Detroit, MI Home Business: Home Daycare (2026)

Detroit treats small in-home childcare as a matter-of-right land use, not a special exception. Under Sec. 50-8-15 and Sec. 50-8-45 of the City Code, a 'family day care home' is a by-right public, civic, and institutional use in every single-family and two-family residential district, R1 through R6, alongside the houses themselves. A larger 'group day care home' is a different, more intensive use category: it drops to a conditional use in those same districts, per Sec. 50-8-21, requiring City Planning Commission review before the provider can open. Either way, the operator still needs the underlying state day care license.