More and more people would prefer to live in the cities and towns that surround McKinney to avoid all the hustle and bustle.
So the question arises: what suburbs of McKinney are the worst?
Today, we’ll use Saturday Night Science to determine which McKinney ‘burbs need a little tender loving care – the sore thumbs of the McKinney area if you will. Realistically, you can only expect some of the suburbs to live up to McKinney proper, although University Park certainly tries.
We examined the 61 biggest suburbs of McKinney to find out the worst places to live. And while you won’t necessarily find them on the worst places to live in Texas lists, these places are a little too far downwind of McKinney in terms of quality of life.
$54,717 median income · $370,224 median home price
We’ll get the ball rolling with Leonard, the absolute worst place to live around McKinney according to the data.
And in the world of worst rankings, Leonard beat the competition pretty handily thanks to scoring in the bottom 15% in three major categories. Income is the 2nd worst in the McKinney area, and to make matters worse, the city ranks 18th worst when it comes to home values.
But hey, at least it’s cheap to live there. But there’s a reason for that… it’s Leonard.
You won’t feel bad about not having a great income for the area. There aren’t a bunch of places to spend your money anyway.
$81,036 median income · $338,460 median home price
Welcome to Farmersville. Home to KMart, Big Lots, and a lot of gas stations.
This city is 17.9 miles to McKinney. Income levels here are the 11th lowest in the metro area, where families bring in about $81,036 a year, which only goes so far even on a shoestring budget.
But on the bright side, there are a lot of fast food joints in the area.
$51,108 median income · $247,617 median home price
Back up the highway we go for the third worst McKinney suburb you can live in. You might have expected to see Howe on here. While the cost of living is low, your entertainment and work options are limited. And that’s an understatement.
In terms of numbers, it’s in the worst 15% for insurance, and the adult high school dropout rate is poor compared to other McKinney suburbs.
But at least there are lovely parks to bring the kids during the day.
Data | Movers
$97,933 median income · $329,619 median home price
If you live in Pilot Point, most likely you struggle to make ends meet every month. It ranks as the 16th lowest McKinney suburb for median household incomes.
Not only that, but this is the 7th worst unemployed suburb you can live in if you choose to live near McKinney. Remember, we looked at 61 cities for this study.
Pilot Point is about 21.4 miles to downtown.
Data | Movers
$70,518 median income · $309,421 median home price
Located in
Rockwall County, Texas
Dallas has the distinction of being a McKinney suburb. Which means that’s about all it has going for it.
All snarkiness aside, Dallas has the 6th lowest home values in the metro McKinney area, where the median price is $309,421. The median income is $250,001.
Dallas has an unemployment rate of 4.9% which ranks 16th worst.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers | Compare
$76,320 median income · $286,805 median home price
Located in
Rockwall County, Texas
Garland has 246,844 residents that probably know it’s a pretty crummy place to live when you look at the data. (Or, if you’ve ever been there, you don’t need to look at the data.)
Incomes are towards the bottom, and the poverty rate sits at 13.0%.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers | Compare
$76,019 median income · $354,135 median home price
Located in
Denton County, Texas
Ah, Denton. You rank as the 7th worst place to live around McKinney.
It’s the place with the 14th most out of work residents in the McKinney metro area (5.1%).
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$58,859 median income · $257,920 median home price
Located in
Grayson County, Texas
Sherman is a city about 29.7 miles from McKinney, but McKinney probably wishes it was further away. It ranks as the 8th worst burb.
You’d be hard-pressed to find a worse place to live. Sherman has the 11th most uninsured people, 3rd worst incomes, and has the 47th highest unemployment rate (2.6%) in the entire McKinney metro area.
Homes only cost $257,920 for a reason. That’s cheap for McKinney standards.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$81,830 median income · $341,503 median home price
Located in
Dallas County, Texas
If you absolutely have to live near McKinney, then Irving might be a place for you to consider as it’s only the 9th worst McKinney suburb.
About 4.5% of residents are out of work.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers | Compare
$124,145 median income · $337,284 median home price
Rounding out the ten worst McKinney suburbs to call home is Cross Roads.
Located 19.0 miles outside the city, Cross Roads is a real pit when you look at the data. Its residents have the 2nd highest unemployment rate (10.1%), and poverty is far above the area average.
The receipts
Compare the top ten
Pick a metric. The bars rescale. The red line is Texas’s statewide median.
