Detroit Metro Area Communities Study

Core faculty

Jeffrey D. Morenoff

Associate Dean for Research and Policy Engagement, Professor of Public Policy and Sociology

Morenoff's research interests include neighborhood environments, inequality, crime and criminal justice, the social determinants of health, racial/ethnic/immigrant disparities in health and antisocial behavior, and methods for analyzing multilevel and spatial data.

Staff

Yucheng Fan

Data Manager, Detroit Metro Area Communities Study (DMACS)

Staff

Sharon Sand

Project Lead, DMACS

Sharon Sand manages the Detroit Metro Area Communities Study (DMACS), an initiative designed to regularly survey a broad, representative group of Detroit residents about their communities, including their experiences, perceptions, priorities, and…

In the Media

Ostfeld highlights attitudes in cities with high-immigrant populations

Oct 14, 2024 Michigan Public

Speaking with Michigan Public, the Ford School's Mara Ostfeld discusses results from her recent research on public opinion in Michigan on immigration policy. Ostfeld stated, “U.S.-born residents living in cities with a higher proportion of...

News

Survey shows Detroiters’ top priorities for city officials going into election

Sep 30, 2024

Crime and safety tops the list of priority issues that Detroit residents want to see city officials address going into the November 2024 election, according to a survey conducted by the University of Michigan in partnership with Outlier...

Word cloud with issues most important to Detroiters

Publication

Lack of trust in political system main reason some Detroiters won't vote

Jul 31, 2024

Distrust in the political system is the most commonly cited reason that eligible voters in Detroit say they don't plan to vote in November, according to a University of Michigan survey.The survey, fielded by U-M's Detroit Metro Area Communities...

American Flags and Pins on White Background

Publication

Detroiters’ perceptions of their neighborhoods shifted after Strategic Neighborhood Fund investments

Jul 22, 2024

A study drawing on survey data from the past five years shows that while neighborhood satisfaction fell across Detroit as the pandemic unfolded, neighborhoods that had received targeted infrastructure improvements proved more resilient.The survey...

News

Detroit residents' trust in police shaped by history of police contact

Mar 5, 2024

Detroit residents who have had any type of contact with police are more critical of police than people who have no contact with police, according to a survey of Detroit residents from the University of Michigan.U-M’s Detroit Metro Area Communities...

State & Hill

Snapshot: Associate Dean Jeffrey Morenoff

Dec 12, 2023

Sociologist Jeffrey Morenoff, associate dean for research and policy engagement Focus: neighborhood environments, crime and criminal justice, the social determinants of health, racial/ethnic/immigrant inequality, and methods for analyzing...

News

Detroit's 16% unemployment rate driven by labor force rebounders - DMACS study

Jun 30, 2023

Sixteen percent of Detroit residents in the labor force were unemployed as of March 2023, according to the latest survey from the University of Michigan's Detroit Metro Area Communities Study. The latest unemployment estimate essentially holds...

News

Staff honored by their Ford School peers for selflessness, integrity, and jubilance

Jun 29, 2023

Congratulations to the three recipients of the 2023 Staff Recognition Awards! Amy Flanagan from Student & Academic Services, DMACS Project Lead Sharon Sand, and Kirby Jewell from the Business and Grants Office received their accolades at the annual...

News

DMACS to study impact of Strategic Neighborhood Fund in Detroit

Jun 12, 2023

The University of Michigan’s Detroit Metro Area Communities Study (DMACS) was recently contracted by Invest Detroit, a nonprofit Community Development Financial Institution, to look at the relationship between community investment and overall trends...

Photo of homes in Detroit's Chaldean Town neighborhood

News

U-M report on Detroiters’ opinions of reparations gains traction in media

Apr 18, 2023

The Center for Racial Justice, the Detroit Metro Area Communities Study, and Poverty Solutions released a new report detailing Detroiters’ opinions on reparations and racial inequity in March 2023. Since its release, multiple news outlets picked up...

News

Detroiters' views on reparations connected to perception of racial wealth gap, other inequality

Mar 29, 2023

Detroiters' perceptions of the racial wealth gap, the legacy of slavery and other forms of racial inequity are strongly connected to their support for reparations and policies that address racial inequity. Overall, 63% of Detroit residents...

Detroiters Reparations Racial Inequality March 2023 policy brief image

Publication

75% of unemployed Detroiters expect to return to work soon as unemployment rate drops

Dec 11, 2022

As more Detroiters return to work amid the pandemic recovery, the greatest declines in unemployment have been for residents of color and people with low incomes—although those groups continue to experience higher-than-average unemployment...

News

Ostfeld appointed research director of the Center for Racial Justice

Dec 5, 2022

Political scientist Dr. Mara Celicia Ostfeld has been named the inaugural research director of the Center for Racial Justice (CRJ) at the University of Michigan’s Ford School of Public Policy. In this role, Ostfeld will lead the development of the...

