Frisco Is #1 and McKinney Is #2 — But They’re Winning for Very Different Reasons

Frisco Is #1 and McKinney Is #2 — But They’re Winning for Very Different Reasons

Executive Summary

WalletHub just named Frisco the best real-estate market in America for 2026 and McKinney the second-best after comparing 300 U.S. cities across 17 measures of housing-market strength, affordability and economic conditions.

At first glance, that makes these neighboring Collin County cities look almost interchangeable.

They aren't.

Frisco's story is largely about newness, scale, employment, sports infrastructure and planned growth. McKinney combines considerable new construction of its own with something Frisco can't reproduce: an 1848 county-seat core, a genuine historic downtown, mature neighborhoods and an intentionally preserved sense of place.

That's why I think the ranking is more useful as a starting point than an answer.

If you're considering moving to North Texas, the better question isn't, Which city ranked higher?

It's which version of North Texas feels more like you?

What Did WalletHub Actually Measure?

WalletHub compared 300 cities using 17 metrics divided between real-estate-market strength and affordability/economic environment.

The measurements included home-price appreciation, days on market, foreclosures, mortgage delinquencies, vacancy, newer housing, building permits, affordability, population growth, job growth and unemployment.

That matters because this is not simply a ranking of where home prices are rising fastest.

Those numbers also reveal something interesting.

Both cities are growing and both have lots of newer housing.

The difference is what has grown up around those houses.

Why Frisco Feels Different

Frisco Has Been Built for Scale

WalletHub found that nearly 47% of Frisco's housing was built between 2010 and 2024, the highest share among the cities studied. The city's current population estimate is about 249,000, with an estimated eventual buildout around 330,000.

That helps explain the visual experience of Frisco.

Much of the city feels intentionally new: large master-planned developments, newer retail districts, major road corridors, destination entertainment and large mixed-use projects.

For buyers who like newer construction and newer infrastructure, that's a real advantage.

Sports Aren't Just Entertainment Here. They're Infrastructure.

Frisco has deliberately built an economy around sports.

The city is home to the Dallas Cowboys' world headquarters and training facility at The Star, PGA of America headquarters, FC Dallas and other professional and collegiate sports organizations and venues. Frisco's economic-development strategy specifically identifies the business of sports—including corporate operations, technology, research, hospitality and sports medicine—as an economic sector.

PGA of America's headquarters opened in Frisco in 2022 as the anchor of a major mixed-use golf development with championship courses, resort, retail and entertainment.

That's a very particular kind of suburban growth.

Corporate Frisco Matters, Too

Frisco Economic Development Corporation lists companies and organizations including the Dallas Cowboys, PGA of America, Keurig Dr Pepper, Public Storage, TIAA, T-Mobile and Uber Freight among businesses operating in the city.

That employment base helps explain why WalletHub's ranking isn't simply about housing.

People aren't only moving to Frisco for houses. Jobs, corporate investment, entertainment, retail and residential growth increasingly reinforce one another.

Frisco ISD Made an Unusual Choice About Schools

Frisco ISD also developed differently from several neighboring large districts.

Rather than concentrating students into a handful of enormous high schools, the district intentionally pursued more schools with smaller enrollments. Today FISD reports 12 high schools among 77 campuses serving approximately 62,755 students.

That can matter enormously to a relocating family.

It is another example of Frisco choosing scale at the city level while trying to preserve a smaller-campus experience at the school level.

So Why Did McKinney Finish Only 0.89 Points Behind Frisco?

Because the idea that McKinney is simply the "older alternative" to Frisco is outdated.

WalletHub found roughly 40% of McKinney's housing was built between 2010 and 2024, the second-highest share in its study. McKinney also ranked 10th nationally for building permits per capita and sixth for job growth.

McKinney is growing aggressively.

It just has an older city underneath the growth.

McKinney Has Something New Development Can't Manufacture

McKinney became the Collin County seat in 1848. Its courthouse square grew from that role, and the historic town center remains a functioning piece of the city rather than a newly created lifestyle district.

That's an important distinction.

Downtown McKinney has been deliberately revitalized, but the city says its strategy is to balance new investment with preservation of the area's historic character. Its Town Center zoning encourages walkability, mixed uses and infill rather than simply replacing the old city with a new one.

So when someone tells me they love Downtown McKinney, they're usually responding to something deeper than restaurants and boutiques.

They're responding to age, scale and authenticity.

You can't build an 1848 county seat in 2026.

McKinney Gives Buyers More Contrasts

One of McKinney's strengths is that it doesn't offer only one version of itself.

A buyer can look at older neighborhoods near the historic core, established subdivisions, golf-course communities, master-planned developments such as Stonebridge Ranch, or much newer construction farther north and west.

That can make a McKinney home search feel less uniform than people expect.

And while Frisco's identity is increasingly tied to major destinations, McKinney's lifestyle brand has retained a much stronger connection to open space and nature.

The city currently maintains roughly 3,000 acres of parks and open space and an extensive hike-and-bike trail system.

Bonnie Wenk Park alone covers 216 acres, with trails, a pond, dog park, amphitheater, playgrounds and recreation areas.

That isn't marketing copy. It's infrastructure of a different kind.

And East McKinney Is Changing

McKinney's historic identity doesn't mean the city is standing still.

The new McKinney City Hall opened in East McKinney in 2025 as part of a broader effort to use public investment as a catalyst for redevelopment in the eastern part of the city.

That creates an interesting tension I watch closely as a local Realtor:

How does McKinney continue growing without erasing the things that make McKinney feel like McKinney?

That may be one of the city's most important questions over the next decade.

Frisco vs. McKinney: Which Lifestyle Fits You?

This isn't a scorecard.

One column isn't better.

It's a fit test.

Does WalletHub's #1 vs. #2 Ranking Mean You Should Buy in Frisco Instead of McKinney?

No.

And I wouldn't advise a client to make a housing decision from a national ranking.

WalletHub's study is useful because it identifies economic and housing-market strength across many measures. It does not know your commute, budget, preferred neighborhood, school priorities, tolerance for new construction, desired lot size or what you want your Saturday morning to look like.

Those details matter more.

A ranking can tell us something about a city.

It cannot tell us where you belong within it.

The Bottom Line

Frisco and McKinney finishing #1 and #2 nationally makes sense to me—but not because they're becoming the same place.

Quite the opposite.

Frisco has become one of the country's clearest examples of a modern suburb built around employment, sports, retail, entertainment and large-scale planned development.

McKinney has found a way—imperfectly, and still evolving—to layer substantial new growth around a much older city with a historic core, mature neighborhoods and a strong parks-and-open-space identity.

If you're moving to Collin County, don't choose between them because one is #1 and the other is #2.

Come experience both.

The difference becomes much clearer when you're actually here.

See WalletHub's complete 2026 methodology and rankings

Related reading on MichelleGiffordRealtor.com