The DESC Area's Youth Population Share Exceeds Michigan's in 2025

Data from the 2025 American Community Survey 1-year estimates were released on October 29, 2026. This survey provides information about people across all geographies on an annual basis. The 1-year estimates include geographies with a population threshold of 65,000 or greater. The 5-year estimates cover all geographies and are also released each year, but typically later than 1-year data. This article will cover data by age and sex for the Detroit Employment Solutions Corporation (DESC) area, which covers the City of Detroit.

The City of Detroit had a population of about 649,100 in 2025 and accounted for 6.4 percent of Michigan’s population. A large share of the Detroit population is within the prime working age (25 to 54 years). At nearly 40 percent of the population, the share of prime-age workers in DESC was greater than the statewide share of just over 37 percent. Detroit also had a greater share of those under the age of 18 (24.2 percent) than Michigan (20.3 percent). Michigan had a greater share of those age 65 and older (20.5 percent) than Detroit (15.7 percent). 

A greater share of the Detroit population is female compared to Michigan overall. In 2025, females accounted for 52.4 percent of the DESC area population and 50.7 percent of the statewide population. 

The population share by gender differs within age groups for both Detroit and Michigan. In Detroit, males had a slightly higher share than females among the age 24 and younger group (50.3 percent). Among ages 25 and older, females accounted for 53.8 percent of the DESC population. This trend was similar statewide: males accounted for a greater share of the population under age 25 (51.2 percent), while females accounted for more than half of the population age 25 and older (51.5 percent).