I am selling a German bread product, and would like to know how many
"first-generation", or "visa-holding" Germans are currently living in
the Detroit area of Michigan. I don't want to know about
"decendents"(second, and third generation) of Germans. I need to know
how many came here straight from Germany. This is a tough one.

According to the most recent census, 1,646 people in Detroit proper
list German as their native tongue. This would be your "first
generation" number.
What do you define as "Detroit-Area"?

You can pull up the specific data by zip code here:
http://www.mla.org/cgi-shl/docstudio/docs.pl?census_data_results


A map representing the zip codes of native speakers of German is available here:
http://www.mla.org/census_map&state_index=23&state_id=26&lang_index=8&source=zip

You might concentrate in Oakland and Macomb counties.

In order to tabulate the exact number, you need to define "Detroit Area"

All in all, there are 53,366 native speakers of German in the state
and in the three surrounding counties there are at least 15,000.

In Wayne County, for example, there are 6,512. 

You can pull up the data using the links provided from the Modern
Language Association.


This is going to be your best source of data without having a friend
at INS. Also, being able to search by county / ZIP code will provide
you with demographic data needed for a business.

-V