Wayne County, Michigan
Healthy Home Assessments in Detroit
Detroit is the largest city in Michigan and the seat of Wayne County, sitting on the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario, Canada. The assessment looks at the whole home, not one part.
Detroit, house by house
Michigan's largest city and the historic heart of the American auto industry, anchored by Woodward Avenue's cultural district and a resurgent downtown. Worth knowing: The city's motto is 'Speramus Meliora; Resurget Cineribus', 'We hope for better things; it will rise from the ashes', written after the 1805 fire and on the seal adopted in 1827. 254,197 households, 677,116 residents. Served as Michigan's first state capital when Michigan achieved statehood in 1837 (the capital moved to Lansing in 1847).
The housing stock
Owner-occupancy sits at 49.7%, and 64.7% of all units are detached single-family homes, per 2023 five-year Census figures. Bachelor's attainment among adults is 17.6%. The record of building starts around 1917, so the assessment reads an older envelope. A local landmark: Fox Theatre, a lavishly restored 1928 movie palace and concert venue.
With 677,116 residents packed in, garages, combustion sources and exhaust routes are read together. Owner-occupancy of 49.7% means the walkthrough notes where a fix needs the building owner rather than the occupant.
What stands in Detroit:
- Detroit Institute of Arts. Museum of more than 65,000 works ranked among the top six U.S. collections, home of Diego Rivera's Detroit Industry murals and the first Van Gogh purchased by an American museum.
- Motown Museum (Hitsville U.S.A.). Museum in the original Motown Records house and Studio A on West Grand Boulevard.
- Fox Theatre. Opulent 1928 movie palace on Woodward Avenue and a National Historic Landmark.
- Belle Isle Park. 982-acre Detroit River island park, the largest city-owned island park in the United States and larger than Central Park.
- Detroit sports district. Downtown recreation cluster of Comerica Park (Tigers, since 2000), Ford Field (Lions, since 2002), and Little Caesars Arena (Red Wings and Pistons).
Where the addresses are
Detroit also contains 2 smaller settlements: Midtown and The District Detroit. Midtown: Cultural district along Woodward Avenue, home of the Detroit Institute of Arts. The District Detroit: Downtown sports and entertainment district around Little Caesars Arena. Addresses fall in 48201, 48202, 48203, 48204, 48205, 48206, 48207, 48208, 48209, 48210, 48211 and 48212. Belle Isle is home to the oldest continuously operating conservatory in the U.S. and one of the oldest public aquariums in the country.