The 10 Worst Plano Suburbs For 2022


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

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

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 Plano 'burbs need a little tender loving care - the sore thumbs of the Plano area if you will. Realistically, you can't expect all the suburbs to live up to Plano proper, although Southlake certainly tries.

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

We examined the 69 biggest suburbs of Plano 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 Plano in terms of quality of life.

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

Read on to see how we determined the places around Plano 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 Plano 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 Plano Suburbs To Live For 2022

We'll get the ball rolling with Hutchins, the absolute worst place to live around Plano according to the data.

And in the world of worst rankings, Hutchins beat the competition pretty handily thanks to scoring in the bottom 15% in three major categories. Income is the worst in the Plano 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 Hutchins.

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: 5,804
Rank Last Year: 1 (No Change)
Median Income: $35,000 (lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 6.8% (4th highest)
Median Home Value: $72,400 (lowest)
More on Hutchins:  Data | Photos

Hutchins, TX

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

This city is 29.9 miles to Plano. Income levels here are the 10th lowest in the metro area, where families bring in about $62,038 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

5
/10

Population: 16,726
Rank Last Year: 2 (No Change)
Median Income: $62,038 (10th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 6.5% (5th highest)
Median Home Value: $155,000 (4th lowest)
More on Seagoville:  Data | Photos

Seagoville, TX

Back up the highway we go for the third worst Plano suburb you can live in. You might have expected to see Pilot Point 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 Plano suburbs.

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

Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 4,457
Rank Last Year: 4 (Up 1)
Median Income: $61,520 (9th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 9.6% (highest)
Median Home Value: $174,100 (9th lowest)
More on Pilot Point:  Data | Photos

Pilot Point, TX

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

Not only that, but this is the 2nd worst unemployed suburb you can live in if you choose to live near Plano. Remember, we looked at 69 cities for this study.

Balch Springs is about 24.4 miles to downtown.

Overall SnackAbility

3
/10

Population: 25,123
Rank Last Year: 3 (Down 1)
Median Income: $52,696 (3rd lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 9.2% (2nd highest)
Median Home Value: $120,000 (3rd lowest)
More on Balch Springs:  Data | Photos

Balch Springs, TX

Source: Public domain

Duncanville has the distinction of being a Plano suburb. Which means that's about all it has going for it.

All snarkiness aside, Duncanville has the 6th lowest home values in the metro Plano area, where the median price is $164,800. To put that into perspective, in Southlake, the median income is $247,716, which is the best in the area.

Duncanville has an unemployment rate of 9.05% which ranks 3rd worst.

Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 39,096
Rank Last Year: 8 (Up 3)
Median Income: $57,614 (6th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 9.0% (3rd highest)
Median Home Value: $164,800 (6th lowest)
More on Duncanville:  Data | Photos

Duncanville, TX

Cockrell Hill has 4,200 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 10.713422007255136%.

Overall SnackAbility

4
/10

Population: 4,200
Rank Last Year: 6 (Up 1)
Median Income: $58,137 (7th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 5.1% (15th highest)
Median Home Value: $109,200 (2nd lowest)
More on Cockrell Hill:  Data | Photos

Cockrell Hill, TX

Ah, Mesquite. You rank as the 7th worst place to live around Plano.

It's the place with the 20th most out of work residents in the Plano metro area (4.65%).

Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 142,429
Rank Last Year: 7 (No Change)
Median Income: $60,715 (8th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 4.6% (20th highest)
Median Home Value: $160,000 (5th lowest)
More on Mesquite:  Data | Photos

Mesquite, TX

Grand Prairie is a city about 29.9 miles from Plano, but Plano 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. Grand Prairie has the 12th most uninsured people, 19th worst incomes, and has the 11th highest unemployment rate (5.45%) in the entire Plano metro area.

Homes only cost $174,300 for a reason. That's cheap for Plano standards.

Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 193,835
Rank Last Year: 12 (Up 4)
Median Income: $69,171 (19th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 5.4% (11th highest)
Median Home Value: $174,300 (10th lowest)
More on Grand Prairie:  Data | Photos

Grand Prairie, TX

If you absolutely have to live near Plano, then Dallas might be a place for you to consider as it's only the 9th worst Plano suburb.

About 4.9% of residents are out of work.

Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 1,338,846
Rank Last Year: 9 (No Change)
Median Income: $54,747 (4th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 4.9% (18th highest)
Median Home Value: $208,700 (15th lowest)
More on Dallas:  Data | Photos

Dallas, TX

Rounding out the ten worst Plano suburbs to call home is Garland.

Located 11.9 miles outside the city, Garlands is a real pit when you look at the data. Its residents have the 12th highest unemployment rate (5.4%), and poverty is far above the area average.

Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 238,622
Rank Last Year: 11 (Up 1)
Median Income: $63,192 (12th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 5.4% (12th highest)
Median Home Value: $172,600 (8th lowest)
More on Garland:  Data | Photos

Garland, TX

Methodology: Determining The Worst Suburbs Around Plano 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 Plano.

Additionally, we limited the analysis to places that have over 2,000 people. This left us with a grand total of 69 suburbs to evaluate around Plano.

We ranked each place with scores from 1 to 69 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 Plano." We're lookin' at you, Hutchins. 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 Plano where the dream is more of a nightmare for 2022

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

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

  • Southlake
  • Highland Park
  • University Park

For more Texas reading, check out:

Detailed List Of The Worst Plano Suburbs

Rank City Population Median Income Median Home Values
1 Hutchins 5,804 $35,000 $72,400
2 Seagoville 16,726 $62,038 $155,000
3 Pilot Point 4,457 $61,520 $174,100
4 Balch Springs 25,123 $52,696 $120,000
5 Duncanville 39,096 $57,614 $164,800
6 Cockrell Hill 4,200 $58,137 $109,200
7 Mesquite 142,429 $60,715 $160,000
8 Grand Prairie 193,835 $69,171 $174,300
9 Dallas 1,338,846 $54,747 $208,700
10 Garland 238,622 $63,192 $172,600
11 Farmersville 3,560 $41,774 $186,700
12 Denton 139,734 $62,542 $237,700
13 Irving 240,475 $66,567 $196,500
14 Princeton 12,208 $80,323 $205,200
15 Lake Dallas 8,004 $64,805 $205,000
16 Lakewood 60,564 $55,723 $309,600
17 Anna 14,159 $89,829 $219,800
18 Lewisville 107,740 $67,026 $232,800
19 Farmers Branch 42,659 $73,695 $210,600
20 Euless 56,334 $67,181 $213,700
21 Little Elm 49,792 $94,446 $270,600
22 Hurst 38,783 $64,441 $209,000
23 Van Alstyne 4,153 $74,933 $172,400
24 Aubrey 4,352 $64,777 $212,100
25 Forney 23,871 $93,792 $216,100
26 Wylie 51,251 $98,484 $253,100
27 Richardson 118,583 $85,350 $295,500
28 Carrollton 137,319 $82,345 $267,100
29 Grapevine 54,151 $94,363 $338,700
30 Sunnyvale 6,664 $134,080 $397,800
31 Shady Shores 2,888 $117,083 $324,900
32 Hackberry 2,426 $105,741 $282,500
33 Rowlett 65,426 $103,627 $237,300
34 Sachse 25,888 $109,098 $259,100
35 The Colony 43,791 $87,748 $244,400
36 Mckinney 191,197 $100,775 $327,800
37 Melissa 10,774 $117,750 $320,200
38 Bedford 49,145 $71,644 $234,700
39 Roanoke 8,810 $100,888 $341,300
40 Celina 13,608 $114,807 $317,100
41 Addison 15,428 $75,235 $348,200
42 Rockwall 45,168 $100,894 $276,400
43 Fate 14,300 $109,481 $282,100
44 Northlake 3,182 $92,750 $435,900
45 Fairview 8,998 $89,583 $408,200
46 Hickory Creek 4,716 $121,913 $326,100
47 Oak Point 5,077 $102,946 $301,300
48 Corinth 21,881 $104,239 $269,900
49 Allen 104,040 $113,719 $323,500
50 Murphy 20,711 $140,828 $374,000
51 Parker 4,920 $168,811 $642,100
52 Lavon 3,504 $95,286 $244,800
53 Providence 7,732 $84,243 $322,300
54 Frisco 188,387 $128,761 $420,700
55 Heath 9,069 $174,154 $523,900
56 Double Oak 3,099 $167,000 $493,500
57 Prosper 25,887 $153,777 $482,700
58 Flower Mound 78,854 $139,703 $376,500
59 Mclendon-Chisholm 3,521 $155,667 $452,400
60 Keller 46,885 $149,342 $412,800
61 Colleyville 26,766 $171,485 $567,600
62 Trophy Club 11,904 $155,635 $444,800
63 Lucas 8,137 $174,500 $650,000
64 Argyle 4,278 $190,500 $514,400
65 Coppell 41,494 $128,476 $414,000
66 Highland 19,012 $146,177 $599,700
67 University Park 25,027 $247,716 $1,351,400
68 Highland Park 9,143 $218,611 $1,451,300
69 Southlake 31,684 $223,621 $697,000

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 Plano.
 Worst