Work & commute · Detroit

Work & commute in Detroit, MI

About one in 3 of Detroit’s working residents works in town. The top destinations are Warren (6%), Southfield (6%) and Dearborn (5%). Half commute less than 10 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2021 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

31%

51,963 of 170,340 working residents

Typical commute

10 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

25 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

12%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 118,377 Detroit residents head out of town to work, 51,963 work right here, and 165,775 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Detroit.

118,377live here, work elsewhere

51,963live and work here

165,775work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Detroit goes to work

Detroit (in town)right here

31%51,963

Warren8.6 mi away

6%9,767

Southfield10.2 mi away

6%9,626

Dearborn7.4 mi away

5%8,473

Troy14.1 mi away

4%6,092

Livonia13.8 mi away

3%5,668

Lansing77.7 mi away

2%3,718

Farmington Hills15.7 mi away

2%3,585

Auburn Hills21.4 mi away

2%3,174

Sterling Heights14.2 mi away

2%2,872

Everywhere elseother towns and states

38%65,402

Lines run between town centers; a thicker line means more commuters. The top 10 towns each way.

How far

How far Detroit commutes

Straight-line distance from home to work, for every working resident. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.

51%

35%

51%Under 10 mi

35%10–24 mi

5%25–50 mi

9%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Detroit is balanced between jobs and homes

1.28jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (1.28 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Detroit are

217,738 jobs are based in Detroit. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Detroit’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Detroit

217,738 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)14%

Trade, transport & utilities14%

Services (health, schools, offices…)72%

$1,250 a month or less11%

$1,251–$3,333 a month22%

Over $3,333 a month67%

Jobs Detroit residents hold

170,340 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)16%

Trade, transport & utilities18%

Services (health, schools, offices…)66%

$1,250 a month or less23%

$1,251–$3,333 a month38%

Over $3,333 a month39%

−6%

Jobs based in Detroit, 2011 → 2021: 231,817 → 217,738. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.

About these numbers

How to read this page

Every worker, home to workThe Census links each worker’s home block to their main job’s block, for jobs covered by unemployment insurance. That’s most jobs, but not the self-employed.

Where the employer saysA job counts where the employer reports it. Some big employers report one address for many sites, which can make a few commutes look longer than they are.

Two surveysFlows, distances and jobs: LEHD 2021. Commute time and working from home: the Census American Community Survey.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2021, primary jobs; American Community Survey 5-year estimates.