The fastest-growing city in the country, where a Celina address does not mean Celina ISD.
Curious how Celina stacks up against nearby options? Let's talk through current inventory, new-build timelines, and off-market opportunities tailored to you.
Celina sits at the northern edge of Collin County, built around a historic downtown square just off Preston Road. The Census Bureau’s Vintage 2025 estimates made it the fastest-growing city in the United States, up 24.6% in a single year to roughly 64,400 residents. That growth is the story here: new master-planned communities, the city’s first full-service hospital, a school district building ten campuses on a $2.3B bond, and a school-zoning map that no longer lines up with the city limits. Buyers who assume a Celina address means Celina ISD are frequently wrong.
Master-planned new construction at the outer edge of the metroplex, wrapped around a small historic downtown
Summers are hot and sunny with highs in the mid-to-upper 90s°F. Winters stay mild - expect 50°F afternoons mixed with the occasional cold snap. North Texas averages 229 sunny days, roughly 41 inches of rain, and minimal snow each year.
Match your wish list - from walkable districts to gated communities - with these buyer favorites. Mali can share recent closings, HOA nuances, and off-market conversations for each pocket.
A 1,000+ acre Republic Property Group master-planned community inside Celina city limits, with roughly 13 miles of trails, five pools, an 11-acre lake and an on-site Farm Stand Market. Zoned to PROSPER ISD: Light Farms Elementary is a Prosper ISD campus with a Celina 75009 address.
A 682-acre Cambridge Companies community inside Celina city limits on the Prosper border, anchored by The Club at Mustang Lakes, resort pools and a private lake. Served by PROSPER ISD (Sam Johnson Elementary), not Celina ISD.
A Hillwood Communities development with a Celina city address that is served by PROSPER ISD. It is the clearest example of the city-limits-versus-school-district mismatch buyers hit here.
A 639-acre master-planned community at the Tollway and the Outer Loop with a fishing pond, eight miles of trails, a resort pool and pickleball. This one is zoned to CELINA ISD: Lykins Elementary, Moore Middle, Celina High.
An established Celina community with a resort-style pool, splash pad, playground and trails; builders have included Bloomfield, First Texas and M/I Homes. School zoning is not something to assume here; confirm it per address.
A Centurion American master-plan on roughly 300 acres at the Dallas North Tollway and Frontier Parkway, inside Celina city limits but carrying a 75078 Prosper mailing address. Planned for just over 1,000 homes and building out in phases since 2018, it pairs two amenity centers and a real trail system with lower dues and lower entry prices than Mustang Lakes - which is why it draws buyers who want the Prosper school address without the Prosper price.
The largest bet anyone has placed on Celina: a roughly 3,200-acre Centurion American master-plan near Legacy Drive and Celina Parkway, built around direct access to the Dallas North Tollway extension. Unlike Mustang Lakes and Creeks of Legacy, it is firmly Celina ISD, with two elementary campuses planned inside the community. Builder base prices start in the $310Ks, and a Del Webb 55+ section sits alongside family sections and a planned 18-hole golf course.
Understanding Celina's community composition helps buyers match lifestyle preferences with neighborhood character. The figures below reference recent American Community Survey estimates and city planning reports.
Total Population
≈64,427
Census Bureau Vintage 2025 estimate (as of July 1, 2025). Celina grew 24.6% (roughly 12,710 people) in one year, the fastest rate of any city in the US. The 2020 Census count of 16,739 is obsolete.
Median Household Income
$170,894
US Census ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimate. It is a five-year average, so it trails a city that has roughly quadrupled since 2020.
Median Age
34.7 years
US Census ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimate.
Homeownership Rate
92.7%
US Census ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimate (9,570 owner-occupied of 10,324 occupied units).
Celina High SchoolHigh
Celina ISD’s only high school as of 2026-27; a second comprehensive 6A high school is bond-funded and projected for roughly 2029-31. The football program has nine UIL state titles, most recently in 2024.
