Collin County is located in the U.S. state of

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

. It is part of the

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

- Fort Worth- Arlington

metropolitan statistical area In the United States, a metropolitan statistical area (MSA) is a geographical region with a relatively high population density at its core and close economic ties throughout the area. Such regions are neither legally Incorporated town, incorporate ...

, and a small portion of the city of Dallas is in the county. At the 2020 United States census, the county's population is 1,064,465, making it the sixth-most populous county in Texas and the 43rd-largest county by population in the United States. Its

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US ...

is McKinney.

History

Both the county and the county seat were named after Collin McKinney (1766-1861), one of the five men who drafted the Texas Declaration of Independence and the oldest of the 59 men who signed it.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has an area of , of which is land and (5.1%) is covered by water.

Lakes

* Lavon Lake

Major highways

Adjacent counties

* Grayson County (north) * Fannin County (northeast) *

Hunt County Hunt County is a county in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 99,956. Its county seat is Greenville. The county is named for Memucan Hunt, Jr., the first Republic of Texas Minister to the United States from ...

(east) *

Rockwall County Rockwall County is a county in the U.S. state of Texas. At 149 square miles, Rockwall County has the smallest area of any Texas county. Per the 2020 Census, its population was 107,819. Its county seat is Rockwall. The county and city are named ...

(southeast) * Dallas County (south) * Denton County (west)

Communities

Cities (shared with other counties)

* Carrollton (mostly in

and Denton counties) * Celina (small part in Denton County) *

(mostly in Dallas County with small parts in Denton, Kaufman, Rockwall and Collin counties) * Frisco (partly in Denton County) *

Garland A garland is a decorative braid, knot or wreath of flowers, leaves, or other material. Garlands can be worn on the head or around the neck, hung on an inanimate object, or laid in a place of cultural or religious importance. Etymology From the ...

(mostly in Dallas County and a small part in

) * Josephine (small part in

) * Plano (small part in Denton County) * Prosper (partly in Denton County) *

Richardson Richardson may refer to: People * Richardson (surname), an English and Scottish surname * Richardson Gang, a London crime gang in the 1960s * Richardson Dilworth, Mayor of Philadelphia (1956-1962) Places Australia *Richardson, Australian Capi ...

(mostly in Dallas County) * Royse City (mostly in

and partly

) * Sachse (mostly in Dallas County) * Van Alstyne (mostly in Grayson County) * Wylie (small parts in Rockwall and

counties)

Cities

* Allen * Anna * Blue Ridge * Celina * Farmersville * Lavon *

Lowry Crossing Lowry Crossing is a city in Collin County, Texas, United States. The population was 1,711 at the 2010 census. Geography Lowry Crossing is located at . According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , all of it land. ...

* Lucas * McKinney (County Seat) * Melissa * Murphy *

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a state in the Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the 7th-most extensive, ...

Parker Parker may refer to: Persons * Parker (given name) * Parker (surname) Places Place names in the United States *Parker, Arizona *Parker, Colorado *Parker, Florida *Parker, Idaho *Parker, Kansas *Parker, Missouri *Parker, North Carolina *Parker, Pe ...

* Princeton * Weston

Towns

* Fairview *

Hebron Hebron ( ar, الخليل or ; he, חֶבְרוֹן ) is a State of Palestine, Palestinian. city in the southern West Bank, south of Jerusalem. Nestled in the Judaean Mountains, it lies Above mean sea level, above sea level. The second-lar ...

(mostly in Denton County) * New Hope * St. Paul Prosper

Census-designated places

* Seis Lagos *

Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Buck ...

Unincorporated communities

* Altoga *

Arnold Arnold may refer to: People * Arnold (given name), a masculine given name * Arnold (surname), a German and English surname Places Australia * Arnold, Victoria, a small town in the Australian state of Victoria Canada * Arnold, Nova Scotia Uni ...

* Beverly Hill * Bloomdale *

Branch A branch, sometimes called a ramus in botany, is a woody structural member connected to the central trunk of a tree (or sometimes a shrub). Large branches are known as boughs and small branches are known as twigs. The term '' twig'' usually ...

