McKinney, Frisco Rank Among Best U.S. Cities for Jobs and Wages

Frisco wages have climbed 33 percent since 2019, a number that helped push the city to No. 11 in a CoworkingCafe analysis ranking the best small U.S. cities for career opportunities. McKinney came in at No. 20. Together, the two Collin County cities placed higher than all but ten other small cities in the country, out of nearly 300 evaluated.

CoworkingCafe, a branch of the Yardi real estate technology network, scored cities across 19 metrics including income, job density, housing affordability, remote-work readiness, and labor force participation. The real question those metrics are trying to answer is one that anyone watching their grocery and rent bills knows well: once the fixed costs are covered, how much of the paycheck is actually left?

In Frisco, the math looks favorable. The city's median household income sits at $145,444, and its labor force participation rate of 74.2 percent ranked 12th nationally. The study noted an employer base "supported by 3,050 establishments per 100,000 residents," alongside near-universal fiber access and strong healthcare infrastructure, as factors that give Frisco's workforce both options and stability.

McKinney's case rests more squarely on affordability. The city's median household income reached $124,177, up 24 percent over the last five years, and rent consumes roughly 25.3 percent of household income there. Average monthly rent runs around $1,671, one of the more accessible figures in the Dallas-Fort Worth suburbs for a city with McKinney's income profile. CoworkingCafe described it as offering the "perfect balance between affordability, opportunity and amenities" for professionals seeking career traction without a cost-of-living penalty.

The ranking also placed Flower Mound, in neighboring Denton County, at No. 15, and Allen, another Collin County city, at No. 43. That cluster across the northern Dallas suburbs points to a broader labor-market shift: the region's outer ring has developed enough employer density and income depth to compete with urban cores on career fundamentals, not just cost.

That momentum brings pressure. Sustained job and population growth in Collin County has tightened housing supply, stressed traffic corridors, and pushed school capacity in both McKinney and Frisco. Maintaining the affordability ratios that earned both cities high marks requires the kind of coordinated planning on housing and transportation infrastructure that tends to lag well behind growth curves. The McKinney Economic Development Corporation and the McKinney Innovation Fund both maintain resources connecting residents to local openings, workforce training, and employer networks for those looking to take advantage of the market conditions the ranking describes.