Cities in Michigan by unemployed people

Detroit, MI had the highest unemployed people of 50 cities in 2015, at 28,616. Walker, MI had the lowest, at 452. The median was 1,230. Source: the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

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Highest28,616Detroit, MI
Lowest452Walker, MI
Median1,23050 cities

All cities, 2015

Detroit, MI: 28,616 personsDetroit, MI28,616Grand Rapids, MI: 5,034 personsGrand Rapids, MI5,034Warren, MI: 4,283 personsWarren, MI4,283Lansing, MI: 3,820 personsLansing, MI3,820Flint, MI: 3,749 personsFlint, MI3,749Sterling Heights, MI: 3,550 personsSterling Heights, MI3,550Pontiac, MI: 2,707 personsPontiac, MI2,707Southfield, MI: 2,286 personsSouthfield, MI2,286Westland, MI: 2,042 personsWestland, MI2,042Kalamazoo, MI: 1,992 personsKalamazoo, MI1,992Saginaw, MI: 1,945 personsSaginaw, MI1,945Taylor, MI: 1,922 personsTaylor, MI1,922Ann Arbor, MI: 1,907 personsAnn Arbor, MI1,907Wyoming, MI: 1,781 personsWyoming, MI1,781Dearborn, MI: 1,692 personsDearborn, MI1,692St. Clair Shores, MI: 1,691 personsSt. Clair Shores, MI1,691Roseville, MI: 1,672 personsRoseville, MI1,672Troy, MI: 1,620 personsTroy, MI1,620Livonia, MI: 1,542 personsLivonia, MI1,542Rochester Hills, MI: 1,476 personsRochester Hills, MI1,476Battle Creek, MI: 1,412 personsBattle Creek, MI1,412Muskegon, MI: 1,393 personsMuskegon, MI1,393Farmington Hills, MI: 1,296 personsFarmington Hills, MI1,296Eastpointe, MI: 1,259 personsEastpointe, MI1,259Dearborn Heights, MI: 1,236 personsDearborn Heights, MI1,236Bay City, MI: 1,223 personsBay City, MI1,223Jackson, MI: 1,221 personsJackson, MI1,221Port Huron, MI: 1,163 personsPort Huron, MI1,163Oak Park, MI: 1,100 personsOak Park, MI1,100Royal Oak, MI: 1,069 personsRoyal Oak, MI1,069Kentwood, MI: 1,044 personsKentwood, MI1,044Madison Heights, MI: 1,017 personsMadison Heights, MI1,017Novi, MI: 990 personsNovi, MI990Portage, MI: 979 personsPortage, MI979Lincoln Park, MI: 888 personsLincoln Park, MI888Inkster, MI: 887 personsInkster, MI887Midland, MI: 837 personsMidland, MI837Burton, MI: 818 personsBurton, MI818East Lansing, MI: 773 personsEast Lansing, MI773Holland, MI: 719 personsHolland, MI719Romulus, MI: 684 personsRomulus, MI684Garden City, MI: 672 personsGarden City, MI672Mount Pleasant, MI: 635 personsMount Pleasant, MI635Ferndale, MI: 631 personsFerndale, MI631Southgate, MI: 620 personsSouthgate, MI620Allen Park, MI: 616 personsAllen Park, MI616Hamtramck, MI: 616 personsHamtramck, MI616Wyandotte, MI: 612 personsWyandotte, MI612Norton Shores, MI: 525 personsNorton Shores, MI525Walker, MI: 452 personsWalker, MI452Detroit, MI: 28,616 personsDetroit, MI28,616Grand Rapids, MI: 5,034 personsGrand Rapids, MI5,034Warren, MI: 4,283 personsWarren, MI4,283Lansing, MI: 3,820 personsLansing, MI3,820Flint, MI: 3,749 personsFlint, MI3,749Sterling Heights, MI: 3,550 personsSterling Heights, MI3,550Pontiac, MI: 2,707 personsPontiac, MI2,707Southfield, MI: 2,286 personsSouthfield, MI2,286Westland, MI: 2,042 personsWestland, MI2,042Kalamazoo, MI: 1,992 personsKalamazoo, MI1,992Saginaw, MI: 1,945 personsSaginaw, MI1,945Taylor, MI: 1,922 personsTaylor, MI1,922Ann Arbor, MI: 1,907 personsAnn Arbor, MI1,907Wyoming, MI: 1,781 personsWyoming, MI1,781Dearborn, MI: 1,692 personsDearborn, MI1,692St. Clair Shores, MI: 1,691 personsSt. Clair Shores, MI1,691Roseville, MI: 1,672 personsRoseville, MI1,672Troy, MI: 1,620 personsTroy, MI1,620Livonia, MI: 1,542 personsLivonia, MI1,542Rochester Hills, MI: 1,476 personsRochester Hills, MI1,476Battle Creek, MI: 1,412 personsBattle Creek, MI1,412Muskegon, MI: 1,393 personsMuskegon, MI1,393Farmington Hills, MI: 1,296 personsFarmington Hills, MI1,296Eastpointe, MI: 1,259 personsEastpointe, MI1,259Dearborn Heights, MI: 1,236 personsDearborn Heights, MI1,236Bay City, MI: 1,223 personsBay City, MI1,223Jackson, MI: 1,221 personsJackson, MI1,221Port Huron, MI: 1,163 personsPort Huron, MI1,163Oak Park, MI: 1,100 personsOak Park, MI1,100Royal Oak, MI: 1,069 personsRoyal Oak, MI1,069Kentwood, MI: 1,044 personsKentwood, MI1,044Madison Heights, MI: 1,017 personsMadison Heights, MI1,017Novi, MI: 990 personsNovi, MI990Portage, MI: 979 personsPortage, MI979Lincoln Park, MI: 888 personsLincoln Park, MI888Inkster, MI: 887 personsInkster, MI887Midland, MI: 837 personsMidland, MI837Burton, MI: 818 personsBurton, MI818East Lansing, MI: 773 personsEast Lansing, MI773Holland, MI: 719 personsHolland, MI719Romulus, MI: 684 personsRomulus, MI684Garden City, MI: 672 personsGarden City, MI672Mount Pleasant, MI: 635 personsMount Pleasant, MI635Ferndale, MI: 631 personsFerndale, MI631Southgate, MI: 620 personsSouthgate, MI620Allen Park, MI: 616 personsAllen Park, MI616Hamtramck, MI: 616 personsHamtramck, MI616Wyandotte, MI: 612 personsWyandotte, MI612Norton Shores, MI: 525 personsNorton Shores, MI525Walker, MI: 452 personsWalker, MI452
persons. Source: BLS, Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: unemployment (measure 04), annual average. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