Buckner Buckner may refer to: People * Buckner H. Payne (1799-1889), American clergyman, publisher, and racist pamphleteer *Buckner Thruston (1763–1845), U.S. Senator and judge from Kentucky * Buckner (surname) Music * Buckner & Garcia was an American ...

* Chambersville * Chambliss * Clear Lake * Climax * Collin * Copeville * Cowley * Culleoka * Deep Water Point Estates * Desert * Fayburg *

Forest Grove A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

* Frognot * Kelly * Lavon Beach Estates * Lavon Shores Estates * Little Ridge * Marilee * Milligan * Millwood * New Mesquite * Pebble Beach Sunset Acres * Pecan Grove * Pike * Rhea Mills * Rockhill * Roland * Sedalia * Snow Hill * Trinity Park * Valdasta *

Verona Verona ( , ; vec, Verona or ) is a city on the Adige River in Veneto, Italy, with 258,031 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region. It is the largest city municipality in the region and the second largest in nor ...

* Walnut Grove * Wetsel * Winningkoff * Yucote Acres

Historical communities

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to Lebanon–Syria border, the north and east and Israel to Blue ...

* Lolaville *

Renner Renner may refer to: A mathematical turn Renner, foot per pound. The Renner(ˈrɛnɚ; rEh-ner; symbol:R) is a derived unit of energy. It is equal to the energy transferred to (or work done on) an object when one pound of force on an object in a dir ...

* Shepton

Ghost towns

* Biggers * Nickelville * Parris

Demographics

In 2000, the U.S. Census Bureau determined 491,675 people resided in Collin County. With the economic and population growth of the

Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex The Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, officially designated Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget, is a conurbated metropolitan statistical area in the U.S. state of Texas encompassing 11 counties and ancho ...

, its population increased to 1,064,465 at the 2020 U.S. census. The population density as of 2019 was 1,229.8 people per square mile. Among the population, its median age was 37.3, up from the statewide median age of 35.1. Linguistically, 11.6% of the county spoke Spanish as their household language, followed by Asian and Pacific Islander languages. Altogether 29.7% of Collin County spoke a language other than English at home, contributed in part by its large foreign-born population which made up 22% of the population according to 2019 estimates from the American Community Survey. The

median income The median income is the income amount that divides a population into two equal groups, half having an income above that amount, and half having an income below that amount. It may differ from the mean (or average) income. Both of these are ways of ...

for a household in the county as of 2019 was $96,134, up from $70,835 in 2000. Families had a median household income of $113,471, married-couple families $127,575, and non-family households $53,986. An estimated 6.3% of Collin County's residents lived at or below the poverty line from 2014 to 2019. In 2000, about 3.30% of families and 4.90% of the population lived at or below the poverty line, including 5.10% of those under age 18 and 7.10% of those aged 65 and older. Of its residential properties, the median value of an owner-occupied housing unit was $354,100 in 2019, with a total of 8% of owner-occupied housing units ranging from less than $100,000 up to $200,000. In 2007, Collin County was ranked No. 21 for high property taxes in the U.S. as percentage of the homes' value on owner-occupied housing. It also tanked in the top 100 for amount of property taxes paid and for percentage of taxes of income. Part is this is due to the

Robin Hood plan The Robin Hood plan was a media nickname given to legislation enacted by the U.S. state of Texas in 1993 to provide court-mandated equitable school financing for all school districts in the state, in response to the Texas Supreme Court's ruling ...

school financing system in Texas.

Race and ethnicity

''Note: the U.S. Census Bureau treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos can be of any race.'' At the 2000 census, the racial and ethnic makeup of the county was 81.39%

White White is the lightness, lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully diffuse reflection, reflect and scattering, scatter all the ...

, 4.79% Black or African American, 0.47% Native American, 6.92% Asian, 0.05%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the Pacific Islands. As an ethnic/racial term, it is used to describe the original peoples—inhabitants and diasporas—of any of the three major subregions of Ocea ...

