What is considered as a good salary in Plano, TX? (Dallas: apartments, renting)

[USMove]

Hi,
We are probably moving to Texas because of company transfer from UK. I would like to understand what is considered as a good salary in Plano. This is so that we can analyse whether it would be the right decision for us. We are a family of 4 with 2 young children - 6 year and 1 year old. If we want to live around Plano, what should be the household income to lead a good life, if not a very lavish one.
Thanks.

[TurtleCreek80]

Plano is a HUGE suburb! Do you know where in Plano the office is? The average Plano home price overall is around $200k, but in West Plano you'd be hard-pressed to find a house that cheap (avg price closer to $400-600k) while in East Plano you can find homes around $100k. Amenities such as shopping, schools, crime, age of home, highway access, etc also vary greatly from one part of Plano to the next.

It's hard to give you an income range without knowing your lifestyle expectations. An income around $80k would be plenty to buy an "average" Plano home, but if you want to live in a place like WillowBend in West Plano, you'd want an income in the $200k+ range. It depends on so many factors!

[TX75007]

What profession are you in?

[MckinneyOwnr]

Are you a two wage earner family? With a household income of $100k, you can live in Plano, even in West Plano. The entire area from US75 to Preston Road, between Plano Pkwy and Legacy has plenty of homes in the 2-300k range, very affordable with a 100k hh income.

Further west than Preston Rd though, $400k and up homes are the norm, some in the millions.

[USMove]

My hubby's office would be in 75075 Zip code. Thanks for all the information though.

Originally Posted by TurtleCreek80

Plano is a HUGE suburb! Do you know where in Plano the office is? The average Plano home price overall is around $200k, but in West Plano you'd be hard-pressed to find a house that cheap (avg price closer to $400-600k) while in East Plano you can find homes around $100k. Amenities such as shopping, schools, crime, age of home, highway access, etc also vary greatly from one part of Plano to the next.

It's hard to give you an income range without knowing your lifestyle expectations. An income around $80k would be plenty to buy an "average" Plano home, but if you want to live in a place like WillowBend in West Plano, you'd want an income in the $200k+ range. It depends on so many factors!

[USMove]

Originally Posted by TX75007

What profession are you in?

Well, my hubby's is into Telecom. But I would have to quit my job here in UK and search there afresh as a Financial IT person. So at the moment it would be just one person earning.

[USMove]

Originally Posted by MckinneyOwnr

Are you a two wage earner family? With a household income of $100k, you can live in Plano, even in West Plano. The entire area from US75 to Preston Road, between Plano Pkwy and Legacy has plenty of homes in the 2-300k range, very affordable with a 100k hh income.

Further west than Preston Rd though, $400k and up homes are the norm, some in the millions.

Thanks for all the information, MckinneyOwnr. To start with, we will be only a single earner family as I will have to quit my job here in UK and look for something near Plano after we move.

[TheOverdog]

75075 is south central Plano basically between Coit Road and Custer Road to the east/west and maybe Park Blvd to the North and PGB Tollway to the south. Older homes, but on larger lots than many other parts of the city (.25 of an acre vs .10). They are also very affordable in general (get a perfectly good home starting about $200k)and schools are close by. If I were you, I'd buy in that zipcode and bike or walk to work. West Plano (the nicer part of town) is a 10 minute drive to the west. Central Expressway towards downtown Dallas is a 5 minute drive to the east. DFW airport is a half hour away in regular traffic.

If you are considering renting, I'm not very impressed with Plano apartments in that zipcode, but they are building several new complexes nearby that look better so maybe by the time you get here they will be done.

As far as telecom, AT&T, Alcatel-Lucent, Techtronix, Dell, and some others have offices in that same zipcode, and the Richardson telecom corredor is close by (but a surprisingly long commute timewise in traffic).

The downsides are that that restaurant choices in the neighborhood aren't the best (but access to better ones is very good), that the ranch house subdivisions are all very samey, and that the nearby stripmalls are horribly ugly.

The high school is Vines, the closest middle school seems to be named after a lady in the band Heart

That's my opinion after living in that zipcode for 4 years. My kids aren't old enough to attend school yet, so someone else will have to say if they are good or not.