Counties / Michigan / Wayne County

Wayne County, MI

FIPS 26163 · population 1,772,259 · part of Detroit, MI

$181k
Zillow home value · 2026-06
The numbers

What this county costs and earns

Everything here joins on the county FIPS code, so each figure comes from the agency that publishes it with no name matching in between.

Zillow home value
$181k
▲ 1.5% year over year
Zillow ZHVI · direct
Median asking rent
$1,423
▲ 3.7% year over year
Zillow ZORI · direct
Gross yield
9.4%
annual rent ÷ price, before costs
derived: rent × 12 ÷ price ✓
HUD 2-bed standard
$1,411
market rent is 1.01x the standard
HUD Fair Market Rent · direct
Independent price check

Do two methods point the same way?

Zillow estimates a current home value. FHFA tracks repeat mortgage transactions. Their growth rates should be read side by side, not averaged.

Both annual signals move in the same direction
FHFA five-year cumulative+49.4%not annualized · through 2025
0%ZILLOW ZHVI2026-06+1.5%FHFA HPI2025+5.3%
Annual changes use different methods and may use different periods. The comparison checks direction and magnitude; it does not create a blended estimate. Zillow county ZHVI pulled 2026-07-26; FHFA annual county HPI pulled 2026-07-28.
Owner-reported value$179k
Surveyed gross rent$1,132
Rent burden 30%+54.4%
Median year built1956
Housing composition

Who occupies the stock—and what it is

ACS 2024 5-year
12.5%vacant
801,083estimated housing units
Occupied tenure35.3% renter
owner 64.8%renter 35.3%
Structure mix75.6% single-family
Single-family 75.6%20+ units 8.6%Mobile home 1.8%Other 14.0%
ACS estimates describe the standing housing stock and occupied tenure. They do not measure current listings, transaction prices or asking rents.

Survey source: Census ACS 5-year — county housing value, tenure and stock · ACS 2024 5-year · pulled 2026-07-30. These values describe different housing universes and are not combined into gross yield.

Annual average covered jobs721,359▼ 0.6% from the prior annual release
Covered establishments38,176annual average reporting locations
Average weekly wage$1,527▲ 3.9% from the prior annual release
Largest private supersectorTrade, transportation, and utilities23.2% of disclosed private covered jobs
Local labor base

Jobs, pay and private-sector concentration

2025
0%COVERED JOBS−0.6%WEEKLY WAGE+3.9%Trade, transportation, and utilities23.2%
Annual QCEW counts cover jobs located at reporting establishments. The industry share uses disclosed private covered employment; it is not a resident-employment measure or a forecast.

Workplace source: BLS QCEW — county employment and wages · annual county employment and wages 2025 vs 2024 · pulled 2026-07-31. QCEW counts covered jobs located in the county, not employed residents or the metro score’s CES/LAUS series.

County brief

What the local evidence says

01Decision frame

Wayne County presents a yield-versus-exit-liquidity tension. In Zillow’s 2026-06 county observation, the median home value was $181,365, median asking rent was $1,423 per month, and the stated gross yield was 9.42% before costs. This merits address-level investigation for buyers able to verify operating costs, but caution for buyers relying on appreciation or quick resale. Zillow’s value rose 1.49% year over year; FHFA’s separately labeled 2025 annual repeat-transaction HPI rose 5.27%. These directionally positive readings use different vintages and methods and are neither a common interval nor a blended growth rate.

02Housing economics

The published asking rent is measured market evidence and is separate from HUD’s $1,411 two-bedroom Fair Market Rent, which is a payment standard rather than an estimate of local asking rent. The 1.63% effective property-tax rate makes carrying costs material against the stated gross yield; county medians cannot set a parcel’s assessment or tax bill. Taxes, insurance, vacancy, repairs, and financing terms are not published here, so the record cannot establish net yield or debt coverage.

03Demand & competition

Realtor.com’s MLS listing-market evidence shows 4,370 active listings, up 15.93% year over year, with 15.25% of listings price reduced and longer marketing time. These are visible asking-market supply, seller-concession, and marketing-time measures—not closed-sale prices or proof of buyer demand alone. Tax-return moves were net negative by 4,463 households, while outbound movers had higher average income than inbound movers. Investor mortgages accounted for 12.39% of 16,361 purchases: participation is real, but non-occupants did not comprise the whole purchase market. Together, the movement and buyer data require submarket tenant-depth and owner-demand checks.

04Risk & next checks

Inland flood is the dominant hazard, while modeled annual climate loss is 0.09% of building value; that county-level model neither maps a property’s exposure nor gives an insurance quote. Trade, transportation, and utilities is QCEW’s largest disclosed private supersector, but QCEW is annual covered employment at county workplaces, not resident employment, unemployment, or a forecast. Obtain parcel flood-zone and elevation data, loss history, insurance quotes, unit-specific rent comps, operating statements, financing terms, and closed-sale comps. Without them, flood cost, net cash flow, and resale underwriting remain unresolved.

Cities & communities

Where people live within Wayne County

Census-recognized incorporated places and CDPs that intersect this county. The list does not pretend to include every neighborhood or informal community.

