Living in Plano, TX

Settlers arrived in the early 1840s, and after rejecting several names, including one honoring President Millard Fillmore, residents chose “Plano,” Spanish for flat, after the land. The Houston & Texas Central Railway arrived in 1872, Plano incorporated in 1873, and a fire in 1881 destroyed most of the business district, which was rebuilt.

Plano grew from about 72,000 residents in 1980 to 285,494 in 2020, and the Census Bureau estimates about 293,000 in July 2025, essentially flat as the city reaches buildout. It is home to Toyota Motor North America, Frito-Lay and PepsiCo Foods, JCPenney and Pizza Hut, with Legacy West as its corporate and dining hub.

Most homes date from the 1970s to the 2000s: older brick neighborhoods and the historic downtown on the east side, and larger 1980s–2000s homes in west Plano. New construction is infill, led by townhomes at Collin Creek, the $1 billion redevelopment of the former Collin Creek Mall.

What locals love about Plano

• Legacy West and The Shops at Legacy
• Arbor Hills and Oak Point nature preserves
• The Plano Balloon Festival each September
• Historic Downtown Plano and its DART station
• DART’s Silver Line to DFW Airport, opened October 2025

New construction & builders in Plano

Builders and incentives change often. Bring us to your first model-home visit and we’ll represent you, not the builder. How we help new-build buyers →

Zillow’s typical Plano home value was about $496,100 in September 2026, down about 3.6% from a year earlier. Across Plano’s seven main ZIP codes, Realtor.com counted about 740 active listings, with median list prices from about $449,000 (75074) and $450,000 (75023) to $700,000 (75024) and $737,000 (75093) in west Plano, and median days on market of 45 to 63.

Inventory is lower than a year ago in most Plano ZIPs, but price cuts are common, so well-priced, updated homes still sell while dated homes sit. Because the housing stock spans five decades, we compare sales by neighborhood, school path and update level rather than citywide averages.

Plano homes today: live MLS numbers

Live from the NTREIS MLS for homes in Plano (houses, townhomes and condos). Sold figures cover the last 60 days.

Monthly Plano market report with trends   Compare Plano with nearby towns

Types of homes you’ll find

• Established brick homes1970s–1990s neighborhoods across east and central Plano.
• West Plano estatesWillow Bend West, Lakeside on Preston and Deerfield.
• TownhomesCollin Creek, downtown infill and pockets near the Tollway.
• New single-familySmall infill communities such as Mustang Square.

For 2025, Plano’s city rate is $0.4376 per $100 and Plano ISD’s is $1.03955. With Collin County ($0.149343) and Collin College ($0.08122), a Plano ISD home on the Collin side totals about $1.71 per $100 before exemptions. The city’s homestead exemption is the state-maximum 20%, plus $40,000 for owners 65 and older.

West Plano homes zoned to Frisco ISD pay $1.0194 instead, and the small Denton County portion pays Denton County’s rate. No MUDs were identified inside city limits.

At about 1.71% before exemptions, a $496,000 home would owe roughly $8,500 a year. The city’s 20% homestead exemption and the $140,000 school exemption lower that significantly.

Utilities

Tax rates are the adopted 2025 rates and change every year. Verify any address with the Collin Central Appraisal District (Denton CAD for the Denton County portion) before you buy. Estimate your payment →

Plano ISD serves most of the city plus parts of Richardson, Dallas, Allen, Murphy, Parker, Lucas and Wylie. It enrolled 43,805 students in 2025–26, down from more than 46,000 a year earlier, and a demographer projects fewer than 40,000 by 2029–30. TEA rated the district B (82) in 2025 and B (85) in its August 2026 ratings.

Plano has long used a split model, with 9–10 high schools feeding three senior highs, and grade spans are changing (Plano East now serves grades 9–12). In 2025, Plano Senior earned a B (82), Plano West a B (83), Plano East a B (82), Jasper an A (94) and the four-year Academy High School an A (98).

High schools

Colleges nearby

• Collin College Spring Creek Campus and Courtyard Center
• UT Dallas in Richardson, about 12 minutes from downtown Plano
• DBU North, a Dallas Baptist University campus in west Plano

US-75 runs along the east side of Plano, the Dallas North Tollway along the west, the President George Bush Turnpike across the south and SH-121 across the north. Plano is the largest city in Texas without an interstate. DART’s Red and Orange lines stop at Downtown Plano and Parker Road, and the Silver Line, opened October 25, 2025, stops at 12th Street and Shiloh Road and reaches DFW Airport in under an hour. Times below are from downtown Plano.

Drive times are typical off-peak estimates. Allow more time at rush hour.

Plano is one of the largest job centers in North Texas in its own right. Corporate campuses line Legacy Drive and the Tollway, with more along US-75 and the Bush Turnpike, so many residents work inside the city.

What’s being built in Plano

• Collin Creek, a roughly $1 billion redevelopment of the former mall, with retail and restaurants opening in phases from late 2026 through 2028
• The Bend: much of The Shops at Willow Bend began closing in September 2026 for redevelopment, and the Dallas Stars have signed a nonbinding agreement to pursue an arena and entertainment district in Plano
• DART’s 26-mile Silver Line, opened October 2025, with stations at 12th Street and Shiloh Road