What Does It Actually Cost to Live in Plano, Texas in 2026?

What does it cost to buy and live in Plano, Texas in 2026?

Plano home prices range from $446,250 at the median in east Plano zip code 75023 to over $1.2 million in the Willow Bend neighborhood of west Plano. The citywide median sits around $530,000 as of mid-2026. Property taxes run approximately 1.71% of assessed value, adding roughly $755 per month on a $530,000 home. Homeowners insurance averages $4,656 per year due to hail and wind risk, and monthly utilities typically run $200 to $350. The full housing cost on a median Plano home will likely land between $4,000 and $4,500 per month for most buyers.

By Paul Blair | August 21, 2026

Plano has one of the biggest internal price spreads of any suburb in the DFW Metroplex. Two buyers with the same pre-approval can end up in completely different neighborhoods depending on which zip code they target. That gap runs over $200,000 at the median between east and west Plano, and it only grows when you add the luxury tier.

Before you start touring, here is what the full cost picture actually looks like.

What Homes Cost in Plano by Zip Code

Most buyers shopping Plano think of it as one market. It is not. There are effectively four price tiers inside the city, and which one you can access shapes everything about your experience, from your commute to your school options to whether you have an HOA.

Source: Zillow ZHVI zip-level data, Redfin neighborhood pages, Houzeo, July 2026.

West Plano commands a premium because of what surrounds it. The Legacy corridor, home to Toyota North America, JPMorgan Chase, Capital One, and FedEx, sits directly adjacent to 75024. Legacy West, the 255-acre walkable mixed-use district with Legacy Hall and two dozen restaurants, is a short walk from several of these campuses. For employees at those companies, the commute from west Plano is 5 to 15 minutes. From Frisco or McKinney, it stretches to 20 or 30.

East Plano, by contrast, offers more house for less money in established neighborhoods with mature trees. Many of these subdivisions have no HOA at all. The tradeoff is an older housing stock, and fewer walkable amenities within the neighborhood itself.

The Real Monthly Cost: Property Taxes, Insurance, and Utilities

Home price is only part of the number. In Texas, the carrying costs on top of principal and interest deserve equal attention.

Property Taxes

Plano's combined effective property tax rate runs approximately 1.71%, which is the sum of four separate taxing entities:

On a $530,000 home, that is roughly $9,063 per year, or $755 per month added to your principal and interest payment.

If you are relocating from California, this number will probably surprise you. California's Proposition 13 caps property tax growth; Texas has no such cap, and your home is reassessed annually by the Collin Central Appraisal District. The good news: Texas offers a homestead exemption that lowers your taxable value once you establish the property as your primary residence.

You file the homestead exemption directly with CCAD after closing. The form (CCAD-114 / Texas Form 50-114) is available at collincad.org, and there is no fee to file. Applications go to 250 W. Eldorado Pkwy, McKinney, TX 75069, with a standard deadline of April 30 for the following tax year. If you want to understand what your tax bill might look like after a protest, that process is separate and worth reading about before your first anniversary of ownership. (We cover it in detail in our guide to protesting property taxes in Dallas.)

Homeowners Insurance

Average homeowners insurance in Plano runs about $4,656 per year, or $388 per month. That is well above the national average. The driver is hail and wind risk, which is very real in Collin County: several significant hail events have hit the area in the past three years, and insurers have priced for it.

One thing buyers from out of state miss: the wind and hail deductible is typically a separate line from your standard deductible. On a $530,000 home with a 1% wind deductible, you would be responsible for the first $5,300 of any wind or hail claim before insurance pays. This is standard in Texas, not a red flag, but it is something to account for when you budget for reserves after closing.

Utilities

Monthly utilities in Plano average around $200 to $350, depending on home size and season. Electricity is deregulated, so you can shop providers through the Power to Choose portal run by the Public Utility Commission of Texas. Summer bills spike when temperatures climb above 100 degrees in July and August, so budget for two or three months of elevated electric costs. Water is billed by the City of Plano at a base of $30.90 per month plus tiered usage, with rates that increased in October 2025.

Putting it together for a typical buyer: principal and interest on a $530,000 home at 20% down at current rates, plus $755 in property taxes, plus $388 in insurance, plus $275 in estimated utilities, puts your monthly housing cost somewhere in the range of $4,100 to $4,500. That is the real number to pressure-test against your budget.

Working through those numbers for your specific situation is exactly what a buyer consultation covers. If you are comparing Plano neighborhoods or figuring out which zip code fits your budget, I work with buyers across west and east Plano and can run a full cost model based on what you are actually pre-approved for. Reach out through the contact form at greysq.com and we can set up a conversation.

The Plano ISD Question

Plano ISD holds a B rating of 85 out of 100 from the Texas Education Agency and ranks in the top 20% of Texas school districts on testing. Math proficiency in the district runs at 58%, compared to the statewide average of 44%. By academic measures, it is a strong district.

The question buyers are starting to ask is about trajectory. District enrollment has fallen 19.4% since 2016, from approximately 57,700 students to about 46,612 in 2026. Four schools have closed in recent years, and the district has projected a $43.75 million budget shortfall. The decline reflects demographics: many of Plano's established neighborhoods were built in the 1970s and 1980s and now house aging households rather than school-age children.

