Detroit Metro Area Communities Study (DMACS) Wave 22, Michigan, 2025 (ICPSR 39692)

Version Date: Feb 26, 2026

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Principal Investigator(s):
Elisabeth Gerber, University of Michigan; Jeffrey Morenoff, University of Michigan; Mara Ostfeld, University of Michigan

Series:

https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR39692.v1

Version V1

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Alternate Title

DMACS

Summary

The Detroit Metro Area Communities Study (DMACS) is a panel survey of Detroit residents aged 18 and older. The original panel of respondents was drawn from an address-based probability sample of all occupied Detroit households in 2016 and has since been refreshed through additional address-based sampling annually. Between August 6, 2025 and October 1, 2025, 3,170 previously enrolled panelists were invited to participate in a self-administered online or interviewer-administered telephone survey.

Topics included: household composition; housing status; perceptions of neighborhood; social connection and loneliness; election; mayoral priorities; crime and safety; violence reduction; artificial intelligence; flood management; mental health; employment.

Citation

Gerber, Elisabeth, Morenoff, Jeffrey, and Ostfeld, Mara. Detroit Metro Area Communities Study (DMACS) Wave 22, Michigan, 2025. Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2026-02-26. https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR39692.v1

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Funding

Ballmer Group, Kresge Foundation, Detroit (Mich.), University of Michigan. Poverty Solutions

Subject Terms

Geographic Coverage

Smallest Geographic Unit

Census Block groups

Restrictions

This data collection may not be used for any purpose other than statistical reporting and analysis. Use of these data to learn the identity of any person or establishment is prohibited. To protect respondent privacy, some of the data files in this collection are restricted from general dissemination. To obtain these restricted files researchers must agree to the terms and conditions of a Restricted Data Use Agreement.

Distributor(s)

Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research
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Time Period(s)

2025-08-06 -- 2025-10-01 (Summer 2025)

Date of Collection

2025-08-06 -- 2025-10-01 (Summer 2025)

Data Collection Notes

  1. For more information on the Detroit Metro Area Communities Study, please visit the DMACS website.
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Study Purpose

The Detroit Metro Area Communities Study (DMACS) is a University of Michigan initiative designed to regularly survey a broad, representative group of Detroit residents about their communities, including their expectations, perceptions, priorities, and aspirations. Since 2016, University of Michigan's Detroit Metro Area Communities Study has used a city-wide survey to help bridge the gap between Detroit officials and residents whose voices may not always be heard in public discussions. Composed of over 2,000 Detroiters, the ongoing DMACS survey provides valuable insights on the perceptions and attitudes of people who live in Detroit.

Study Design

Surveys were self-administered online or were interviewer-administered via telephone. All respondents who completed the survey received a post-paid incentive, mailed from the University of Michigan. The data collection period for this survey was August 6, 2025 to October 1, 2025.

The questionnaire was developed by the DMACS Principal Investigators. The instrument was programmed and tested by DMACS staff members on mobile and desktop devices to detect issues with question language and ensure the accuracy of skip-pattern logic, randomizations, and other programming issues. The questionnaire was programmed in Qualtrics by DMACS staff and translated into Spanish by CETRA Language Solutions. Respondents were able to select between taking the survey in English or Spanish on the first screen of the survey.

Sample

Panelists were first recruited to the DMACS study in 2016 (Wave 1) from a simple random sample of Detroit household addresses. The panel was refreshed in 2018 (Wave 3) using a stratified two-stage cluster sample which oversampled census block groups that were at least 70% Hispanic (according to the 2016 5-year ACS estimates). In 2019 (Wave 6) the panel was refreshed using a stratified two-stage cluster sample which oversampled households from each of Detroit's 10 Strategic Neighborhood Fund (SNF) neighborhoods. In 2020 (Wave 12) the panel was refreshed using an oversample of households in Census block groups that were at least 70% Hispanic (according to the 2018 5-year ACS estimates) as well as an oversample of households that were located within Detroit's SNF neighborhoods. Since 2022, including Wave 15, 17 and 20, the panel was refreshed annually using an oversample of households in Census block groups whose population was at least 50% Hispanic.

There are currently 3,170 active panelists in the DMACS panel. Panelists have the option to complete the survey online or over the phone in either English or Spanish. Panelists are able to unenroll from the panel at any time. If a panelist does not participate in at least one of the surveys from Wave 12 through 21, they may be retired from the panel. There were some incidents where we decided to drop the respondents from the panel, for example, when they were verbally abusive toward our staff or when they attempted to fill out multiple surveys under false identification. To encourage participation from groups with lower response propensity, male panelists either 1) with a high school degree or less or 2) younger than 35 were offered a higher survey incentive of $40, compared to other panelists who were offered an incentive of $25.

Time Method

Longitudinal: Panel

Universe

Adults over the age of 18 who reside in the City of Detroit

Unit(s) of Observation

Individual

Data Type(s)

Mode of Data Collection

Response Rates

A total of 2,158 Detroit residents completed the survey, yielding an overall response rate of 69.2% (using AAPOR Response Rate 1).

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Original Release Date

2026-02-26

Version History

2026-02-26 ICPSR data undergo a confidentiality review and are altered when necessary to limit the risk of disclosure. ICPSR also routinely creates ready-to-go data files along with setups in the major statistical software formats as well as standard codebooks to accompany the data. In addition to these procedures, ICPSR performed the following processing steps for this data collection:

  • Created variable labels and/or value labels.
  • Standardized missing values.
  • Performed recodes and/or calculated derived variables.

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Weight

The DMACS Wave 22 data were weighted to reflect the demographics of the City of Detroit. This data includes a weighting variable, WEIGHTS, which should be used when conducting analysis. For more weighting information, please see the P.I. Panel and Methodology documents.

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Notes