City of Detroit Bankruptcy and Interesting Facts

Once a city with 1.8 million people and highest per capita income in whole of United States, City of Detroit, in the state of Michigan, is now in a mess and has filed for Chapter 9 bankruptcy. 

The city is now having highest crime rate,  poverty and illiteracy. Below are some key interesting facts of once thriving city now in doldrums. Crime has gotten so bad in the city that even the police are telling people to “enter Detroit at your own risk“.

• In 1960, the city of Detroit had the highest per-capita income in whole of United States.

• In 1950, there were about 296,000 manufacturing jobs in Detroit while today it's less than 27,000.

• Detroit was once the fourth-largest city in the United States, but over the past 60 years the population of Detroit has fallen by 63 percent.

• As of July 2013, the city of Detroit owes money to more than 100,000 creditors.

• Detroit is facing $20 billion in debt and unfunded liabilities.  That breaks down to more than $25,000 per resident.

• Between December 2000 and December 2010, 48 percent of the manufacturing jobs in the state of Michigan were lost.

• At this point, there are approximately 78,000 abandoned homes in the city.

• There are lots of houses available for sale in Detroit right now for $500 or less.

• About one-third of Detroit’s 140 square miles is either vacant or derelict.

• An astounding 47 percent of the residents of the city of Detroit are functionally illiterate.

• Less than half of the residents of Detroit over the age of 16 are working at this point.

• It is estimated that 60 percent of all children in the city of Detroit are living in poverty.

• The city of Detroit is now very heavily dependent on the tax revenue it pulls in from the casinos in the city.  Right now, Detroit is bringing in about 11 million dollars a month in tax revenue from the casinos.

• 40 percent of the street lights do not work.

• Only about a third of the ambulances are running. Some ambulances in the city of Detroit have been used for so long that they have more than 250,000 miles on them.

• Two-thirds of the parks in the city of Detroit have been permanently closed down since 2008.

• The size of the police force in Detroit has been cut by about 40 percent over the past decade.

• When you call the police in Detroit, it takes them an average of 58 minutes to respond.

• Due to budget cutbacks, most police stations in Detroit are now closed to the public for 16 hours a day.

• The violent crime rate in Detroit is five times higher than the national average.

• The murder rate in Detroit is 11 times higher than it is in New York City.

• Today, police solve less than 10 percent of the crimes that are committed in Detroit.