The City of Warren, Michigan is an inner suburb of the Detroit Metro Region, the largest city in Macomb County, and the third-largest city in Michigan.

Warren abuts Sterling Heights to the north, Detroit to the south, Hazel Park and Madison Heights to the west, and Fraser, Roseville, and Eastpointe to the east, while Center Line is completely enclosed by Warren.

Other cities and villages within twenty miles of Warren include Pleasant Ridge, Royal Oak, Ferndale, Hamtramck, Huntington Woods, Oak Park, Berkley, St. Clair Shores, Highland Park, Utica, Lathrup Village, Southfield, Birmingham, Troy, Harper Woods, Grosse Pointe Woods, Grosse Pointe Shores, Beverly Hills, Bloomfield Hills, Bingham Farms, Rochester Hills, Mt. Clemens, Grosse Pointe Farms, Franklin, Grosse Pointe, Grosse Pointe Park, Rochester, and Dearborn.

The chief routes through the city are I-695 (11 Mile Road) and M-53 (Van Dyke Avenue), which intersect at the north border of Center Line. Others include M-97 (Groestack Highway), Mound Road, and M-102 (8 Mile Road), which forms the southern border of the city. 14 Mile Road forms its northern border, Dequindre Road forms its western border, and Hayes Road forms most of its eastern border.

Warren first appeared on a US Census roll in 1900 with a population of 890. By 1970, it had reached its peak population of 179,260. However, its population declined to 134,056 by 2010, although it enjoyed a slight increase in 2020 at 139,387.

European-Americans came to the area in the early 1800s. When the territory now taken up by Warren and Center Line was surveyed by Joseph Wampler in 1817, there were a few squatters residing in the area, as well as some Native Americans, although there were no villages here.

The land was placed on the market, but sales were slow. By the time that Michigan became a state in 1837, a settlement known as Beebe's Corners had developed here. Travelers coming from Detroit came along a toll road, which became a plank road as it passed through a marshy part of the settlement. Early on, Beebe's Corners had a tavern, a distillery, a mill, and a trading post. At some point, the settlement was unofficially known as Cottageville.

Other than the unknown European-American squatters who were in the area prior to that time, the first recorded landowner who actually settled in the area was Charles Groesbeck, who was soon followed by his brother, Louis Groesbeck and a man named Charles Rivard, around 1830.

Louis built a home in what became the northwest corner of what is now 12 Mile Road and Mound Road. In his home, Hickory Township was organized in 1837, renamed Alba Township in 1838, and Warren Township in 1839.

A post office was established on March 19, 1840, with George W. Corey as postmaster. The office was closed on December 20, 1841, but was restored on January 27, 1849, with Mr. Corey continuing as postmaster. Warren was incorporated as a village in 1893.

Completed in 1825, the Erie Canal was a major contributing factor in bringing people to Michigan, particularly those coming from the East. These included immigrants from Belgium, France, Germany, and elsewhere.

Settlement slowed considerably during the 1930s due to the Great Depression, although the Works Progress Administration (WPA) program created by President Franklin Roosevelt helped to ease the situation, providing public jobs and reorganizing closed banks. Built in 1940 under Chrysler, the Detroit Arsenal in Warren helped to establish Warren as an industrial center.

Including the charter township of Warren and the former village of Van Dyke, but without the City of Center Line, Warren was incorporated as a city in 1955.

In 1956, the GM Technical Center was built on a 710-acre campus in Warren that would come to include thirty-eight buildings and house more than twenty-one thousand employees. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2000, and designated a National Historic Landmark in 2014, it remains in operation.

Between 1950 and 1960, the city's population doubled, and it doubled again between 1960 and 1970. Fueled by its industrial base and the post-World War II baby boom, new homes, shopping centers, and supporting businesses were created.

Today, although Warren's population has declined somewhat since 1970, the city's manufacturing and industrial sector remain strong. However, in 2016, Warren ranked #7 on Forbes' Most Miserable Cities to Live in the United States, joining Detroit and Flint in the top ten.

Besides the Detroit Arsenal Tank Plan and the GM Tech Center, there are seven other recognized Michigan historical markets in the city. They include Detroit Memorial Park Cemetery, Warren Union Cemetery, the Warren Truck Assembly, Warren Township District No. 4 School, the Village of Warren, and the former homes of Governor Alexander Joseph Groesbeck and John Theisen.

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