Profile: Wage & Income Trends
Figure 1: Average Salary by Industry, 2023
The average annual salary in the Detroit region is $70,471, about $1,886 lower than the national average. The Detroit region’s average salary has increased 37.6% since 2013, slower than the national average.
Most Detroit region industries offer salaries that are similar to the national averages. However, in 2022, salaries in three industries are substantially lower than average:
- Information: $52,366 under the national average
- Financial Activities: $26,473 under
- Natural Resources and Mining: $18,835 under
Salary growth also varies by industry. The salary in only one industry grew faster than the national average from 2013 to 2023: Construction at 6% compared to 5.1% in the US. Industries with salaries that grew considerably slower than the national rates include:
- Information: 49.6% compared to 78.5% in the US
- Manufacturing: 20.6% compared to 35.1% in the US
- Government: 29.4% compared to 40.6% in the US
- Financial Activities: 38.7% compared to 47.2% in the US
Figure 2: Per Capita Income, 2012-2022
Per capita income in the Detroit region has remained under the national average since 2012 However, from 2012 to 2022, the per capita income has grown steadily every year. Overall, from 2012 to 2022, the Detroit region had a per capita income growth rate of 46.1%, nearly the same as the national average of 48%. In 2021, the Detroit region and US had per capita income growth rates of 1.2% and 1.6%.
Figure 3: Median Household Income, 2012-2022
Median household income in the Detroit region is nearly equal to the national data. The growth rate of the Detroit region’s median household income from 2012-2022 (42.3%) was slightly lower than the growth rate of the national median household income (45.5%). Post-pandemic economic recovery continues for the Detroit region with a median household income growth rate of 5.5% from 2021 to 2022, slightly below the national growth rate of 7.2%.
Figure 4: Percent in Poverty, 2012-2022
Poverty in the Detroit region is higher than the national average. In 2022, 13.8% of the Detroit region’s population lived in poverty. This figure is a notable improvement when compared to the 2012 poverty rate of 17.5%. Measures of child poverty follow a similar pattern. In the Detroit region, child poverty peaked in 2012 when 25.3% of people aged 18 and younger lived in poverty. By 2022, this figure fell to 19.4%. The child poverty rate in the Detroit region remains higher than the national child poverty rate of 16.3%. Both measures of national poverty saw a slight decrease in 2022. However, both measures of poverty in the Detroit region saw an increase from the prior year in 2022.