Whether this matters to you depends on where you are in life. If you are buying without school-age children, the academic rankings are the number that matters. If you have kids in middle or high school, there is one more thing to know that catches out-of-state buyers every time: Plano ISD runs an unusual split high school structure. Students attend a high school campus for grades 9 and 10, then switch to either Plano Senior High or Plano West Senior High for grades 11 and 12. Your teenager will change campuses between sophomore and junior year. It is not a problem once you understand it, but it is different from almost every other district in the country.

The AT&T Factor and Where Values May Head

In January 2026, AT&T announced a $1.3 billion headquarters campus at 5400 Legacy Drive in Plano. The company plans partial occupancy by 2028, which would concentrate a significant portion of its workforce in the Legacy corridor. This follows the pattern of Toyota (which relocated from Torrance, California to Plano in 2017), JPMorgan Chase, Capital One, FedEx, and Liberty Mutual, all of which are already established in the area.

Each of those relocations brought waves of employees who needed housing in west Plano or the immediately adjacent zip codes. The AT&T move is the largest single corporate relocation the Legacy corridor has seen. Buyers who are considering west Plano (75024 in particular) should factor that demand into their thinking, especially for properties near the Legacy Drive corridor.

The current market gives buyers more room than existed in 2024. Plano's citywide median is down about 2.4% year over year, inventory sits at a 2.9-month supply, and the sale-to-list ratio of 97.5 to 98.5% means sellers are negotiating. That is a different environment than the bidding war conditions of two years ago. The AT&T factor does not make the market urgently hot right now, but it does give west Plano a demand catalyst that most other DFW suburbs lack going into 2027 and 2028.

How Plano Compares to Nearby Suburbs in 2026

Allen and McKinney are effectively priced at parity with Plano citywide, though all three have different internal dynamics. Frisco carries a meaningful premium. Buyers who come to Plano specifically for the Legacy corridor job access will often find that west Plano's commute advantage makes the price difference versus Frisco a straightforward tradeoff. Buyers who care primarily about budget will often find that east Plano (75023) gives them more house than almost any other established north Dallas suburb at the same price point.

For a detailed cost comparison on new construction across these suburbs, including MUD and PID taxes that new development carries, the MUD and PID tax guide for DFW buyers walks through that specific layer.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the combined property tax rate in Plano, Texas in 2026?

The combined effective rate is approximately 1.71%, which includes Plano ISD at $1.03955, the City of Plano at $0.4406, Collin County at $0.149343, and the Collin College District at $0.08122. On a $530,000 home, this works out to roughly $9,063 per year, or about $755 per month.

How do I file the homestead exemption in Plano, TX?

You file directly with the Collin Central Appraisal District using Form CCAD-114 (also called Texas Form 50-114). There is no fee. Mail the completed form with a copy of your Texas driver's license or state ID to 250 W. Eldorado Pkwy, McKinney, TX 75069. The standard deadline is April 30, and the property must be your primary residence as of January 1 of the tax year.

What is the difference between east and west Plano home prices?

West Plano zip codes 75024 and 75093 carry medians from $677,500 to over $1.2 million in the Willow Bend neighborhood. East Plano zip codes 75023 and 75025 run from $446,250 to $589,000. The gap at the median is roughly $200,000 to $250,000, driven by proximity to the Legacy corridor and the age and amenity level of the housing stock.

Is Plano a buyer's market or a seller's market in 2026?

Plano leans toward sellers, but it is less competitive than 2024. Inventory sits around 2.9 months, and homes are selling at 97.5 to 98.5% of list price, with an average of 35 to 43 days on market. Buyers have more negotiating room than in recent years, and price reductions are more common, but well-priced homes in west Plano still move quickly.

Who works with buyers looking at homes in Plano, Texas?

Paul Blair and the Grey Square team represent buyers across Plano, from entry-level homes in east Plano zip codes like 75023 to luxury properties in west Plano and Willow Bend. Grey Square is a virtual brokerage and we handle the full transaction, including CMA analysis, contract negotiation, and coordination with your lender and the title company. You can reach out through greysq.com/contact.

Plano rewards buyers who understand the zip code map before they start. The city's wide price range means you can find genuine value at $450,000 in east Plano or pay over a million in Willow Bend for something very different. The tax rate, insurance costs, and utility bills are the same across both. What changes is the commute, the neighborhood character, and what your monthly payment gets you.

If you are trying to figure out which part of Plano fits your situation, or whether Plano is the right call versus Allen or McKinney, that is a conversation worth having before you start making offers. The home value tool at greysq.com/home-value is a good starting point if you own a home and are thinking about your next move, and the contact form is the fastest way to get a buyer-side conversation going.

About Paul Blair

After 22 years working with buyers in markets like Plano, where understanding the difference between a Legacy corridor commute and an east Plano neighborhood can mean the difference between the right home and the wrong one, I have learned that the zip code conversation matters more than most buyers realize before they start. Paul Blair is the founder and broker of Grey Square, a virtual real estate brokerage representing buyers and sellers across Dallas and Los Angeles. With more than $200 million in closed transactions, Paul works the full range of the market, from luxury homes in the Park Cities and Preston Hollow to estates in the Hollywood Hills and across the Westside. Connect with Paul and the Grey Square team at greysq.com. TX TREC #9011505 | CA DRE #01792671.