, 4.26% from other races, and 2.11% from two or more races; 10.27% of the population were

Hispanic or Latino American Hispanic and Latino Americans ( es, Estadounidenses hispanos y latinos; pt, Estadunidenses hispânicos e latinos) are Americans of Spanish and/or Latin American ancestry. More broadly, these demographics include all Americans who identify as ...

of any race. In 2019, the American Community Survey estimated its

non-Hispanic white Non-Hispanic whites or Non-Latino whites are Americans who are classified as "white", and are not of Hispanic (also known as "Latino") heritage. The United States Census Bureau defines ''white'' to include European Americans, Middle Eastern Am ...

population now represented 55%, reflecting a national demographic trend of diversification. The Black or African American population grew to 10%, Asian Americans made up 16% of the population, and Hispanic or Latino Americans increased to 16% of the total population in 2019; multiracial Americans made up an estimated 2% of the county population. The largest European ancestry groups from 2014 to 2019 were

Germans , native_name_lang = de , region1 = , pop1 = 72,650,269 , region2 = , pop2 = 534,000 , region3 = , pop3 = 157,000 3,322,405 , region4 = , pop4 = ...

English Americans English Americans (historically known as Anglo-Americans) are Americans whose ancestry originates wholly or partly in England. In the 2020 American Community Survey, 25.21 million self-identified as being of English origin. The term is distin ...

, and Irish and

Italian Americans Italian Americans ( it, italoamericani or ''italo-americani'', ) are Americans who have full or partial Italian ancestry. The largest concentrations of Italian Americans are in the urban Northeast and industrial Midwestern urban areas, metro ...

. By the publication of the 2020 census, the racial and ethnic makeup of Collin County was 50.96% non-Hispanic white, 10.16% Black or African American, 0.36% American Indian or Alaska Native, 17.70% Asian, 0.06% Pacific Islander, 0.46% some other race, 4.41% multiracial, and 15.89% Hispanic or Latino American of any race.

Religion

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesu ...

has historically been the predominant religious affiliation among the county's residents as part of the

Bible Belt The Bible Belt is a region of the Southern United States in which socially conservative Protestant Christianity plays a strong role in society and politics, and church attendance across the denominations is generally higher than the nation's av ...

. According to the 2020

Public Religion Research Institute The Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) is an American nonprofit, nonpartisan research and education organization that conducts public opinion polls on a variety of topics, specializing in the quantitative and qualitative study of politi ...

study, non-Christian religions are present and have been growing, largely due to migration into the county; among the non-Christian population, 3% were Hindu, 2% Muslim and 2%

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

. Overall among its Christian population, Baptists, Methodists,

Catholics The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

and non- or inter-denominational Christians have been prominent.

Government, courts, and politics

Government

Collin County, like all counties in Texas, is governed by a

Commissioners Court A commissioner (commonly abbreviated as Comm'r) is, in principle, a member of a commission or an individual who has been given a commission (official charge or authority to do something). In practice, the title of commissioner has evolved to in ...

. The court is chaired by a county judge (equivalent to a county executive in other states) who is elected county-wide, and four commissioners who are elected by the voters in each of four precincts.

County Commissioners

County officials

Politics

Since the 1960s, Collin County has consistently supported Republican candidates in

presidential President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese fu ...

and

congressional A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

elections. The last Democrat to win the county was Lyndon Johnson in

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 - In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patriarc ...

. No Democrat has represented any part of Collin County in the

Texas Legislature The Texas Legislature is the state legislature of the US state of Texas. It is a bicameral body composed of a 31-member Senate and a 150-member House of Representatives. The state legislature meets at the Capitol in Austin. It is a powerful a ...

since 1994. In 2020, Collin County had become a political

bellwether A bellwether is a leader or an indicator of trends.bellwether
" ''Cambridge Dictionary''. Re ...

State Board of Education member

Texas State Representatives

Texas State Senators

United States House of Representatives

Education

K-12 education

The following school districts lie entirely within Collin County: * Allen Independent School District *

Anna Independent School District Anna Independent School District is a public school district based in Anna, Texas (USA). In addition to Anna, the district serves parts of Weston as well as the community of Westminster. History Anna ISD's original colors were Blue and Gold ...

Farmersville Independent School District Farmersville Independent School District is a public school district based in Farmersville, Texas ( USA). In 2009, the school district was rated " academically acceptable" by the Texas Education Agency. Schools *Farmersville High School Fa ...

