{"id":19784,"date":"2026-01-02T13:46:47","date_gmt":"2026-01-02T19:46:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/2026\/01\/02\/this-north-texas-city-was-named-the-countrys-most-affordable-some-were-surprised\/"},"modified":"2026-01-02T13:46:48","modified_gmt":"2026-01-02T19:46:48","slug":"this-north-texas-city-was-named-the-countrys-most-affordable-some-were-surprised","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/2026\/01\/02\/this-north-texas-city-was-named-the-countrys-most-affordable-some-were-surprised\/","title":{"rendered":"This North Texas city was named the country\u2019s most affordable. Some were surprised"},"content":{"rendered":"

McKinney: The Most Affordable City in the US<\/h1>\n

McKinney was named the country\u2019s most affordable city this year, according to one report, surprising some residents who believe housing is unattainable in the fast-growing North Texas suburb.<\/p>\n

\u201cAffordability is relative to so many things,\u201d said Beth Bentley, who lives in Allen but has six generations of family roots in McKinney. <\/p>\n

She said it would be a challenge to find an affordable home in McKinney if she were to move back. Like many residents, she was surprised to see McKinney at the top of the list of most affordable places in the country.<\/p>\n

McKinney has also been named one of the country\u2019s fastest-growing cities in the past decade by the U.S. Census Bureau, one of the best places to rent by RentCafe and a city with one of the most booming economies according to SmartAsset. <\/p>\n

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Now The Motley Fool, a financial services company, named McKinney the most affordable city in the U.S. based on a relatively low cost of living and a high median income \u2014 \u201cthe sweet spot,\u201d according to the report. Census data shows McKinney\u2019s median household income is $120,273, well above the national median household income, which was $83,730 in 2024.<\/p>\n

McKinney is one of the most popular places to move north of Dallas. Since 1990, the city has added 200,000 residents, according to the city\u2019s population data. While math tells one story of affordability for residents, some who have seen home values skyrocket and McKinney change unrecognizably have a different perspective on affordability in the city.<\/p>\n

Next on the top-ten list were Morristown, N.J., Edmond, Okla., and three Texas cities \u2014 Midland, Austin and Plano. <\/p>\n

\u201cTexas is an overall, generally affordable place,\u201d said Jack Caporal, who authored the report for Motley Fool. \u201cI think that\u2019s reflected in our list.\u201d<\/p>\n

Related<\/p>\n

\"McKinney<\/p>\n

What Makes McKinney Affordable?<\/h2>\n

The Motley Fool report used each city\u2019s cost-of-living index from the Council for Community and Economic Research to calculate income-to-expense ratios.<\/p>\n

\u201cAffordability is not just based on how cheap or expensive it is to live somewhere,\u201d Caporal said. \u201cThe cost of living versus the median household income in an area \u2026 essentially shows how far your income goes.\u201d<\/p>\n

High Earners Attracted to McKinney<\/h2>\n

Younger professionals in McKinney contribute to its affordability. The median age in the city is around 39, according to the U.S. Census Bureau \u2014 right about to enter their prime earning years, Caporal said. <\/p>\n

McKinney\u2019s residents make about 40% more than the national median household income, often in high-earning fields like management, sales, business or financial operations, according to Caporal. A diverse pool of industries casts a wider net for high-earning professionals. <\/p>\n

Related<\/p>\n

\"Signs<\/p>\n

Wajahat Khan, 37, is one of many who have moved to McKinney to establish his family and career. He works for a software company and moved to McKinney around 2022 from Coppell to buy his first home. Khan says bills in McKinney are fair.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s kind of on the border of city and country life,\u201d he said. \u201cWe were looking to start a family and we wanted to be close enough to civilization, but not too far away.\u201d<\/p>\n

Not every city on the list of the country\u2019s most affordable are as fast-growing or as large as McKinney, but the city\u2019s location and industry make it attractive, he said. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s by an urban center, which offers a lot of different opportunities for entertainment, amenities, cultural opportunities, etc.,\u201d Caporal said. \u201c[That] makes it a little bit more of a desirable place for families.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Cost of Housing in McKinney<\/h2>\n

Housing has a 28% weight in the cost-of-living index used in the report\u2019s calculation, according to Caporal. He found McKinney\u2019s housing costs were below the national average and well below Plano and Austin\u2019s. <\/p>\n

\u201cMcKinney sitting in the suburbs just generally helps with cost of living, especially that housing component,\u201d Caporal said. \u201cThere\u2019s more space to build, essentially, and there\u2019s perhaps a little bit lower demand.\u201d<\/p>\n

The average home in McKinney costs more than $480,000, according to Zillow. In 2017, it hovered around $320,000. <\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s no way people can afford this, especially for young people, who [are] starting out,\u201d said Shawn Wang, a property owner in McKinney who used to run a restaurant downtown. \u201cThat\u2019s not for everybody. That\u2019s for people who are well-established with a good job. That\u2019s not how most of America is.\u201d<\/p>\n

Related<\/p>\n

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McKinney: The Most Affordable City in the US McKinney was named the country\u2019s most affordable city this year, according to one report, surprising some residents who believe housing is unattainable in the fast-growing North Texas suburb. \u201cAffordability is relative to so many things,\u201d said Beth Bentley, who lives in Allen but has six generations of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":19786,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rank_math_lock_modified_date":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-19784","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/dmn-dallas-news-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com\/resizer\/v2\/ALAL4D3LQRAM3EZD5NIBOELVNU.jpg?auth=bff487b82b01466e1a70b461870c3c2b06c95d1b330a6b024febca6964384bad&quality=80&width=1200&height=630&focal=1778,1880","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19784"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19784"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19784\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19787,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19784\/revisions\/19787"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19786"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19784"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19784"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19784"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}