Metro Detroiters' incomes on the decline
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
It's been a rough couple of years on Metro Detroiters' pocketbooks. Our region's median household income fell 2.9% between 2019 and 2022, per the most recent Census Bureau data.
- Our area's median income was $71,265 in 2022, compared with $73,375 in 2019, adjusted for inflation.
By the numbers: The share of metro residents making between $50,000 and $74,000 annually fell from 18% to 17% between 2019 and 2022, while the share making over $100,000 rose from 30% to 35%.
The big picture: Our pay drop was large compared with the national median household income, which fell just 1.6% between 2019 and 2022, adjusted for inflation.
- The trend "explains why Americans have felt so meh about the strong economy over the past couple years," with inflation eating away at paychecks, Axios Markets' Emily Peck writes.
Details: The new data comes by way of the census' 2022 American Community Survey (ACS) one-year estimates released last month, Axios' Alex Fitzpatrick writes.
What they're saying: Lou Glazer, president of the nonprofit Michigan Future, tells Bridge Michigan that our state's lagging household income can be blamed on the focus on manufacturing, driving low-paying jobs.
- "We're over-concentrated in the declining industrial economy," Glazer says. "Michigan's policy problem — in both parties — is they both want to recreate 1979. It's the wrong policy."
Of note: Because the latest ACS release is based on 2022 data, it's capturing what some call the "late pandemic era," when many elements of normality returned but the pandemic still affected many aspects of life.
Go deeper: Where America stands