Texas statewide median: $78,476
Texas statewide median: $300,957
Texas statewide median: 5.3%
Texas statewide median: 13.8%
On the map
Where the worst McKinney suburbs are
Saturday Night Science
Methodology: Determining The Worst Suburbs Around McKinney for 2026
To figure out how bad a McKinney suburb is to live in, we used Saturday Night Science to identify the kinds of things people like and then decide what suburbs have the least amount of those things.
Using the most recent American Community Survey data from 2020-2024, this is the criteria we used:
- High unemployment rate
- Low median household incomes
- Low population density (no things to do)
- Low home values
- A lot of high school dropouts
- High poverty
- High rate of uninsured families
We defined a suburb as any town within 30 miles of McKinney.
We also limited the analysis to places with over 2,000 people. This left us with a grand total of 61 suburbs to evaluate around McKinney.
We ranked each place with scores from 1 to 61 in each category, where 1 was the worst.
Next, we averaged the rankings for each place to create a quality-of-life index.
And finally, we crowned the city with the worst quality of life index, the “Worst Suburb near McKinney.” We’re looking at you, Leonard.
We updated this article for 2026, which reflects our eleventh time ranking the worst suburbs around McKinney.
The full plate
Detailed List Of The Worst McKinney Suburbs
Click any column to sort. Search by city name.
| Rank | City | Worst Score | Population | Median Income | Median Home Values |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Leonard | 8.71 | 2,505 | $54,717 | $370,224 |
| 2 | Farmersville | 8.86 | 4,018 | $81,036 | $338,460 |
| 3 | Howe | 9.00 | 3,689 | $51,108 | $247,617 |
| 4 | Pilot Point | 12.79 | 5,332 | $97,933 | $329,619 |
| 5 | Dallas | 13.57 | 1,307,930 | $70,518 | $309,421 |
| 6 | Garland | 14.71 | 246,844 | $76,320 | $286,805 |
| 7 | Denton | 15.64 | 152,866 | $76,019 | $354,135 |
| 8 | Sherman | 15.86 | 46,397 | $58,859 | $257,920 |
| 9 | Irving | 17.21 | 256,492 | $81,830 | $341,503 |
| 10 | Cross Roads | 19.86 | 2,035 | $124,145 | $337,284 |
| 11 | Josephine | 20.43 | 5,842 | $91,000 | $287,283 |
| 12 | Caddo Mills | 21.36 | 3,340 | $107,067 | $315,941 |
| 13 | Hackberry | 22.29 | 2,979 | $109,769 | $441,786 |
| 14 | Farmers Branch | 22.79 | 36,645 | $91,186 | $377,734 |
| 15 | Lakewood | 22.79 | 62,937 | $74,720 | $521,148 |
| 16 | Lewisville | 23.21 | 131,080 | $89,233 | $393,896 |
| 17 | Anna | 23.43 | 24,330 | $105,593 | $349,537 |
| 18 | Little Elm | 24.14 | 54,820 | $119,219 | $403,397 |
| 19 | Princeton | 25.00 | 25,229 | $105,200 | $294,071 |
| 20 | Richardson | 25.36 | 118,731 | $98,111 | $440,400 |
| 21 | Collinsville | 25.57 | 2,060 | $60,417 | $387,665 |
| 22 | Van Alstyne | 25.86 | 5,952 | $102,469 | $433,827 |
| 23 | Carrollton | 26.29 | 133,740 | $101,396 | $406,040 |
| 24 | Lake Dallas | 26.29 | 7,822 | $76,879 | $347,097 |
| 25 | Gunter | 28.07 | 2,398 | $120,000 | $665,810 |
| 26 | Grapevine | 28.29 | 51,139 | $111,376 | $552,148 |
| 27 | Rowlett | 29.57 | 65,463 | $112,081 | $371,473 |
| 28 | Wylie | 29.57 | 60,334 | $119,522 | $421,548 |
| 29 | Fate | 30.00 | 22,884 | $132,752 | $361,762 |
| 30 | Addison | 30.64 | 17,290 | $73,854 | $490,587 |
| 31 | Aubrey | 30.71 | 7,396 | $101,574 | $363,613 |
| 32 | Fairview | 30.93 | 10,783 | $109,347 | $660,166 |
| 33 | The Colony | 31.86 | 45,454 | $114,511 | $406,282 |
