Detroit Snapshot
  • Total Population: 886,675
  • Median Age: 31
  • Under 18: 31.1%
  • 65 and over: 10.4%
  • Average Income: $29,526
  • Percentage at or below Poverty Level: 26.1%
Unique Features
  • Total Population: 886,675
  • Median Age: 31
  • Under 18: 31.1%
  • 65 and over: 10.4%
  • Average Income: $29,526
  • Percentage at or below Poverty Level: 26.1%
Unique Features
  • One of the world’s most recognizable skylines
  • Art Deco skyscrapers blend with postmodern neo-Gothic spires and Gilded Age architectural gems
  • Site of one of the nation’s largest surviving collections of late 19th- and early-20th-century buildings
  • An important transportation hub: by land, lake, river, and air
  • Three international border crossings: Ambassador Bridge, Detroit-Windsor Tunnel, and Michigan Central Railway Tunnel
  • Comerica Park is home of the Detroit Tigers
  • Belle Isle is the largest island park in a U.S. city
  • Tri-Centennial State Park and Harbor is Michigan’s first urban state park
  • Many neighborhoods and districts are listed in the National Register of Historic Places
  • The home of Motown Records
  • The Detroit Institute of Arts
  • Home of the former “Big Three” automakers
Historical Significance
  • 1701: Founded as a fort settlement called Fort Pontchartrain du Detroit; prospered as a fur-trading outpost and offered protection for French ships traveling the Great Lakes
  • 1760: During the French and Indian War, British troops gained control and shortened the name to Detroit
  • 1796: Detroit passed to the United States under the Jay Treaty
  • 1805: Most of Detroit destroyed by fire
  • 1805–1847: Detroit was the capital of Michigan
  • Detroit fell to the British during the War of 1812, but was recaptured by the United States in 1813
  • 1815: Detroit incorporated as a city
  • Detroit was a key stop along the Underground Railroad
  • The city was a large ship-building hub during the mid-1800s
  • 1904: Henry Ford built the first Model T in a workshop on Mack Avenue
  • Detroit became the automotive capital of the world in the first half of the 20th century
  • Home to union leaders like Jimmy Hoffa and Walter Reuther
  • Site of the world’s first urban subsurface freeway, built during the 1940s
  • Endured a painful decline during the 1960s and ‘70s
  • 1967: Twelfth Street Riot
  • Flight from the city took its toll during the 1970s and ‘80s
  • 1980: Detroit hosted the Republican National Convention that nominated Ronald Reagan to a successful bid for the presidency
  • 1984: The Detroit Tigers win the World Series (the Tigers have won ten American League pennants, the most recent in 2006)
  • The Detroit Pistons have won three NBA titles
  • The Detroit Shock have won three WNBA titles
  • The Detroit Red Wings have won 11 Stanley Cups, the most in NHL history
  • 1996: Three downtown casinos open
  • 2000: Comerica Park replaces Tiger Stadium
  • In 2002 Ford Field brought the Detroit Lions back to the city from Pontiac
  • 2005: Hosts the MLB All-Star Game
  • 2006: Hosts Super Bowl XL and the World Series
  • 2009: Hosts NCAA Final Four
Major Employers (according to the Detroit Regional Chamber of Commerce)
  • Detroit Public Schools
  • City of Detroit
  • Detroit Medical Center
  • Chrysler Group
  • Henry Ford Health Systems
  • Detroit Newspapers
  • General Motors Corporation
  • St. John Health System
  • Northwest Airlines
  • Comerica Bank