Best PlacesMcKinney, TX Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around McKinney, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages hide a wide spread here, so the area matters as much as the address. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
McKinney ranks 24th of 445 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. Paychecks stretch further here than almost anywhere else: the median household brings in $136,053, everyday costs sit below the national average, and a strong job market ranks near the top of the country. The main drawbacks are transit, property taxes, and walkability.
The best neighborhoods in McKinney
BestNeighborhood is the only ranking that scores 40 measures of daily life neighborhood by neighborhood and lets you re-weight every one of them yourself.
The best areas in McKinney
The parts of McKinney, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the city.
Ridgecrest, Liberty Place & Virginia Ridge Estates
More households have young kids, local pay stretches further, and more adults hold degrees.
Eagle's Nest, Villas of Westridge & Falcon Creek
Incomes run higher and biking is better.
Craig Ranch North, Brookstone & Cascades
Tree cover is thinner.
High Meadows, Quail Creek & Enclave at Stonebridge Ranch
Fewer homes sit empty, though heat risk is higher.
Eldorado Heights, Village Park & Parkway
Prices have run up less.
Summit View Lakes, High Pointe & President's Point
Streets are more car-dependent.
College
Health outcomes score lower and fewer residents vote.
Greens of McKinney
Commutes are shorter, though crime runs higher.
Shorts & McKinney East Estates
Health care is harder to reach and schools score lower.
Scores across McKinney run from about the 20th to the 99th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
McKinney's strengths and weaknesses
McKinney ranks where it does because the parts of life that are hardest to change mostly work here. What local pay buys, a strong job market, and high incomes carry most of that.
The drawbacks are real but narrow. Transit, property taxes, and walkability hold the score down. The measures below break that down, and the map shows how much of it holds street by street.
Where McKinney ranks high
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 96% of cities
- Local economyBetter than 95% of cities
- Household income$136,053 median, better than 94% of cities
- School gradeA−, better than 93% of cities
- Educational attainmentBetter than 89% of cities
Where McKinney ranks low
- TransitBetter than only 5% of cities
- Low property taxBetter than only 13% of cities
- WalkabilityBetter than only 20% of cities
- Short commute27.9 minutes each way, better than only 30% of cities
- Tree shadeBetter than only 31% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in McKinney
A household needs to earn about $140,000 a year to comfortably buy the median McKinney home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $136,053; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment, a 6.6% 30-year fixed rate, and a 28% share of income going to the payment. The rate is the 2026-07-23 30-year fixed average, series MORTGAGE30US from the St. Louis Fed, which publishes Freddie Mac's weekly survey. Against the median home value, property tax uses McKinney's effective rate of 1.55%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in McKinney
McKinney runs younger than the country, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for McKinney.
Who works in McKinney, and how
Work in McKinney centers on professional & technical and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 72%
- Work from home 26%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in McKinney
McKinney has more restaurants and bars per resident than 68% of cities and more parkland per resident than 92% of cities. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of McKinney and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in McKinney, month by month
McKinney sees roughly 108 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 96 degrees. January highs sit near 57, with lows near 35. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, October, and November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 57° | 45° | 35° |
| April | 76° | 64° | 54° |
| July | 96° | 85° | 75° |
| October | 80° | 67° | 56° |
Flying in and out of McKinney
Dallas Love Field sits about 26 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 8.2 million passengers in 2025, with 91 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around McKinney
Schools across McKinney average an A−, better than 93% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Mary Evans ElA+ · 75% proficient
- Robert L Puster ElA+ · 73% proficient
- Harry Mckillop ElA · 67% proficient
Top middle schools
- Fowler MiddleA+ · 86% proficient
- Vandeventer MiddleA+ · 76% proficient
- Sloan Creek IntA+ · 75% proficient
Top high schools
- Lovejoy H SA+ · 85% proficient
- Liberty H SA+ · 82% proficient
- Independence H SA · 77% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every McKinney school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
McKinney measure by measure
Cards are ordered by how much each measure matters to you, so the ones you weighted highest come first. Expand to see every measure. Percentages compare McKinney against the other 444 cities.
Who McKinney suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 96% of cities and 26% already work from home.
Common questions about living in McKinney
Is McKinney a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, McKinney ranks 24th of 445 cities. It scores highest on what local pay buys, a strong job market, and high incomes, and lowest on transit and property taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is McKinney expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $486,865. The overall cost of living runs about 6% below the national average. Set against a $136,053 median income, cost of living beats 96% of cities.
Is McKinney safe?
Yes, McKinney is safer than 85% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $319 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in McKinney?
July highs average about 96 degrees, and January highs near 57 with lows near 35. That works out to about 108 pleasant days a year, more than 52% of cities.
What are the best neighborhoods in McKinney?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Ridgecrest, Liberty Place & Virginia Ridge Estates, Eagle's Nest, Villas of Westridge & Falcon Creek, and Craig Ranch North, Brookstone & Cascades. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is McKinney good for families?
Schools beat 93% of cities, crime safety beats 85%, and childcare runs $863 a month.
Is McKinney good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 96% of cities, though advertised internet speeds beat only 59% of cities. About 26% of workers already work from home.
Compare McKinney with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to McKinney. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in McKinney represents the same real quantity as a 60 anywhere else, and the ranking is a weighted average of those absolutes. The map colors come from a national scale calibrated against a population weighted random sample of 5,000 neighborhoods. That absolute scoring is what no other places-to-live ranking does: it puts a single neighborhood, a town, a metro, and a state on one scale, so the same 40 measures answer both which metro to move to and which street inside it to buy on. Read the full methodology.
McKinney detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for McKinney: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in McKinney: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of McKinney: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in McKinney: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
McKinney detail on related sites:
- CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
- ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
- CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.
Federal and public data:
- U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey: income, home value, rent, vacancy, commute time and mode, educational attainment, home age, age structure, household type, industry, and race.
- NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
- FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
- FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
- U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
- FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
- CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
- National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
- FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
- Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.
Your priorities
Move a slider to say how much a measure matters. Zero turns it off.