| 34 | Sunnyvale | 32.36 | 8,336 | $170,348 | $631,290 |
| 35 | Plano | 33.43 | 290,594 | $112,253 | $498,989 |
| 36 | Sachse | 34.43 | 30,491 | $131,808 | $433,037 |
| 37 | Bartonville | 35.14 | 2,112 | $149,071 | $1,403,732 |
| 38 | Rockwall | 35.57 | 51,168 | $115,580 | $480,553 |
| 39 | Melissa | 36.71 | 20,136 | $138,763 | $434,769 |
| 40 | Prosper | 37.86 | 37,869 | $195,281 | $784,350 |
| 41 | Celina | 38.93 | 34,268 | $170,894 | $546,742 |
| 42 | Allen | 39.00 | 110,265 | $130,901 | $493,532 |
| 43 | Lavon | 39.43 | 6,498 | $131,303 | $349,797 |
| 44 | Hickory Creek | 39.43 | 5,611 | $148,852 | $494,276 |
| 45 | Oak Point | 39.71 | 5,887 | $126,290 | $419,835 |
| 46 | McLendon-Chisholm | 40.00 | 4,511 | $204,773 | $667,451 |
| 47 | Shady Shores | 40.14 | 2,922 | $159,375 | $522,063 |
| 48 | Parker | 40.64 | 5,999 | $229,080 | $1,088,169 |
| 49 | Corinth | 41.00 | 23,385 | $120,580 | $410,565 |
| 50 | Copper Canyon | 41.14 | 2,514 | $155,625 | $1,073,390 |
| 51 | Frisco | 42.00 | 219,304 | $150,212 | $656,758 |
| 52 | Heath | 42.14 | 10,777 | $220,828 | $708,331 |
| 53 | Providence | 43.07 | 8,947 | $118,072 | $527,895 |
| 54 | Murphy | 43.71 | 21,188 | $175,699 | $571,960 |
| 55 | Flower Mound | 44.00 | 78,389 | $161,235 | $609,719 |
| 56 | Coppell | 44.86 | 42,154 | $146,235 | $619,492 |
| 57 | Double Oak | 45.71 | 3,071 | $172,321 | $845,919 |
| 58 | Lucas | 48.14 | 8,351 | $221,364 | $1,074,131 |
| 59 | Highland | 49.21 | 20,119 | $186,075 | $971,050 |
| 60 | Highland Park | 49.21 | 8,773 | $250,001 | $2,891,619 |
| 61 | University Park | 53.36 | 25,155 | $250,001 | $2,420,171 |
Source: U.S. Census ACS 2020-2024. 61 suburbs within 30 miles of McKinney.
Summary
Summary: The areas around McKinney where the dream is more of a nightmare for 2026
Well there you have it — the worst of the ‘burbs surrounding McKinney with Leonard casting itself ahead of the pack.
The worst suburbs of McKinney are Leonard, Farmersville, Howe, Pilot Point, Dallas, Garland, Denton, Sherman, Irving, and Cross Roads.
As we mentioned earlier, the suburbs around McKinney aren’t all bad. University Park takes the cake as the best place to live around McKinney. Not sold on Texas? Take the two-minute Find Your Place quiz and see which state actually fits you.
Questions and answers
Worst Suburbs Of McKinney FAQs
What is the worst suburb of McKinney?
Leonard ranks as the worst suburb around McKinney for 2026, according to Saturday Night Science. Farmersville and Howe are next on the list.
What are the worst suburbs of McKinney?
The worst-ranked suburbs around McKinney are Leonard, Farmersville, Howe, Pilot Point, Dallas, Garland, Denton, Sherman, Irving, and Cross Roads. We scored all 61 places within 30 miles.
Why does Leonard rank as the worst suburb?
Leonard posts the roughest combined numbers of the 61 suburbs we scored: a median household income of $54,717, a median home value of $370,224, and a poverty rate of 18.4%.
What is the best-ranked suburb near McKinney?
University Park lands at the opposite end of this ranking, making it the best-ranked suburb near McKinney by these measures. Our separate best suburbs of McKinney list covers that side properly.
How do you rank the worst suburbs?
Suburbs are scored on unemployment, income, density, home values, dropouts, poverty, and insurance coverage, using Census American Community Survey data. Real numbers, light heart — every one of these towns has people making it work.
