Best PlacesPlano, ID Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Plano, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Costs and crime both read low, and the nearest big city is a drive away. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Plano ranks 5,633rd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state finances by a wide margin, and tree cover ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Plano
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.
Plano's strengths and weaknesses
Where Plano ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 98% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 97% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than 97% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 97% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 96% of towns
Where Plano ranks low
- Tree shadeBetter than only 5% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 7% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 7% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 20% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Plano
A household needs to earn about $96,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Plano home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $86,005; 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 Plano's effective rate of 0.48%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Plano
Plano's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Plano.
Who works in Plano, and how
Work in Plano centers on education and health care & social. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 80%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 12%
Life in Plano
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Plano.
What the weather is like in Plano, month by month
Plano sees roughly 139 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 30, with lows near 11. The comfortable stretch runs June through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 30° | 20° | 11° |
| April | 59° | 44° | 30° |
| July | 90° | 71° | 51° |
| October | 61° | 45° | 32° |
Flying in and out of Plano
The nearest airport, Idaho Falls Regional, is about 27 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Salt Lake City International, about 214 miles away.
The best schools in and around Plano
Schools across Plano average a B−, better than 62% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Hibbard Elementary SchoolB · 45% proficient
- Central Elementary SchoolB− · 43% proficient
- Terreton Elementary SchoolC− · 30% proficient
Top middle schools
- Sugar-salem Junior High SchoolA− · 57% proficient
- West Jefferson Middle SchoolB− · 43% proficient
- Madison Junior High SchoolC · 33% proficient
Top high schools
- Madison Senior High SchoolB− · 45% proficient
- West Jefferson High SchoolB− · 45% proficient
- Sugar-salem High SchoolB− · 43% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Plano school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Plano 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 Plano against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Plano
Is Plano a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Plano ranks 5,633rd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state finances, heat safety, and population health, and lowest on tree cover and distance from a big city. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Plano expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $385,748. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $86,005 median income, cost of living beats 77% of towns.
Is Plano safe?
Yes, Plano is safer than 77% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $250 per resident a year.
Compare Plano with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Plano. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Plano 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.
Plano detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Plano: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Plano: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Plano: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Plano: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Plano 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.