Mara Ostfeld speaking at a Poverty Solutions event.

News

Detroiters say quality K-12 schools is top policy priority for November elections

Nov 3, 2022

Detroit residents say the quality of K-12 schools is their top priority for the November elections, followed closely by inflation, affordable housing, affordable health care, and crime. That's according to a new representative survey of...

News

Candidate support for reparations would mobilize Detroit voters

Nov 2, 2022

While most Detroiters intend to vote in the November midterm election, those who are uncertain about voting or unlikely to vote could be motivated to cast a ballot by a candidate's support for reparations, according to a new survey from the...

In the Media

Branche-Wilson breaks down DMACS findings about financial health

Sep 12, 2022 Michigan Radio

A Detroit Metro Area Communities Study found that many Detroiters would struggle if faced with a $400 emergency. Afton Branche-Wilson, assistant director of community initiatives at Poverty Solutions, helped Michigan Radio summarize the...

In the Media

DMACS: Detroiters' financial recovery from COVID mixed

May 29, 2022 Axios Detroit

The economic recovery form the COVID-19 recession has been mixed for residents of Detroit, Axios reports, based on a recent Detroit Metro Area Communities Study survey. Axios quoted Lydia Wileden, a research associate who co-wrote the report, who...

News

Majority of Detroiters report stable, improved financial situation compared to year ago

May 16, 2022

Two years into the pandemic, 72% of Detroit residents say their financial situation has stabilized or improved compared to a year ago, and there's evidence that stimulus checks and the expanded Child Tax Credit played a role in reducing Detroiters'...

Publication

Most Detroiters vaccinated in second half of 2021 were previously unsure about COVID-19 vaccines

Apr 6, 2022

DETROIT—Nearly a third of a random sample of Detroit adults who had not received any COVID-19 vaccinations in June 2021 obtained their first dose in the second half of last year, according to a new University of Michigan survey. Most of these...

News

Morneoff: Mix of factors contributed to census undercount in Detroit

Apr 6, 2022

Detroit is the largest American city to officially challenge its 2020 Census count. One of its pieces of evidence is a survey done by the Detroit Metroopolitan Ares Communities Study supporting its claims that the city’s population was...

News

Detroit parents less likely to vaccinate themselves than non-parents, leads to low youth vaccination rates

Mar 9, 2022

Just under half (49%) of Detroit parents and guardians of children under 18 reported at the end of 2021 that they had been vaccinated against COVID-19, compared to 75% of adults who do not live with children. These relatively low vaccination...

A nurse administers the COVID-19 vaccine to a teacher in Iowa (Credit: Phil Roeder / CC BY)

In the Media

Wileden discusses Detroit's unchanged unemployment rate

Feb 4, 2022 WXYZ Detroit

In a recent interview with WXYZ, Lydia Wileden, PhD candidate and research associate on the Detroit Metro Area Communities Study, answered questions about Detroit's unemployment rate, which has stayed at 20% over the last year. "We do see that a...

News

Detroit unemployment rate sits at 20%

Feb 3, 2022

Detroit’s unemployment rate—the proportion of adults who are in the labor force but not currently employed—remains at 20%, virtually unchanged over the course of 2021, according to a new University of Michigan survey. This is less than half the...

State & Hill

Of mutual benefit: Academic-community partnerships for better public policy

Dec 13, 2021

By Rebecca Cohen (MPP '09) An essential ingredient to developing good policy is understanding what people want and need, and how they experience their lives," says Elisabeth Gerber, Jack L. Walker, Jr. Collegiate Professor of Public Policy and...

Photo of Poverty Solutions team members and Detroit community members for a land contracts session at a local park

Publication

Detroiters living in 'substandard conditions,' DMACS study finds

Oct 27, 2021

Almost 40,000 Detroiters live in housing with ongoing and often hazardous maintenance issues, according to a new Detroit Metropolitan Area Community Study issue brief. "Unsurprisingly, the rate of residents living in inadequate or poor-quality...

Publication

Latino Michiganders: Key findings from U-M Poverty Solutions

Oct 15, 2021

ANN ARBOR—As National Hispanic Heritage Month, which celebrates the culture and contributions of Latinos in the U.S., comes to a close, Poverty Solutions at the University of Michigan highlights key data from its research that relates to Latinos...

In the Media

Concerns over vaccine side effects driving hesitancy in Detroit, says Morenoff

Sep 15, 2021 Detroit Free Press

As the school year gets started, many are saying high vaccination rates are key to keeping schools in person. Jeffrey Morenoff, professor of public policy and sociology and director of the Population Studies Center, explained what may be affecting...