Detroiters who view the city as headed in the right direction are more likely to vote in the Nov. 4 election than those who think the city is on the wrong track, according to a survey from the University of Michigan’s Detroit Metro Area Communities Study.

Overall, 56% of Detroiters believe the city is generally headed in the right direction, compared to 13% who said the city is generally on the wrong track, and 31% who are not sure about the city’s direction. The survey was fielded Aug. 6 through Oct. 1, and results are weighted to represent the demographics of city residents as a whole.

Among Detroiters with a positive view of the city’s direction, 70% said they will definitely vote in the upcoming election, which will be the first time in more than a decade that Detroiters will elect a new mayor. Only 41% of those who believe the city is on the wrong track and 52% of those who are not sure about the city’s direction said they will definitely vote in the November election

“We asked Detroiters about their priorities for the new city administration, in addition to assessing their general sentiments about the city’s direction and their intentions to vote. We see notable differences by age, race and city council district, which underscore the importance of capturing the diversity of Detroiters’ views through this survey,” said Jeffrey Morenoff, professor of sociology in LSA, professor of public policy in the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy and one of the faculty leads for DMACS. 

Morenoff, who is also a research professor in the Population Studies Center and Survey Research Center, co-authored a new issue brief that analyzes the survey results. This adds on to a previous brief published in September that examined the top challenges facing Detroit households and how they hope city officials will respond 

In total, 61% of Detroiters said they definitely will vote in the Nov. 4 election, while 25% reported they probably will vote, and 14% said they either probably or definitely will not vote. These voting intentions closely mirror those reported in a DMACS survey conducted last year, when roughly 6 in 10 Detroiters said they would “definitely” vote in the 2024 presidential election. 

Older Detroiters expressed much more certainty about voting in the upcoming election than younger voters, with 82% of Detroiters age 65 and over reporting that they definitely will vote compared to only 39% of Detroiters under age 35. 

More educated and higher-income Detroiters also are more likely to vote. There is not a significant difference between the percentage of Black Detroiters (65%) and white Detroiters (64%) who said they will definitely vote in November, but Latino Detroiters expressed far less certainty about voting, with only 27% indicating they will definitely vote. 

“The survey offers powerful insights into some of the hopes and concerns shaping this historic election. We’re seeing variation in who feels motivated to vote,” said Yucheng Fan, data manager at DMACS and co-author of the issue brief. 

Optimism about the city’s direction varied across groups. The survey found men (65%) were more likely than women (48%) to say Detroit is generally headed in the right direction. White residents (70%) were more likely than Black (54%) or Latino residents (53%) to say the city is headed in the right direction. Older and higher-income Detroiters also were more optimistic about the city’s trajectory. 

In terms of what Detroiters want the new mayor to address, the following issues ranked as high priorities: 

• Quality of K-12 schools (81% of Detroiters said this is a high priority issue).
• Crime and safety (80%).
• Affordable housing (77%).
• Access to high quality jobs (75%).
• Road condition and infrastructure (65%).
• Businesses and investments (64%).
• Public transportation (61%).
• Size of Detroit’s population (34%).