Population scale

Largest Census places

ACS 2024 5-year
Detroit city638.5KDearborn city107.4KLivonia city93.9KWestland city83.6KTaylor city62.1KDearborn Heights city61.8KLincoln Park city39.3KSouthgate city29.4K
Bars use total place population, not a county-share estimate. An asterisk marks a place that crosses a county line.
Official directory

34 Census places

Population
  1. 01
    Detroit cityIncorporated place
    638,530
  2. 02
    Dearborn cityIncorporated place
    107,423
  3. 03
    Livonia cityIncorporated place
    93,851
  4. 04
    Westland cityIncorporated place
    83,633
  5. 05
    Taylor cityIncorporated place
    62,081
  6. 06
    Dearborn Heights cityIncorporated place
    61,771
  7. 07
    Lincoln Park cityIncorporated place
    39,257
  8. 08
    Southgate cityIncorporated place
    29,366
  9. 09
    Allen Park cityIncorporated place
    27,925
  10. 10
    Hamtramck cityIncorporated place
    27,743
  11. 11
    Garden City cityIncorporated place
    26,739
  12. 12
    Inkster cityIncorporated place
    25,428
Show 22 more places
  1. 13
    Romulus cityIncorporated place
    24,831
  2. 14
    Wyandotte cityIncorporated place
    24,489
  3. 15
    Trenton cityIncorporated place
    18,125
  4. 16
    Wayne cityIncorporated place
    17,310
  5. 17
    Grosse Pointe Woods cityIncorporated place
    16,094
  6. 18
    Harper Woods cityIncorporated place
    15,116
  7. 19
    Woodhaven cityIncorporated place
    12,690
  8. 20
    Melvindale cityIncorporated place
    12,554
  9. 21
    Riverview cityIncorporated place
    12,186
  10. 22
    Grosse Pointe Park cityIncorporated place
    11,319
  11. 23
    Flat Rock cityIncorporated place · spans 2 counties
    10,340
  12. 24
    Grosse Pointe Farms cityIncorporated place
    9,904
  13. 25
    Plymouth cityIncorporated place
    9,214
  14. 26
    Ecorse cityIncorporated place
    9,064
  15. 27
    Highland Park cityIncorporated place
    8,628
  16. 28
    River Rouge cityIncorporated place
    7,008
  17. 29
    Northville cityIncorporated place · spans 2 counties
    6,069
  18. 30
    Grosse Pointe cityIncorporated place
    5,541
  19. 31
    Gibraltar cityIncorporated place
    4,873
  20. 32
    Belleville cityIncorporated place
    3,910
  21. 33
    Rockwood cityIncorporated place
    3,161
  22. 34
    Village of Grosse Pointe Shores cityIncorporated place · spans 2 counties
    2,795

Population is the total place-wide ACS estimate, not an allocated county share. A place crossing a county line is labelled explicitly. Source: Census ACS 5-year — cities and communities · ACS 2024 5-year · pulled 2026-07-30.

Risk, demand and competition

The three things a price does not tell you

01
Risk & carrying costFEMA NRI + Census ACS
Dominant hazardinland flooding

0.086% of building value expected lost per year

Effective property tax1.63%

$2,904 median annual bill

02
DemandIRS SOI household flows
Net migration-4,463

28,402 in · 32,865 out

Arriving vs leaving income−$11,640

$56,815 arriving · $68,455 leaving

03
CompetitionHMDA financed purchases
Purchases by investors12.4%

2,027 of 16,361 mortgages

investorother financed
Current listing pressure

What sellers and visible supply are doing

Realtor.com® Economic Research · county inventory 2026-06 · pulled 2026-07-28
Active listings4,370▲ 15.9% year over year
Median days on market45▲ 11.1% year over year
Listings price-reduced15.3%seller-concession signal
Median listing pricen/a▼ 3.1% year over year

Listing price is an asking price, not a closed sale. Quality-flagged county rows are withheld instead of displayed.

Same metro

The other counties in Detroit, MI

A metro is an average of these. Which side of a county line a property sits on can change the tax bill, the hazard profile and the tenant pool.

CountyPopulationPriceRentYieldHazard
Wayne County1,772,259$181k$1,4239.4%inland flooding
Oakland County1,279,825$376k$1,7335.5%inland flooding
Macomb County879,853$275k$1,4126.2%inland flooding
Livingston County195,833$407k$2,0326.0%inland flooding
St. Clair County160,221$264k$1,0544.8%inland flooding
Lapeer County88,837$300k$1,3555.4%inland flooding
Bear case

What can break the county thesis

  1. Parcel-level tax, insurance, repair, vacancy, and financing costs may materially reduce the stated gross yield.
  2. Inland-flood exposure, insurance availability, or prior losses may differ sharply from the county-level modeled loss ratio.
  3. County-level movement and listing indicators may not represent demand or resale depth for the specific neighborhood and property type.
Underwriting questions

Before pricing a property

Does the record provide measured market asking rent rather than only HUD FMR?

Yes. It publishes median asking rent and separately identifies HUD Fair Market Rent as a two-bedroom payment standard.

Can FHFA HPI be treated as a current home value or combined with Zillow growth?

No. FHFA is a repeat-transaction appreciation index, while Zillow reports a median home value; their supplied periods and methods differ.

Can QCEW be read as resident employment or an employment forecast?

No. The record defines QCEW as annual covered employment at workplaces in the county, not resident employment, unemployment, or a forecast.