Jerry & Linda Moore Middle SchoolMiddle
Celina ISD, grades 7-8.
Marcy B. Lykins Elementary SchoolElementary
Celina ISD, PK-5. Serves Cambridge Crossing.
Donny O’Dell Elementary SchoolElementary
Celina ISD, PK-5.
Bobby Ray & Afton Martin Elementary SchoolElementary
Celina ISD, PK-5.
Tommie Dobie Bothwell Elementary SchoolElementary
Celina ISD, PK-5.
Margie Moore Vasquez Elementary SchoolElementary
Celina ISD’s fifth elementary, opened August 2025.
Light Farms Elementary SchoolElementary
A PROSPER ISD campus with a Celina address (1100 Cypress Creek Way, Celina 75009) serving the Light Farms community. Proof that a Celina address does not mean Celina ISD.
Moving to Celina means lining up the right vendor team, understanding seasonal weather shifts, and comparing neighborhoods before touring. Mali guides you through scouting trips, remote video tours, and negotiation strategy so your Celina plan comes together smoothly.
Get a free comparative market analysis to discover what your home is worth in today's Celina market.
Every North Texas suburb brings unique advantages. Whether you're weighing school ratings, commute times, or neighborhood character, Mali will map your priorities against current market inventory.
Every public campus inside Celina city limits, with the letter grade and score the Texas Education Agency published for it in 2025. Enrolment and grades come straight from TEA's accountability download and the federal school directory, so nothing here is a third-party score that nobody refreshes.
Celina is split across 2 school districts. Two houses on the same street can feed different districts, and boundaries in this corridor get redrawn most years as new campuses open. Confirm the assignment for the exact address with the district before you write an offer - and if the school is a reason you are buying, ask Mali to put the district's written confirmation in your file.
Collin County · 6 campuses in town
Collin County · 2 campuses in town
Celina ISD · Grades K-5
Celina ISD · Grades PreK
Prosper ISD · Grades PreK-5
Celina ISD · Grades K-5
Celina ISD · Grades K-5
Prosper ISD · Grades K-5
Celina ISD · Grades 6-8
Celina ISD · Grades 9-12
Celina homes are taxed by 4 separate governments, and the combined 2025 adopted rate is 2.02% per year of appraised value. That is the number before any exemption and before the special districts below - which is why the figure on a listing page and the figure on your first tax bill are so rarely the same.
| Taxing unit | Rate per $100 | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Celina ISD | 1.208900 | 60% |
| City of Celina | 0.576401 | 29% |
| Collin County | 0.149343 | 7% |
| College district | 0.081220 | 4% |
| Combined | 2.015864 | 100% |
Collin County has no hospital district, which is the main structural reason its cities run below their Dallas County neighbours rather than anything about how Celina budgets.
Starts at the Celina median single-family value.
No exemption
$10,616
What an investor or second-home owner pays.
With homestead
$8,798
Effective rate 1.6708% of market value.
You keep
$1,817
Per year, once the exemption is filed and granted.
| Unit | Exemption | Taxed on | Tax |
|---|---|---|---|
| Celina ISD | $140,000 | $386,600 | $4,674 |
| City | none adopted | $526,600 | $3,035 |
| County | $26,330 | $500,270 | $747 |
| College district | $105,320 | $421,280 | $342 |
Every school district in Texas must exempt $140,000 of a homestead's value. Cities, counties and college districts may each adopt up to 20% on top, and several here adopt nothing at all - which is why this has to be worked out one unit at a time rather than netted against the combined rate. Year one is billed at full market value; the 10% appraisal cap starts the January after your exemption is granted.
Collin County has 28 special districts levying their own rate on top of everything above - 23 Municipal Utility Districts, 3 Municipal Management Districts, 1 Water Control & Improvement Districts, 1 Fresh Water Supply Districts. Adopted 2025 rates run from 0.41 to 1.20 per $100. At the top of that range a district adds more than half again the entire Celina stack, and none of it is reduced by a homestead exemption.
