Wayne County · Michigan
Detroit, MI jobs and wages
Who works here, what they earn, and which industries carry the local economy — Census ACS estimates for the city itself, not the wider metro.
Quick answer
Workers in Detroit, MI earn a median of $31,656 a year, 29% below the national median of $44,587. Unemployment is 14.1% against 5.2% nationally, and education, health care & social assistance is the largest employer at 23.3% of jobs.
- Median earnings
- $31,656#91 of 94 metros
- Unemployment rate
- 14.1%US 5.2%
- Labor force participation
- 54.6%US 63.5%
- People employed
- 231,581Civilian employed, age 16+
What Detroit does for a living
Share of the civilian employed population by industry, largest first.
- Education, health care & social assistance23.3%
- Manufacturing16.3%
- Professional, scientific & management11%
- Arts, entertainment, recreation, accommodation & food10.8%
- Retail trade9.9%
- Transportation, warehousing & utilities7.2%
- Finance, insurance & real estate5.5%
- Other services, except public administration4.3%
- Construction4.1%
- Public administration3.9%
- Wholesale trade2%
- Information1.3%
- Agriculture, forestry, fishing, hunting & mining0.2%
Related data for Detroit
Earnings only mean something next to what things cost.
Source: US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates
Tables B23025, B20002 and C24030, 2019-2023 ACS 5-year. Industry shares combine the male and female columns of C24030 and are rounded, so they may not total exactly 100%.