42.58° N 83.15° WINDEPENDENT CITY GUIDE · HU / ENMETRO DETROIT · TROY
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Metro Detroit Oakland County City

Troy

Big Beaver office towers, a mall with a skywalk and a village's worth of 1800s history

People (2025 estimate)
88,733
Land area
33.4 sq mi · 86.6 km²
From downtown
18.2 miles · 29 km · north
Incorporated
1955

Nothing on our calendar here this week yet.

Lrgjr72 · CC BY-SA 4.0

01 / Why it matters

Why Troy matters

Troy is one of Metro Detroit's big business centers, especially for the auto and finance industries. Office buildings line Big Beaver Road, topped by the Top of Troy tower, and the city's total property value is second in Michigan only to Detroit's. A long list of big names work here, from Kelly Services to the Kresge Foundation.

It's a shopping destination too: Somerset Collection, with more than 180 stores, is the region's upscale mall. Its two halves sit on either side of Big Beaver, linked by a 700-foot enclosed skywalk with moving walkways. Kmart's international headquarters was here too, at 3100 W. Big Beaver Road.

The past hasn't vanished either. The first land purchases came in 1819, the township was organized in 1827, and settlers from New York brought the name along. Troy didn't become a city until 1955, partly to keep neighbors from carving off more land. The 11 old buildings of the Troy Historic Village still tell that story.

Where Troy sits on the Metro Detroit map, with its neighbors. ClawsonBirminghamBloomfield HillsRoyal OakRochester HillsMadison HeightsTroy
18.2 miles north of downtown Detroit The three counties Imagery: EOxCloudless 2016, CC BY 4.0 · boundaries: U.S. Census Bureau

02 / Known for

What Troy is known for

  1. Somerset Collection's two halves are joined by a 700-foot enclosed Skywalk over Big Beaver Road, one of the first of its kind in the country.

  2. The second-highest total property value of any city in Michigan, after Detroit.

  3. Kmart's international headquarters stood at 3100 W. Big Beaver Road; the Forbes Company, owner of Somerset Collection, bought the complex in 2012.

  4. Home to the Kresge Foundation and to the headquarters of the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Detroit.

03 / What’s on

What’s on in Troy

All in the event finder ↗
Detroit Was Wild About Harry (Houdini)Oct 22, 2026, 6:00 PM

Detroit Was Wild About Harry (Houdini)

Troy Public Library · Jeremy Dimick, Director of Collections and Curatorial at the Detroit Historical Society, gives a talk on Houdini’s 19 Detroit appearances and final days on Thursday, October 22, at 6 p.m. at Troy Public Library in Troy. It marks the 100th anniversary of his death. Free.

05 / What to do

If you’re in Troy

  • Somerset Collection

    Metro Detroit's upscale mall on Big Beaver Road: Nordstrom, Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus, Macy's and big fashion houses, with a skywalk between the two wings.

    Official site ↗
  • Troy Historic Village

    Eleven historic buildings around a green and gazebo at 60 W. Wattles Road, telling the story of the 1800s settlement and 1900s growth, with blacksmithing and other programs. As of 2026 it was open weekdays 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., with adult admission at $7.

    Official site ↗
  • Stage Nature Center

    A 100-acre nature preserve with about 2 miles of trails, deer, wild turkeys and rescued owls. The trails are free and open dawn to dusk, 365 days a year.

    Official site ↗

06 / History

Troy through the years

  1. 1819

    The first recorded land purchases are made in what becomes Troy Township.

  2. 1827

    Troy Township is organized.

  3. 1955

    What's left of the township incorporates as the city of Troy, largely to stop neighboring cities from taking more land.

  4. 1967

    On April 14, Saks Fifth Avenue opens a stand-alone store on Big Beaver Road, the seed of what becomes Somerset.

  5. 1996

    On August 11, Somerset's three-story expansion across Big Beaver, today's north wing, opens.

  6. 2005

    Kmart acquires Sears, and headquarters later moves to Hoffman Estates, Illinois.

07 / Born here

1 people in our lexicon were born here

08 / People

Famous names from here

  • Sutton Foster Two-time Tony-winning Broadway actress and singer who grew up in Troy.
  • Tomo Miličević Thirty Seconds to Mars guitarist, born in Sarajevo, who moved to Troy in the early 1980s and got his start in the local metal scene.

Sources

Population and area are Census Bureau figures (Troy city).

Change since 2020, per the Census Bureau estimate: +1.6 percent.

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