These follow subdivision boundaries, not city limits, so two houses a mile apart in Celina can differ by a full point. They are most common in newer master-planned communities, because that is what the bonds paid to build.
A Public Improvement District is not a taxing unit. It is an assessment a city levies on the specific parcels that benefited from the roads, water and amenities its bonds paid for - set per parcel, absent from every rate table and every listing-site tax estimate, and not reduced by a homestead exemption because it is not a tax. It typically runs the life of the bonds, often 20 to 40 years, and can frequently be paid off in a lump sum. In a new-build community that is the difference between the budget you built and the payment you owe, and the option period is when you find out.
HOA dues are a private contract with the neighbourhood association. They are not on the tax bill, not collected by the county, not deductible, and not touched by any exemption - and a community can have an HOA and a MUD and a PID at once, which is the combination that catches people out. Ask for the dues, the transfer fee, the reserve study and any special assessment in writing, and read them alongside the tax bill rather than instead of it.
Answers to common questions about living, buying, and relocating to Celina, Texas.
Two districts serve the City of Celina: Celina ISD and Prosper ISD. Celina ISD covers most of the city, including the historic core and the northern portions. Prosper ISD serves southern and eastern parts of the city, including Light Farms, Mustang Lakes and Lilyana, which sit inside Celina city limits but are zoned to Prosper ISD. A Celina mailing address does not guarantee Celina ISD. Confirm the attendance zone for the specific address before you make an offer.
No. Both are inside Celina city limits but zoned to Prosper ISD. Light Farms Elementary is a Prosper ISD campus at a Celina 75009 address, and Mustang Lakes is served by Prosper ISD’s Sam Johnson Elementary. Lilyana is the same story. This is the single most common surprise for buyers in Celina, and it cuts both ways, since some families come here specifically for Prosper ISD.
The median sale price was about $496,000 for the three months ending May 2026 (Redfin), down 11.3% year over year, at roughly $185 per square foot. The ACS 2020-2024 median owner-reported home value is $509,600. New construction dominates sales here, so the median reflects builder inventory more than resale, and builder incentives are a big part of why prices softened.
Not yet. As of mid-2026 the tollway stops short of the city. The Phase 4A extension (about six miles and $460 million, running from US 380 through Prosper to FM 428 in Celina) is under construction and slated to open around fall 2027, with Phase 4B (FM 428 to the Grayson County line) queued behind it. Today, commuting south from Celina means Preston Road (SH 289) or US 380, both surface routes. Plan around what exists now, not what is coming.
Long, and mostly on arterials. Preston Road (SH 289) runs north-south through town, FM 455 runs east-west, and US 380 is the major corridor south of the city connecting to Frisco, McKinney and Denton. There is no freeway or tollway inside Celina today. Most working residents drive south to Frisco, Plano, McKinney and the Tollway corridor.
Faster than anywhere else in the country. The Census Bureau’s Vintage 2025 estimates put Celina at 64,427 residents as of July 1, 2025: a 24.6% jump, about 12,710 people, in one year, and the number-one growth rate among US cities (it also held the top spot in 2023). For context, the 2020 Census counted 16,739 people here. Any older population figure you see for Celina is almost certainly wrong.
It is a bedroom community, and honestly so. The largest employers are Celina ISD (about 815 people) and the City of Celina (about 366), followed by Methodist Celina Medical Center (about 220), Lowe’s (about 200) and Keller Williams - North Country (about 191). Only three employers in town exceed 200 people; nearly everyone commutes south.
Life centers on the Historic Downtown Square just west of Preston Road, where the city hosts more than 25 events a year: Celina Cajun Fest (billed as the largest crawfish boil in North Texas; the 14th annual was in May 2026), Splash & Blast, Beware! Of the Square and Christmas on the Square among them. Old Celina Park on FM 428 is the main sports park. And Friday nights matter: the Celina Bobcats have won nine UIL state football championships, most recently in 2024.
Have more questions about Celina? Contact Mali at yourealtordfw@gmail.com or call (972) 408-6939.