2009 Detroit DrillDown
Data Driven Detroit has been working with Detroit Economic Growth Corp and Social Compact to create the 2009 Detroit DrillDown.
Click Here to Download the DrillDown Report.
Click Here to explore the data and maps of the DrillDown Data.
DrillDown profiles combine Social Compact’s many innovative economic and demographic methodologies into a powerful information package unique in scope, breadth and accuracy compared with conventional inner-city economic analyses. These profiles unearth new and previously overlooked investment and development opportunities in underserved urban areas. DrillDown profiles have consistently found inner-city communities to be larger, safer and with far greater buying power than indicated by standard market information sources.
In the face of the national recession, many of Detroit’s neighborhoods are continuing to show strong market strength for retail and other economic investment. The Social Compact 2009 DrillDown Report shows that while Detroit experienced an overall population loss, many neighborhoods remained stable or had grown slightly since the 2000 U.S. Census report. In anticipating a Census 2010 undercount, this information has allowed Detroit Economic Growth Corporation, Data Driven Detroit and other local partners to take the offensive in describing what are the city’s investment opportunities.
“Data Driven Detroit is pleased to be a partner in this effort, as it truly symbolizes our mission of providing accurate and innovative data products to the community,” said Kurt Metzger, director of Data Driven Detroit. “The DrillDown’s unique methodology allows Detroit neighborhoods to represent themselves through information that is unavailable elsewhere. Furthermore, the willingness of Social Compact to share its methodology with D3 will allow Detroiters to receive DrillDown profiles for any user-defined neighborhood in the city.”
The report’s authors find that some neighborhoods, particularly in greater downtown, have benefited from population growth since 2000 and have continued to grow since the 2007 DrillDown. For instance, Near East Riverfront’s population grew by 11 percent since the Census 2000 and was slightly more than in 2007. Likewise, the 2009 DrillDown estimated the population in Woodbridge to be 8,239, or 13 percent higher than the Census 2000 count.
Household income figures also showed some improvements. The 2009 DrillDown report finds Detroit’s city-wide average household income approximately 37 percent higher than the amount reported in the Census 2000 and 32 percent higher than recent market estimates. This higher income reported by Social Compact can be partially attributed to Detroit’s informal economy, estimated to be over $650 million. These income increases occurred despite an overall decline in citywide population. The report includes detailed business-oriented profiles of market strengths and opportunities in 15 of the City’s 54 master plan neighborhoods.
“The success of many retailers in Detroit belies the findings of conventional market data sources,” said Olga Stella, Vice President of Business Development at DEGC. “The partnership with Social Compact and Data Driven Detroit will help businesses access accurate information about Detroit to help guide their investment decisions.”
The 2009 DrillDown also reports that approximately $1.5 billion or 30 percent of total residential expenditures are spent outside the city. As Social Compact CEO Alyssa Lee noted, “This finding may be the most important finding of the study. This demonstrates a real opportunity to bring additional investment to existing and new retailers. The Detroit DrillDown findings have served as one way to unify the diverse efforts of the city’s leadership to implement sustainable information-led development projects that will re-energize and reinforce the city’s neighborhoods.”
Other key findings from the report include:
- The DrillDown estimates the total population in the City of Detroit at 850,259. That’s 11 percent below the Census 2000 population estimate of 951,200 and 7 percent below the 2009 traditional market estimate of 912,615.
- In total, the DrillDown finds an aggregate household income of $17.4 billion, of which roughly $650 million or 4 percent may be attributed to informal economic activity. The DrillDown aggregate income exceeds Census 2000 and 2009 traditional market estimates by 24 and 27 percent, respectively.
Market Strength
- Average household income in Detroit is estimated at roughly $57,000. That’s approximately 37 percent above the Census 2000 estimate of $42,000 and 32 percent above the 2009 traditional market estimate of $43,000.
- The DrillDown estimates median income in Detroit at roughly $42,000. That’s 36 percent above Census 2000 figures and 27 percent above the 2009 traditional market estimate for the study area.
- Income density in Detroit is calculated at $198,087 per acre, which is 4.2 times that of the greater metro area ($47,255), according to STI: PopStats.
- Sizable average income change is seen among new homeowners (those who purchased in 2008), especially in key neighborhoods such as Downtown Central Business District, where the DrillDown estimates income at $144,290, Indian Village at $117,833, and Midtown at $156,656. Those estimated household incomes are more than twice the average of new homeowners’ citywide, or $54,000.
Market Stability
- The DrillDown estimates 50 percent of residential units in the city are owner-occupied. In the Rosedale master plan neighborhoods, the owner-occupancy rate is as high as 77 percent.
Market Potential
Retail leakage describes the gap between retail expenditures occurring within the neighborhood and the retail spending of residents themselves.
- Detroit residents spend an estimated $4.9 billion on retail services annually. Approximately 30 percent of that, or $1.5 billion, is spent outside of the city.
- The existing 81 full-service grocery retailers currently capture 69 percent of Detroit households’ grocery expenditures. Annual grocery leakage, estimated at $200 million, could potentially support an additional 583,000 square feet of additional grocery retail space.
- Similarly, the DrillDown analysis reveals sizable demand for apparel retailers and restaurants. Apparel leakage, estimated at $321 million, represents roughly 60 percent of all expenditures on apparel retail services. Restaurant leakage, an estimated $162 million, represents roughly 21 percent of residents’ restaurant expenditures.
Social Compact prepared the 2009 Detroit DrillDown, an “analysis of economic indicators of market size, strength and stability for 54 neighborhoods in the City of Detroit”.
The DrillDown study was managed by Detroit Economic Growth Corporation and funded by the generous support of the Community Foundation of Southeast Michigan, the Hudson Webber Foundation, The Kresge Foundation, and the New Economy Initiative of Southeast Michigan. CoreLogic, SAS Institute Inc., and ESRI also contributed data, software and expertise.
D3 can be contacted for customized DrillDown reports, please submit requests through Ask Kurt
Click Here to Download the DrillDown Report.
To explore the data and maps of the DrillDown Data, Click Here.
Click Here for the previously released Detroit DrillDown 2007.
D3 has been working in tandem with Social Compact to develop the Detroit DrillDown. The DrillDown uses unconventional market analyses to describe the size, density and potential of diverse and informal markets down to the block level.
