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Big city living isn't for everyone--but at the same time, urban areas certainly have their perks.
There's the culture, the food, the arts, the food, the energy, and you know, the food. But there are drawbacks. There's traffic, expensive parking, expensive housing--pretty much, expensive everything, depending on which big city you're looking at.
But that's where the suburbs come in--they have all of the benefits of being near big cities, without actually having to be big cities.
Of course, not all suburbs of Plano are created equally, which is precisely why we set out to find the best ones. So without further ado...
Here are the 10 best suburbs to live around Plano for 2021:
What's the best suburb of Plano? Highland Park ranks as the best suburb of Plano for 2021 based on the most recent Census and FBI data. If you happen to be a resident of Highland Park, you're probably not too surprised to find it on the top our list.
We'll tell you what makes each of these 10 Plano 'burbs better than the rest--but first, a bit about our methodology.
Note: This result may differ from our state wide data as we did not include commute times and crime for this analysis to allow for a larger selection of suburbs.
Feel free to check out some more reading about Texas:
The 10 Best Plano Suburbs To Live For 2021
/10
Population: 9,168
Rank Last Year: 1 (No Change)
Median Income: $211,136
Unemployment Rate: 1.4%
Poverty Rate: 2.3%
More on Highland Park: Real Estate | Data | Photos
Highland Park is always mentioned as one of the best suburbs in the Plano area. We'll tell you the good about "Awesome Highland Park."
Everyone here is rich; families average $211,136 a year, which is the 3rd highest in the Plano region. And only 1.43% are out of work. Homes average more than $1,508,900 each.
/10
Population: 25,036
Rank Last Year: 2 (No Change)
Median Income: $224,485
Unemployment Rate: 3.5%
Poverty Rate: 3.9%
More on University Park: Real Estate | Data | Photos
University Park is the second best 'burb we looked at near Plano for 2021.
It ranks 2nd for incomes in the area and only 2.44% of residents lack insurance, good for 4th best.
/10
Population: 31,292
Rank Last Year: 3 (No Change)
Median Income: $240,248
Unemployment Rate: 2.2%
Poverty Rate: 2.5%
More on Southlake: Real Estate | Data | Photos
Here in Southlake, it's really safe, and residents are just about as rich as you'll see in the Plano metro area.
The bad side? Schools are more crowded, and the cost of living puts a large part of the city out of reach for most families.
But price is based on demand and a lot of people want to live in Southlake.
/10
Population: 4,112
Rank Last Year: 7 (Up 3)
Median Income: $178,362
Unemployment Rate: 1.5%
Poverty Rate: 1.1%
More on Argyle: Real Estate | Data | Photos
Argyle ranks as the 4th best suburb of Plano for 2021.
You won't find many better places to raise your kids in the region than in Argyle and the schools are some of the best around.
/10
Population: 26,462
Rank Last Year: 4 (Down 1)
Median Income: $163,509
Unemployment Rate: 3.6%
Poverty Rate: 3.8%
More on Colleyville: Real Estate | Data | Photos
Coming in as the fifth best is Colleyville.
Colleyville gets kudos for having the 7th most expensive homes in the Plano area, where houses sell for an average of $516,500. However, the cost of living here is among the highest in the area.
/10
Population: 41,645
Rank Last Year: 8 (Up 2)
Median Income: $122,340
Unemployment Rate: 2.2%
Poverty Rate: 2.6%
More on Coppell: Real Estate | Data | Photos
Coppell is proud of its 6th place finish on this list. And here's why.
Most residents have great jobs and the unemployment rate sits at 2.23% which is 12th best in the area.
According to online reports, Coppell is quickly becoming one of the more affluent suburbs in the Plano area, meaning you need to get in soon.
/10
Population: 18,726
Rank Last Year: 6 (Down 1)
Median Income: $139,453
Unemployment Rate: 3.3%
Poverty Rate: 2.7%
More on Highland: Real Estate
The 7th best suburb on our list goes to Highland.
Highland schools are some of the best in the region, and crime is really low. The cost of living makes it a lot more desirable for many families, especially first-time home buyers.
And, it's only 18.4 miles to downtown, which is a good thing.
/10
Population: 7,763
Rank Last Year: 20 (Up 12)
Median Income: $160,278
Unemployment Rate: 3.8%
Poverty Rate: 0.7%
More on Lucas: Real Estate | Data
Lucas is growing quickly, and for a good reason. Crime is far below average, and most residents are gainfully employed. Even the cost of living is reasonable.
A solid 3.39% of people lack insurance, good for 6th in the area.
/10
Population: 22,517
Rank Last Year: 12 (Up 3)
Median Income: $146,733
Unemployment Rate: 2.1%
Poverty Rate: 2.4%
More on Prosper: Real Estate | Data | Photos
Is 'Everything Better In Prosper?'
Almost.
It placed 9th on our list thanks to the fact that it's really expensive to live here, but the schools are great, so you get what you pay for in that regard.
/10
Population: 11,949
Rank Last Year: 5 (Down 5)
Median Income: $147,477
Unemployment Rate: 4.3%
Poverty Rate: 2.9%
More on Trophy Club: Real Estate | Data | Photos
And rounding out the top ten for 2021 is Trophy Club.
This city is far above average in every category, and the best part? It's far more affordable than the other cities listed above. So, you get a big bang for your buck here.
How We Determined The Best Suburbs Around Plano for 2021
Figuring out the best suburbs around Plano was pretty simple; we just needed to list several things that people like, and then find out which cities have the most of those things.
We threw a lot of criteria at this one in order to get the best, most complete results possible:
- Low unemployment rate
- High Median household incomes
- Population density (lots of things to do)
- High home values
- A lot of college educated people
- Low poverty
- High rate of insured families
Then we used the newest American Community Survey data for 2015-2019 to research each suburb.
FYI: We defined a suburb as being within 30 miles of Plano.
Additionally, we limited the analysis to places that have over 2,000 people. This left us with a grand total of 68 suburbs to evaluate around Plano.
We ranked each place with scores from 1 to 68 in each category, where 1 was the "best.
Next, we averaged the rankings for each place to create a quality of life index.
And finally, we crowned the city with the best quality of life index the "Best Suburb near Plano." We're lookin' at you, Highland Park. You can download the data here.
Read on below to learn more about what it's like to live in the best of the best. Or skip to the end to see the list of all the suburbs ranked from best to worst.
Welcome to the Best Plano 'Burbs of 2021
We said it once and we'll say it again--life in the big city isn't for everyone. At least not all the time.
So if you're hankering for some of the amenities of a larger city like Plano, but don't want to deal with the drawbacks, one of these suburbs might just be for you.
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