* Lovejoy Independent School District * McKinney Independent School District * Melissa Independent School District * Plano Independent School District * Princeton Independent School District * Wylie Independent School District The following districts lie partly within the county: * Bland Independent School District (very small part only) * Blue Ridge Independent School District * Celina Independent School District * Community Independent School District * Frisco Independent School District *

Gunter Independent School District Gunter Independent School District is a public school district based in Gunter, Texas ( USA). Located in Gunter, Grayson County, the district extends into a very small portion of northern Collin County. It previously served high school stud ...

(very small part) *

Leonard Independent School District Leonard Independent School District is a public school district based in Leonard, Texas (USA The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United St ...

(very small part only) * Prosper Independent School District *

Rockwall Independent School District Rockwall Independent School District is a public school district based in Rockwall, Texas ( USA). In addition to Rockwall, the district serves the cities of Heath, McLendon-Chisholm, Mobile City, most of Fate, and small portions of Rowle ...

Royse City Independent School District Royse City Independent School District is a public school district based in Royse City, Texas (USA). The district lies in eastern Rockwall County, and extends into parts of Collin and Hunt counties. The district's superintendent is Kevin Wort ...

* Trenton Independent School District (very small part only) * Van Alstyne Independent School District (very small part only) * Whitewright Independent School District (very small part only) In the 1990s Plano ISD received many non-Hispanic white families leaving urban areas. From circa 1997 and 2015 the number of non-Hispanic white children in K-12 schools in the county increased by 40,000 as part of a trend of white flight and suburbanization by non-Hispanic white families; however the same number of Plano ISD in particular decreased by 10,000 in that period.

Colleges and universities

Collin College opened its first campus on Highway 380 in McKinney in 1985. The college has grown to seven campuses/locations—two in McKinney and two in Plano and as well as Frisco, Allen, Rockwall, Wylie, Farmersville, and Celina. Collin College's official service area includes all of Collin County. Dallas Baptist University also has an extension site in Frisco, DBU Frisco, as well as the

University of North Texas The University of North Texas (UNT) is a public research university in Denton, Texas. It was founded as a nonsectarian, coeducational, private teachers college in 1890 and was formally adopted by the state 11 years later."Denton Normal Schoo ...

's extension side, UNT Frisco. The majority of the University of Texas at Dallas campus in Richardson, Texas lies within Collin County.

Parks

* Bratonia Park * Myers Park * Parkhill Prairie * Sister Grove Park * Trinity Trail *

Heard Natural Science Museum and Wildlife Sanctuary A private 501(c)3 nonprofit organization founded in 1967, the Heard Natural Science Museum & Wildlife Sanctuary is located in McKinney, Texas, United States. With a 289-acre wildlife sanctuary, five miles of hiking trails, about fifty acres of wet ...

Media

Collin County is part of the

/ Fort Worth media market. Local media outlets are: KDFW-TV,

KXAS-TV KXAS-TV (channel 5) is a television station licensed to Fort Worth, Texas, United States, broadcasting NBC programming to the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. It is owned and operated by the network's NBC Owned Television Stations division alon ...

, WFAA-TV, KTVT-TV, KERA-TV, KTXA-TV, KDFI-TV, KDAF-TV, and

KFWD-TV KFWD, virtual channel 52 ( VHF digital channel 9), is a ShopHQ- affiliated television station licensed to Fort Worth, Texas, United States and serving the Dallas–Fort Worth Metroplex. The station is owned by Rye Brook, New York-based WRNN-T ...

. Other nearby stations that provide coverage for Collin County come from the Sherman/ Denison market and they include:

KTEN-TV KTEN (channel 10) is a television station licensed to Ada, Oklahoma, United States, serving the Sherman, Texas–Ada, Oklahoma market as an affiliate of NBC, The CW Plus, and ABC. The station is owned by Lockwood Broadcast Group, and maintains p ...

and

KXII-TV KXII (channel 12) is a television station licensed to Sherman, Texas, United States, serving the Sherman, Texas– Ada, Oklahoma market as an affiliate of CBS, MyNetworkTV, and Fox. Owned by Gray Television, the station maintains studios on T ...

. Newspapers in the Collin County area include the ''

Allen American The ''Allen American'' is a weekly local newspaper in Allen, Texas founded in 1970. It is currently operated by Star Media. In 1972 it swept the East Texas Press Association Awards, being judged the best publication in local news writing, general ...