RankCities2015
persons
Change on 2014
1Detroit, MI28,616-28.8%
2Grand Rapids, MI5,034-22.5%
3Warren, MI4,283-27.1%
4Lansing, MI3,820-24.1%
5Flint, MI3,749-23.5%
6Sterling Heights, MI3,550-27%
7Pontiac, MI2,707-26.7%
8Southfield, MI2,286-26.6%
9Westland, MI2,042-28.7%
10Kalamazoo, MI1,992-21.9%
11Saginaw, MI1,945-24.2%
12Taylor, MI1,922-28.5%
13Ann Arbor, MI1,907-23.8%
14Wyoming, MI1,781-22.6%
15Dearborn, MI1,692-28.8%
16St. Clair Shores, MI1,691-27.3%
17Roseville, MI1,672-27.1%
18Troy, MI1,620-26.7%
19Livonia, MI1,542-28.7%
20Rochester Hills, MI1,476-26.5%
21Battle Creek, MI1,412-19.2%
22Muskegon, MI1,393-24%
23Farmington Hills, MI1,296-26.9%
24Eastpointe, MI1,259-27.2%
25Dearborn Heights, MI1,236-28.8%
26Bay City, MI1,223-21.1%
27Jackson, MI1,221-20.3%
28Port Huron, MI1,163-28.9%
29Oak Park, MI1,100-27%
30Royal Oak, MI1,069-26.8%
31Kentwood, MI1,044-22.2%
32Madison Heights, MI1,017-26.9%
33Novi, MI990-26.4%
34Portage, MI979-21.4%
35Lincoln Park, MI888-29%
36Inkster, MI887-28.8%
37Midland, MI837-19.8%
38Burton, MI818-23.5%
39East Lansing, MI773-24.5%
40Holland, MI719-22.9%
41Romulus, MI684-28.7%
42Garden City, MI672-28.8%
43Mount Pleasant, MI635-18.8%
44Ferndale, MI631-27.1%
45Southgate, MI620-28.7%
46Allen Park, MI616-28.9%
46Hamtramck, MI616-28.8%
48Wyandotte, MI612-28.4%
49Norton Shores, MI525-23.6%
50Walker, MI452-22.5%

