The 10 Worst McKinney Suburbs For 2022


We used science and data to determine which McKinney suburbs are the real pits.

Not everyone is cut out for city life. Some people would prefer to live in the cities and towns that surround McKinney.

So the question arises, do the suburbs maintain a semblance of the larger-than-life appeal of their more famous neighbor?

Today, we'll use science and data to determine which McKinney 'burbs need a little tender loving care - the sore thumbs of the McKinney area if you will. Realistically, you can't expect all the suburbs to live up to McKinney proper, although Highland Park certainly tries.

Of course, not all suburbs of McKinney are created equally, which is precisely why we set out to find the best ones..

We examined the 54 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 ten places are a little too far downwind of McKinney in terms of quality of life.

Here are the 10 worst suburbs around McKinney for 2022:

  1. Leonard
  2. Pilot Point
  3. Howe
  4. Sherman
  5. Dallas
  6. Garland
  7. Denton
  8. Farmersville
  9. Irving
  10. Princeton

What's the worst suburb of McKinney? Leonard ranks as the worst suburb of McKinney for 2022 based on the most recent Census and FBI data.

Read on to see how we determined the places around McKinney that need a pick-me-up. And remember, don't blame the messenger.

Or, if you're thinking of moving to elsewhere in Texas check out the best places in Texas overall or the worst.

And remember, there are some good places to live around McKinney too.

Editor's Note: If you see a slight difference between the worst in state rankings and this suburb ranking, it's because of the methodology. We needed a way to include more places, so we eliminated crime and commute times as criteria for this analysis.

For more Texas reading, check out:

The 10 Worst McKinney Suburbs To Live For 2022

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 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.

Overall SnackAbility

4
/10

Population: 2,554
Rank Last Year: 1 (No Change)
Median Income: $46,824 (2nd lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 5.9% (5th highest)
Median Home Value: $103,800 (lowest)
More on Leonard:  Data | Photos

Leonard, TX

Welcome to Pilot Point. Home to KMart, Big Lots, and a lot of gas stations.

This city is 21.4 miles to McKinney. Income levels here are the 7th lowest in the metro area, where families bring in about $61,520 a year, which doesn't go a long ways even on a shoestring budget.

But on the bright side, there are a lot of fast food joints in the area.

Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 4,457
Rank Last Year: 2 (No Change)
Median Income: $61,520 (7th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 9.6% (highest)
Median Home Value: $174,100 (6th lowest)
More on Pilot Point:  Data | Photos

Pilot Point, TX

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 drop out rate is poor compared to other McKinney suburbs.

But at least there are nice parks to bring the kids during the day.

Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 3,204
Rank Last Year: 3 (No Change)
Median Income: $59,788 (6th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 4.7% (13th highest)
Median Home Value: $112,300 (2nd lowest)
More on Howe:  Data

If you live in Sherman, most likely you struggle to make ends meet every month. It ranks as the 3rd lowest McKinney suburb when it comes to residents making money.

Not only that, but this is the 34th worst unemployed suburb you can live in if you choose to live near McKinney. Remember, we looked at 54 cities for this study.

Sherman is about 29.7 miles to downtown.

Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 43,239
Rank Last Year: 5 (Up 1)
Median Income: $50,627 (3rd lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 3.4% (34th highest)
Median Home Value: $131,300 (3rd lowest)
More on Sherman:  Data | Photos

Sherman, TX

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 11th lowest home values in the metro McKinney area, where the median price is $208,700. To put that into perspective, in Highland Park, the median income is $247,716, which is the best in the area.

Dallas has an unemployment rate of 4.9% which ranks 12th worst.

Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 1,338,846
Rank Last Year: 6 (Up 1)
Median Income: $54,747 (4th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 4.9% (12th highest)
Median Home Value: $208,700 (11th lowest)
More on Dallas:  Data | Photos

Dallas, TX

Garland has 238,622 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 12.13847280810326%.

Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 238,622
Rank Last Year: 8 (Up 2)
Median Income: $63,192 (9th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 5.4% (7th highest)
Median Home Value: $172,600 (5th lowest)
More on Garland:  Data | Photos

Garland, TX

Ah, Denton. You rank as the 7th worst place to live around McKinney.

It's the place with the 10th most out of work residents in the McKinney metro area (4.92%).

Overall SnackAbility

7.5
/10

Population: 139,734
Rank Last Year: 9 (Up 2)
Median Income: $62,542 (8th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 4.9% (10th highest)
Median Home Value: $237,700 (17th lowest)
More on Denton:  Data | Photos

Denton, TX

Farmersville is a city about 17.9 miles from McKinney, but McKinney probably wishes it was further away. It ranks as the 8th worst burb for 2018.

You'd be hard pressed to find a worse place to live. Farmersville has the 26th most uninsured people, worst incomes, and has the 28th highest unemployment rate (3.77%) in the entire McKinney metro area.

Homes only cost $186,700 for a reason. That's cheap for McKinney standards.

Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 3,560
Rank Last Year: 4 (Down 4)
Median Income: $41,774 (lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 3.8% (28th highest)
Median Home Value: $186,700 (7th lowest)
More on Farmersville:  Data | Photos

Farmersville, TX

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 4.3% of residents are out of work.

Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 240,475
Rank Last Year: 10 (Up 1)
Median Income: $66,567 (12th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 4.3% (20th highest)
Median Home Value: $196,500 (8th lowest)
More on Irving:  Data | Photos

Irving, TX

Source: Public domain

Rounding out the ten worst McKinney suburbs to call home is Princeton.

Located 8.9 miles outside the city, Princetons is a real pit when you look at the data. Its residents have the 37th highest unemployment rate (3.08%), and poverty is far above the area average.

Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 12,208
Rank Last Year: 12 (Up 2)
Median Income: $80,323 (17th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 3.1% (37th highest)
Median Home Value: $205,200 (10th lowest)
More on Princeton:  Data

Methodology: Determining The Worst Suburbs Around McKinney for 2022

To figure out how bad a place is to live in, we only needed to know what kinds of things people like and then decide what cities have the least amount of those things.

We threw a lot of criteria at this one in order to get the best, most complete results possible. Using the most recent American Community Survey data from 2016-2020, 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 drop outs
  • High poverty
  • High rate of uninsured families

FYI: We defined a suburb as being within 30 miles of McKinney.

Additionally, we limited the analysis to places that have over 2,000 people. This left us with a grand total of 54 suburbs to evaluate around McKinney.

We ranked each place with scores from 1 to 54 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 lookin' at you, Leonard. You can download the data here.

Read on below to learn more about what it's like to live in the worst of the worst. Or skip to the end to see the list of all the suburbs ranked from worst to best.

Summary: The areas around McKinney where the dream is more of a nightmare for 2022

Well there you have it -- the worst of the 'burbs surrounding McKinney with Leonard casting itself ahead of the pack.

As we mentioned earlier, the suburbs around McKinney aren't all bad. Highland Park takes the cake as the best place to live around McKinney.

  • Highland Park
  • Highland
  • University Park

For more Texas reading, check out:

Detailed List Of The Worst McKinney Suburbs

Rank City Population Median Income Median Home Values
1 Leonard 2,554 $46,824 $103,800
2 Pilot Point 4,457 $61,520 $174,100
3 Howe 3,204 $59,788 $112,300
4 Sherman 43,239 $50,627 $131,300
5 Dallas 1,338,846 $54,747 $208,700
6 Garland 238,622 $63,192 $172,600
7 Denton 139,734 $62,542 $237,700
8 Farmersville 3,560 $41,774 $186,700
9 Irving 240,475 $66,567 $196,500
10 Princeton 12,208 $80,323 $205,200
11 Lake Dallas 8,004 $64,805 $205,000
12 Anna 14,159 $89,829 $219,800
13 Lakewood 60,564 $55,723 $309,600
14 Farmers Branch 42,659 $73,695 $210,600
15 Lewisville 107,740 $67,026 $232,800
16 Little Elm 49,792 $94,446 $270,600
17 Van Alstyne 4,153 $74,933 $172,400
18 Aubrey 4,352 $64,777 $212,100
19 Wylie 51,251 $98,484 $253,100
20 Richardson 118,583 $85,350 $295,500
21 Carrollton 137,319 $82,345 $267,100
22 Grapevine 54,151 $94,363 $338,700
23 Sunnyvale 6,664 $134,080 $397,800
24 Hackberry 2,426 $105,741 $282,500
25 Rowlett 65,426 $103,627 $237,300
26 Shady Shores 2,888 $117,083 $324,900
27 Sachse 25,888 $109,098 $259,100
28 The Colony 43,791 $87,748 $244,400
29 Melissa 10,774 $117,750 $320,200
30 Addison 15,428 $75,235 $348,200
31 Celina 13,608 $114,807 $317,100
32 Rockwall 45,168 $100,894 $276,400
33 Fate 14,300 $109,481 $282,100
34 Plano 288,870 $96,348 $341,800
35 Hickory Creek 4,716 $121,913 $326,100
36 Corinth 21,881 $104,239 $269,900
37 Oak Point 5,077 $102,946 $301,300
38 Fairview 8,998 $89,583 $408,200
39 Allen 104,040 $113,719 $323,500
40 Parker 4,920 $168,811 $642,100
41 Murphy 20,711 $140,828 $374,000
42 Lavon 3,504 $95,286 $244,800
43 Heath 9,069 $174,154 $523,900
44 Providence 7,732 $84,243 $322,300
45 Frisco 188,387 $128,761 $420,700
46 Double Oak 3,099 $167,000 $493,500
47 Prosper 25,887 $153,777 $482,700
48 Mclendon-Chisholm 3,521 $155,667 $452,400
49 Flower Mound 78,854 $139,703 $376,500
50 Lucas 8,137 $174,500 $650,000
51 Coppell 41,494 $128,476 $414,000
52 University Park 25,027 $247,716 $1,351,400
53 Highland 19,012 $146,177 $599,700
54 Highland Park 9,143 $218,611 $1,451,300

How Is Your Town In ?

Editor's Note: This article is an opinion based on facts and is meant as infotainment. Don't freak out we updated this article for 2022. This is our ninth time ranking the worst suburbs around McKinney.
About Chris Kolmar

Chris Kolmar has been in the real estate business for almost ten years now. He originally worked for Movoto Real Estate as the director of marketing before founding HomeSnacks.

He believes the key to finding the right place to live comes down to looking at the data, reading about things to do, and, most importantly, checking it out yourself before you move.

If you've been looking for a place to live in the past several years, you've probably stumbled upon his writing already.

You can find out more about him on LinkedIn or his website.