Best Elementary Schools in Zip Code 48085

Zip code 48085 in Troy, MI is home to five highly-rated elementary schools within the Troy School District, serving grades PK or K through 5 with enrollments between 363 and 413 students.

This is an exceptional cluster of schools, with four of the five earning 5-star ratings and all dramatically outperforming Michigan state averages—often by 30-40 percentage points. Costello Elementary School is the current standout, ranked 42nd in the state (97th percentile) and showing consistent improvement over three years. It excels particularly in math and science, with 5th grade science proficiency at 74%—nearly double the state average. Wass Elementary School and Leonard Elementary School are also strong 5-star performers, ranked 86th and 85th respectively, with Leonard showing particular strength in 5th grade English Language Arts at 76.9% proficiency. Hill Elementary School holds a solid 4-star rating but shows a dramatic grade-level drop-off from 3rd to 4th grade in ELA (71.7% down to 47.8%). Troy Union Elementary School is the lowest-performing school in the group at 377th statewide, with 5th grade math proficiency (36.8%) barely above the state average.

Several interesting patterns emerge from the data. Troy Union has the highest chronic absenteeism rate (15.2%) and highest free/reduced lunch rate (22.8%) in the group, which likely contributes to its lower performance despite spending more per student ($17,584) than Costello ($15,647) or Wass ($15,185). In fact, the two highest-performing schools have the lowest per-student spending, while the two lowest-performing schools spend the most—suggesting efficiency and student demographics matter more than raw expenditure. Chronic absenteeism correlates strongly with outcomes across all schools. These schools serve predominantly affluent populations (only 8-23% free/reduced lunch eligibility), which explains their uniformly high performance relative to state averages. For families, Costello Elementary currently offers the strongest combination of high rankings, consistent improvement, and exceptional math and science outcomes, though all schools in this zip code provide a quality education well above Michigan norms.