Other periods

About this ranking

Residents with no job who were available for work and had looked for work in the previous four weeks, or were waiting to be recalled from a layoff, annual average.

More on how it is measured
  • People aged 16 and over by place of residence, from the Local Area Unemployment Statistics (LAUS) program of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
  • Active-duty military personnel and people living in institutions are excluded.

United States cities only for now. The survey definition, not a count of benefit claimants. BLS estimates cities by splitting county estimates with Census Bureau employment and population data and unemployment insurance claims, so city figures are less precise than state ones. BLS publishes cities of 25,000 or more, and smaller cities in New England.

Every value in the ranking comes from the same publisher and the same period, so the cities are compared on one definition. 1 cities with data in other periods have no value for 2015 and are left out rather than filled from another source. Equal values share a rank.

How to cite

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: unemployment (measure 04), annual average. https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU15-19. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Citation styles

The publisher is the author. Invokely is named only as the place the figures were read, where a style asks for it.

APA 7

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2026). Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: unemployment (measure 04), annual average (Cities in Michigan by unemployed people, 2015) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU15-19

MLA 9

Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: unemployment (measure 04), annual average, Cities in Michigan by unemployed people, 2015. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 30 Sept. 2026, https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU15-19. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/unemployed-people/michigan-cities?period=2015. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. 2026. Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: unemployment (measure 04), annual average. Cities in Michigan by unemployed people, 2015. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU15-19. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/unemployed-people/michigan-cities?period=2015.

Harvard

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2026) Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: unemployment (measure 04), annual average, Cities in Michigan by unemployed people, 2015 [Dataset]. Available at: https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU15-19, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/unemployed-people/michigan-cities?period=2015 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{bureau_cities_in_michigan_by_2015,
  author = {{U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics}},
  title = {{Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: unemployment (measure 04), annual average: Cities in Michigan by unemployed people, 2015}},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU15-19},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/unemployed-people/michigan-cities?period=2015. Publisher attribution: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: unemployment (measure 04), annual average. https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU15-19. Retrieved 2026-10-12.},
}
RIS
TY  - DATA
AU  - U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
TI  - Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: unemployment (measure 04), annual average: Cities in Michigan by unemployed people, 2015
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/09/30
PB  - U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU15-19
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/unemployed-people/michigan-cities?period=2015
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/unemployed-people/michigan-cities?period=2015.
N1  - Publisher attribution: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: unemployment (measure 04), annual average. https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU15-19. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  - 
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Rank Cities in Michigan by unemployed people using official data, and cite the source.
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Questions

Which city has the highest unemployed people?

Detroit, MI, with 28,616 in 2015, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Which city has the lowest unemployed people?

Walker, MI, with 452 in 2015.

Where does this ranking come from?

Every value comes from one source and one period, so the places are comparable: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: unemployment (measure 04), annual average. Retrieved 2026-10-12. 1 cities have no value for 2015 and are not ranked.

Unemployed people: other rankings

Cities in Michigan: more rankings