30-year normals (1991–2020) from the nearest station — pontiac oakland co intl ap.
What jobs pay in Detroit
Median annual wage by occupation (BLS OEWS 2025) — half of workers in each role earn more, half less.
- Family medicine physicians
- $181,990
- IT managers
- $170,040
- Financial managers
- $160,240
- Pharmacists
- $137,770
- Lawyers
- $134,980
- Software developers
- $130,760
- Web developers
- $108,550
- General & operations managers
- $104,010
- Registered nurses
- $97,280
- Civil engineers
- $92,550
- Plumbers
- $86,370
- Electricians
- $81,990
- Accountants & auditors
- $80,650
- Police officers
- $78,450
- Secondary school teachers
- $77,520
- Carpenters
- $65,810
- Elementary school teachers
- $65,210
- Truck drivers (heavy)
- $59,120
- Construction laborers
- $57,430
- Maintenance & repair workers
- $48,380
- Customer service reps
- $44,730
- Waiters & waitresses
- $37,490
- Janitors
- $36,680
- Retail salespersons
- $35,130
- Cashiers
- $30,090
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS 2025 — annual median wage. Cross-industry, all experience levels.
Where new residents move from
The states sending the most people to the Detroit metro, by estimated movers (U.S. Census 2022 migration flows, 5-year). Moves from elsewhere in Michigan are excluded to show where out-of-state arrivals originate.
- Florida3,962
- California3,504
- Ohio3,184
- Texas3,003
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2022 Migration Flows (5-year).
Cities like Detroit
Closest matches across cost, income, size, education, and age — tap to compare.
Detroit metro — frequently asked
- What is the median rent in the Detroit metro?
- Median gross rent across the Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI Metro Area is $1,248 a month (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024). That figure covers the whole metro area, not just the city of Detroit.
- What is the median household income in the Detroit metro?
- A typical household in the Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI Metro Area earns $76,403 a year (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- Is Detroit expensive to live in?
- The overall cost of living in the Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI Metro Area runs about 0% above the U.S. average (BEA Regional Price Parities, 2024) — prices are higher than average, before accounting for local pay.
- Does a paycheck go far in the Detroit metro?
- After adjusting for local prices, the median household income is worth about $76,176 (versus its face value of $76,403). CityLedger rates the Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI Metro Area expensive for what residents earn.
- What is the typical home value in the Detroit metro?
- The median home value across the Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI Metro Area is $271,600 (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- What is the unemployment rate in the Detroit metro?
- The unemployment rate in the Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI Metro Area is 4.9% (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).