Troy, Michigan

Overview

Troy is a city in Oakland County, Michigan, about 25 miles north of downtown Detroit, that grew from a farming township of 13,673 people at its incorporation as a home-rule city in June 1955 into the county’s largest city, with 87,294 residents counted in the 2020 census and an estimated 88,733 by July 2025 (City of Troy, U.S. Census Bureau, JCK). It is a business city as much as a residential one: the city counts about 6,000 businesses employing 125,000 people within its 33.45 square miles, and names Altair Engineering among the corporate and divisional headquarters in town, alongside the Somerset Collection, Michigan’s premier upscale shopping destination ([City of Troy](https://cms6.revize.com/revize/citytroymi/Departments/Economic Development/Growing Your Business in Troy/Troy is a Great Place To Start Grow Your Business.pdf)). The census portrait behind that economy is unusually diverse and educated for Michigan: 27.8 percent of residents are Asian alone, 30.9 percent are foreign-born, 34.4 percent speak a language other than English at home, and 64.8 percent of adults hold a bachelor’s degree or higher (U.S. Census Bureau).

From Troy Corners to a home-rule city

Troy grew up from the first land grants made by President Monroe in 1819, between Long Lake and Big Beaver Roads and between Adams and Coolidge Highway (City of Troy). One of the first settlers, Johnson Niles — described by the city as Troy’s founding father — purchased 160 acres in 1821 on the southwest corner of Square Lake and Livernois, built a log cabin and established a trading post that was the beginning of Troy Corners (City of Troy). Other settlers soon followed the Niles family into the area: Guy Phelps opened a shoemaker’s shop, John Miller established a blacksmith shop, and in 1831 Edward Peck began a general store (City of Troy). From 1840 until 1900 the township added homes, stores, schools, churches, a mill, a wagon shop and a tavern-hotel, and by 1872 it counted 1,549 people living in 331 dwellings (City of Troy).

The decisive break came after the Second World War. In 1946, official zoning classified all 21,636 township acres as residential, industrial, agricultural, roads or streets, or vacant (City of Troy). Thanks to Norman Barnard, Troy’s last township supervisor, Troy became a home-rule city in June 1955, and Frank Costello was elected its first mayor, of a city then numbering 13,673 people (City of Troy). The city then became one of the fastest-growing in the state, entering a period of dramatic growth in which corporate headquarters, shopping malls and subdivisions replaced farms and open fields (City of Troy). The civic furniture of that growth followed quickly: City Hall on Big Beaver Road was dedicated on 12 November 1966, the Troy Public Library went into operation in 1971, and the old Township Hall — built in 1952, used as City Hall from 1955 — became the home of the Troy Museum in 1976 (City of Troy).

Measure	Figure	Source
Population, 2020 census	87,294 (up from 80,980 in 2010)	U.S. Census Bureau
Population estimate, 1 July 2025	88,733	U.S. Census Bureau
Land area	33.45 square miles	U.S. Census Bureau
Median household income, 2020–2024	$120,045	U.S. Census Bureau
Retail sales, 2022	$4.17 billion ($47,709 per capita)	U.S. Census Bureau

The stat that best captures Troy’s transformation is the income figure paired with its retail sales: a median household income of $120,045 and 2022 retail sales of $4.17 billion, or $47,709 per capita, describe a city whose residents both earn well and spend heavily close to home (U.S. Census Bureau). The implication for the city’s business model is direct: Troy’s pitch to headquarters and retailers rests on a large, affluent, educated local market, not only on highway access ([City of Troy](https://cms6.revize.com/revize/citytroymi/Departments/Economic Development/Growing Your Business in Troy/Troy is a Great Place To Start Grow Your Business.pdf)).

An edge city of headquarters and one great mall

Troy’s business prospectus calls it the largest city in Oakland County and the second-largest city in Michigan by total property value, with quick highway access to I-75, I-696 and M-59 and a location about 20 minutes from Detroit ([City of Troy](https://cms6.revize.com/revize/citytroymi/Departments/Economic Development/Growing Your Business in Troy/Troy is a Great Place To Start Grow Your Business.pdf)). It counts 7 million square feet of retail space, 18 million square feet of office and engineering space, and 14 million square feet of manufacturing space, and says its 6,000 businesses employ 125,000 people ([City of Troy](https://cms6.revize.com/revize/citytroymi/Departments/Economic Development/Growing Your Business in Troy/Troy is a Great Place To Start Grow Your Business.pdf)). The headquarters it names include Flagstar Bank, Kelly Services, Bank of America, PNC Bank, Altair Engineering, Kostal North America, Behr America, Magna International and AxelTech ([City of Troy](https://cms6.revize.com/revize/citytroymi/Departments/Economic Development/Growing Your Business in Troy/Troy is a Great Place To Start Grow Your Business.pdf)).

The city’s retail anchor is the Somerset Collection at 2800 West Big Beaver Road, a luxury supercenter in a suburb about 25 miles north of downtown Detroit (JCK). Somerset Mall opened in 1969 as a single-store outdoor mall built onto an existing Saks store; in the early 1990s it rebranded as Somerset Collection, added a second story and underwent a high-end renovation, and a $200 million three-story expansion across the street added 940,000 square feet (JCK). Today it spans 1.4 million square feet across two buildings connected by a 700-foot glass-enclosed moving skywalk, with more than 180 stores and restaurants, including Michigan’s only Neiman Marcus, its only full-priced Saks Fifth Avenue, and the largest Nordstrom in the state (JCK). The city prospectus gives the same scale in slightly different terms — 1.44 million square feet and over 180 stores and restaurants including Saks Fifth Avenue, Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus and Macy’s — and calls it Michigan’s premier upscale shopping destination ([City of Troy](https://cms6.revize.com/revize/citytroymi/Departments/Economic Development/Growing Your Business in Troy/Troy is a Great Place To Start Grow Your Business.pdf)). On quality of life, the prospectus cites Livability naming Troy the 10th best place to live in the United States and number one in Michigan in 2023, and Niche ranking it among Michigan’s top suburbs — rankings reported here as the city’s attributed claims, not as independently verified facts ([City of Troy](https://cms6.revize.com/revize/citytroymi/Departments/Economic Development/Growing Your Business in Troy/Troy is a Great Place To Start Grow Your Business.pdf)).

What this profile does not claim

• It does not assert that Troy was named after Troy, New York; that etymology was not in any fully-read source used here, and the profile disambiguates by county and state only.
• It does not use the city prospectus population figure of 87,326; Census figures (87,294 in 2020; 88,733 estimated in July 2025) are used instead, and the difference is flagged above.
• It does not repeat older prospectus percentages for education and diversity where Census 2020–2024 figures supersede them.
• It does not assert Altair Engineering’s current headquarters status after Siemens’ 2025 acquisition of Altair, which was not verified for this profile.
• It does not present Livability or Niche rankings as independently verified facts; they are the city’s attributed promotional claims.
• It does not claim anything about Troy, New York, the ancient city of Troy, or any other place named Troy.