'', ''Celina Record'', ''Farmersville Times'', ''Frisco Enterprise'', '' McKinney Courier-Gazette'', and the ''Plano Star-Courier''. Nearby publications ''

The Dallas Morning News ''The Dallas Morning News'' is a daily newspaper serving the Dallas–Fort Worth area of Texas, with an average print circulation of 65,369. It was founded on October 1, 1885 by Alfred Horatio Belo as a satellite publication of the ''The Galves ...

'' and the ''

Fort Worth Star-Telegram The ''Fort Worth Star-Telegram'' is an American daily newspaper serving Fort Worth and Tarrant County, the western half of the North Texas area known as the Metroplex. It is owned by The McClatchy Company. History In May 1905, Amon G. Carter ...

'' also provide news coverage of cities in the county.

Notable people

* Collin McKinney (1766-1861) Politician, businessman, and co-author of the Texas Declaration of Independence * Griff Barnett (1884-1958) Actor born in Blue Ridge * Josh Blaylock (Born 1990) Actor and photographer born in Plano *

Samuel Bogart Samuel Bogart (2 April 1797 – 11 March 1861) was an itinerant Methodist minister and militia captain from Ray County, Missouri who played a prominent role in the 1838 Missouri Mormon War before later moving to Collin County, Texas, where h ...

(1797-1861) * Casey Dick (Born 1986) Football player born in Lucas *

Russell E. Dickenson Russell Errett Dickenson (April 12, 1923 – February 19, 2008) began his National Park Service (NPS) career as a ranger at Grand Canyon National Park in 1946 and served in a wide range of park and central office assignments — most prominently ...

(1923-2008) Park ranger born in Melissa * Julie Doyle (Born 1996) Soccer player for Sky Blue FC ( NWSL) born in Fairview * Devin Duvernay (Born 1997) Football player for

Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The team plays it ...

born in Sachse * King Fisher (1853-1884) Texas rancher and gunfighter born in Collin County *

James R. Gough James Rowland Gough (December 31, 1860 - November 19, 1916) was a Texan State Senator. Early years J. R. Gough was born in Collin County, Texas, on 31 December 1860. His father had been one of the earlier pioneers in Texas, settling in what i ...

(1860-1916) Texas State Senator born in Collin County * Frank Shelby Groner (1877-1943) Lawyer, pastor, and educator born near Weston *

Aubrey Otis Hampton Aubrey Otis Hampton (September 10, 1900 in Copeville, Texas – July 17, 1955 in Weare, New Hampshire) was an American radiologist remembered for describing Hampton's hump and Hampton's line. He graduated from Baylor College of Medicine in 1925, ...

(1900-1955) Radiologist born in Copeville * Warren Glenn Harding Sr. (1921-2005) Texas State Treasurer born in Princeton * Jimmie C. Holland (1928-2017) Founder of the field of psycho-oncology, born in Nevada *

Sam Johnson Samuel Robert Johnson (October 11, 1930May 27, 2020) was an American politician who served as the U.S. representative for in Congress from 1991 to 2019. He was a member of the Republican Party. In October and November 2015, he was the acting ...

(1930-2020) Politician who represented Collin County and Texas's 3rd District in US House of Representatives * Kyler Murray (Born 1997) Football player for

Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West division, an ...

from Allen *

Bumper Pool Bumper pool is a cue sport played on an rectangular (or sometimes octagonal) table fitted with two pockets and an array of fixed cushioned obstacles, called bumpers, within the interior of the table surface. Table Typically, bumper pool table ...

, Football player born in Lucas * Jason Ralph (Born 1986), Actor born in McKinney * James W. Throckmorton (1825-1894) 12th Governor of Texas, lived and is buried in McKinney

References

External links

Collin County government's website

1846 Plat of Buckner
the first county seat of Collin County, from the Collin County Historical Society, hosted by th
Portal to Texas History

Life in Collin County

Collin County in ''Handbook of Texas Online''
at the

University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

Collin Chronicles
hosted by th
Portal to Texas History

Texas State Election History
* {{Coord, 33.18, -96.58, display=title, type:adm2nd_region:US-TX_source:UScensus1990 1846 establishments in Texas Populated places established in 1846 Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex counties