county

Wayne County, MI

Demographic and economic profile of Wayne County, MI, sourced from the US Census Bureau (American Community Survey) via Data USA.

AI Overview

Wayne County, MI is Michigan's most populous county at 1,773,767 residents, anchored by Detroit's long-established automotive and manufacturing base. The labor force shows a 59.4% participation rate with 26.9% holding bachelor's degrees and median worker earnings of $39,979, against an unemployment rate of 8.7% and a poverty rate of 20.1% that signal persistent workforce gaps. Housing costs remain low relative to national benchmarks—median home value of $170,200 and median gross rent of $1,087/month—while a GDP per capita of $58,970 against a per capita income of $33,956 reflects significant economic output concentrated outside typical household earnings.

Claude Sonnet 4.6 · generated Jul 6, 2026 · derived from cached Census, BEA & ACS data on this page

Population

1,771,063

Data USA · as of 2024

Median Household Income

$60,539

Data USA · as of 2024

Median Age

37.9 yrs

Data USA · as of 2024

Population Growth (5-year)

+0.7% since 2018

Wayne County added population at this rate over the prior 5-year ACS5 window.

Demographics

Race & Ethnicity

  • White Alone871,884 (49.2%)
  • Black or African American Alone652,168 (36.8%)
  • Two Races Excluding Some Other Race, & Three or More Races69,082 (3.9%)
  • Asian Alone65,148 (3.7%)
  • Two Races Including Some Other Race55,139 (3.1%)
  • Some Other Race Alone52,558 (3.0%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Languages Spoken at Home

  1. 1.Arabic103,352
  2. 2.Spanish70,077
  3. 3.Other Indo-European43,336
  4. 4.Other Asian and Pacific Island9,871
  5. 5.Russian, Polish, or other Slavic7,858

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population Under 18

23.7%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Working-Age (18–64)

60.1%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population 65 and Over

16.1%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Foreign-Born Population

10.3%

Data USA · as of 2024

Veterans

64,943

Data USA · as of 2024

Economy

GDP per Capita

$58,970

Data USA · as of 2023

Cost of Living Index

—

Not yet cached

Per Capita Income

$33,956

Census ACS · as of 2023

Unemployment Rate

8.7%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Poverty Rate

20.1%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Top Industries

  1. 1.Educational Services, & Health Care & Social Assistance172,168
  2. 2.Manufacturing (Group)134,550
  3. 3.Professional, Scientific, & Management, & Administrative & Waste Management Services83,049
  4. 4.Retail Trade (Group)78,553
  5. 5.Arts, Entertainment, & Recreation, & Accommodation & Food Services67,831

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Occupations

  1. 1.Management, Business, Science, & Arts Occupations281,362
  2. 2.Sales & Office Occupations148,981
  3. 3.Production, Transportation, & Material Moving Occupations140,873
  4. 4.Service Occupations133,484
  5. 5.Natural Resources, Construction, & Maintenance Occupations52,373

Data USA · as of 2024

Specialized Industries (Location Quotient)

  1. 1.Manufacturing (LQ 1.79×)135,048
  2. 2.Transportation, Warehousing, & Utilities (LQ 1.18×)52,490
  3. 3.Arts, Entertainment, Recreation, & Accommodation (LQ 1.06×)70,648
  4. 4.Educational Services & Health Care (LQ 0.97×)172,734
  5. 5.Retail Trade (LQ 0.96×)78,951

Census ACS · as of 2023

Housing

Median Home Value

$170,200

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Gross Rent

$1,087/mo

Census ACS · as of 2023

Homeownership Rate

64.8%

Data USA · as of 2024

Home Value Distribution

  • $200,000 to $249,99955,210 (12.2%)
  • $300,000 to $399,99951,711 (11.4%)
  • $150,000 to $174,99944,051 (9.7%)
  • $250,000 to $299,99935,336 (7.8%)
  • $100,000 to $124,99931,848 (7.0%)
  • $175,000 to $199,99929,981 (6.6%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Education

Bachelor's Degree or Higher

26.9%

Census ACS · as of 2023

High School Diploma or Higher

87.9%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Workforce

Labor Force Participation

59.4%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Worker Earnings

$39,979

Census ACS · as of 2023

Mean Commute Time

24.7 min

Data USA · as of 2024

Households Without a Vehicle

11.8%

Census ACS · as of 2023

How People Get to Work

  • Drove Alone530,628 (71.9%)
  • Worked At Home104,011 (14.1%)
  • Carpooled62,596 (8.5%)
  • Public Transit12,966 (1.8%)
  • Walked12,064 (1.6%)
  • Other10,805 (1.5%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Similar Locations

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Data: US Census Bureau American Community Survey, served via Data USA and the Census Bureau API. See each metric tile for the specific dataset.