Wayne County, Michigan

• White (non-Hispanic) 849,427 47.9%
• Hispanic or Latino (any race) 121,653 6.9%
• Black or African American (non-Hispanic) 648,007 36.6%
• Asian (non-Hispanic) 64,744 3.7%
• Two or more races (non-Hispanic) 76,532 4.3%
• American Indian / Alaska Native (non-Hispanic) 2,670 0.2%
• Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander (non-Hispanic) 430 0.0%
• Some other race (non-Hispanic) 8,796 0.5%

• Under 18 418,687 23.6%
• 18–24 147,073 8.3%
• 25–44 470,273 26.5%
• 45–64 442,703 25.0%
• 65 and over 293,523 16.6%

Median household income

$59,484

90% interval $57,693–$61,275

−$12,852 vs MI · 58th of 83

Below poverty line

22.1%

90% interval 21.2%–23.0%

+8.7 pp vs MI · 2nd of 83

Unemployment (12-mo)

6.2%

+1.22 pp vs. state

County GDP

$129.9B

18.49% of state

Avg. annual pay

$79,422

Establishments

38,178

• Education & health services 163,436 22.7%
• Trade, transportation & utilities 155,077 21.5%
• Professional & business services 110,449 15.3%
• Manufacturing 85,201 11.8%
• Leisure & hospitality 72,229 10.0%
• Financial activities 33,770 4.7%
• Public administration 31,524 4.4%
• Construction 24,687 3.4%
• Other services 22,494 3.1%
• Information 5,899 0.8%
• Unclassified 1,524 0.2%
• Natural resources & mining 1,201 0.2%

The sectors listed cover 98.1% of covered employment; BLS withholds the rest to avoid disclosing individual employers.

Home ownership

64.8%

−8.4 pp vs MI · 79th of 83

Median gross rent

$1,132

+$3 vs MI · 9th of 83

Owner-occupied

453,652

Renter-occupied

246,939

• Moderately concentrated

  Top three sectors employ 59% of the county workforce. Substantial intra-sector overlap among panelists is likely; confirm employer relationships before sector-specific framing.

• Moderate wage spread

  Highest-paid sector (Professional & business services, $112,435/yr) pays 2.5× the lowest (Leisure & hospitality, $44,538/yr). Expect meaningful income variation across the panel.

• Institutional employer scale

  Average establishment employs 19 workers, typical of an institutional-employer economy where large hospitals, plants, schools, and government agencies dominate. Expect many panelists to share an employer rather than work for themselves.

• Democratic 537,032 62.7%
• Republican 288,860 33.7%
• Other / third-party 30,619 3.6%

• Arabic 110,490 6.6%
• Spanish 75,037 4.5%
• Russian, Polish, or other Slavic 7,515 0.5%
• Chinese 5,097 0.3%
• French, Haitian, or Cajun 4,157 0.3%
• Tagalog 3,515 0.2%
• German or other West Germanic 2,898 0.2%
• Vietnamese 1,977 0.1%
• Korean 1,217 0.1%

Households

700,591

Family households

415,727

59.3% of households

Married couples w/ children

98,624

23.7% of families

Single-mother families

60,204

14.5% of families

Veterans

64,943

4.8% of civilians 18+

• Catholic 245,106 13.7%
• Black Protestant 186,692 10.4%
• Other (non-Christian + minor traditions) 174,047 9.7%
• Evangelical Protestant 164,365 9.2%
• Mainline Protestant 63,326 3.5%
• Orthodox 12,451 0.7%

Health insured

94.4%

±0.2 pp

Uninsured

5.6%

±0.2 pp

34th of 83

With a disability

15.9%

±0.2 pp

54th of 83

Bachelor's or higher

27.6%

±0.4 pp

−4.8 pp vs MI · 23rd of 83

Uninsured, under 65 (2024)

6.8%

90% interval 6.4%–7.2% · Census SAHIE

The under-65 uninsured rate is not comparable to the ACS insurance figures, which cover all ages.

Trial court

3rd Judicial Circuit Court

Judges

61 (Circuit Court judges per circuit (general civil + felony criminal jurisdiction); District Court judges (limited jurisdiction) and Probate Court judges separate. Vintage 2026 courts.michigan.gov / Wikipedia 'Michigan Circuit Courts' table; cross-checked against MCL § 600.508.)

Court seats

Detroit

Traffic fatalities

177

13.08 per 100k adults (18+)

Fatal crashes

166