7 ways Detroit has changed a decade after bankruptcy

In the decade since Detroit filed for bankruptcy, the unthinkable — a global pandemic — upended the city and killed more Detroiters than cancer.

Despite this, fewer people are living in poverty now than in 2013, home values are up and more Detroiters have jobs.

"After a pandemic that hurt the city’s census count, exacerbated health inequality eliminated any positive movements in the public school system and increased unemployment in a city with a low-skilled, heavily hourly workforce that must get to the suburbs for jobs," demographer Kurt Metzger said, "we are coming out ready to build upon the pre-pandemic successes."

Here’s a look at seven measures and how Detroit has progressed.

1. Emergency response times: Improved for high-priority calls

During the year before the city filed for bankruptcy, the Detroit Police Department took about 30 minutes to respond to priority one calls and 43 minutes for other non-priority one calls. By mid-year 2023, priority one calls (those involving immediate danger like shootings and assault) are down to 12 minutes and 35 seconds. Recent response times for other priority calls remains longer on average than pre-bankruptcy rates.

EMS response has also improved. The Detroit Fire Department's average response time for urgent calls is down to eight minutes so far this year, compared with 18 minutes in 2014. Staffing shortages led the city to sign an emergency contract with Universal Macomb Ambulance Service last month to shore up service. The fire department has been responding to building fires in just under six minutes year-to-date, compared with seven minutes in 2014, according to city officials.

2. Poverty rates: Declined

A smaller share of residents in Detroit and Michigan are living below the poverty level compared with 2012. The poverty rate declined from 42% to 30% in Detroit between 2012 and 2021, according to census estimates.

Statewide the poverty rate dropped from 17% to 13% during the same time period.

3. Population: Plummeted

The city's population base is a crucial indicator that impacts not only political representation but also millions of dollars of federal funding for city services. The latest decennial census shows the city's tally of residents at 639,111 — a 10.5% decline compared with the decade prior.

More recently, the Census Bureau estimated that in 2022 Detroit dropped below Memphis as the nation's 29th largest city — with two-thirds fewer residents than the city's midcentury (1950) peak.

4. Median housing values: Climbed

In Detroit and across Michigan, homeowners have reported an increase in their housing values since 2013. The median value for owner-occupied housing units in Detroit was $42,805 in 2013, according to census estimates in 2021 dollars. The latest data show Detroit median home values up to $69,300 in 2021 for residents who own their own homes.

5. Unemployment rates: Hit a record low in Detroit

The unemployment rate was about 21% in July 2013 when the city filed for bankruptcy. Since that time, Michiganders and Detroiters have experienced historically high rates of joblessness during the pandemic and more recently historic low levels of unemployment in Detroit.

Detroit's unemployment rate was 4.2% in April, the lowest jobless rate since 1990, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

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6. Property crime: At its lowest rate during the first year of the pandemic

The number of property crimes hit a low of 3,314 per 100,000 residents during the first year of the pandemic. Last year, Detroiters reported an increasing number of property crimes, 4,643 per 1000,00 residents, but those reports remain below pre-bankruptcy rates.

In 2012, there were 2,150 violent crimes per 100,00 residents — similar to last year's violent crime rate of 2,090.

7. High school graduation rates: Rising and falling in Detroit

Last year, 71% of Detroit Public Schools' seniors graduated from high school, a greater share of students compared with the Class of 2013 at 64.6%.

The gap between the Detroit Public Schools and Michigan seniors decreased to 1.4 percentage points when the four-year graduation rate reached 78.3% for Detroit Public Schools during the 2015-16 school year. The gains were lost shortly thereafter, however, and returned to pre-bankruptcy rates in the midst of the pandemic during the 2020-2021 school year.

Kristi Tanner is a data reporter. Contact her at ktanner@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter: @midatalove.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit after the bankruptcy: We've changed in these 7 ways