The 4th fastest-growing city in America: one school district, US-75 frontage, and a tax base of its own.
Curious how Melissa stacks up against nearby options? Let's talk through current inventory, new-build timelines, and off-market opportunities tailored to you.
Melissa is genuinely one of the fastest-growing cities in the United States. Census Bureau estimates released in May 2026 ranked it 4th among US cities of 20,000+ residents for growth from mid-2024 to mid-2025, at +14.5% in a single year, and the top five were all in Texas. It sits directly on US-75 about 38 miles north of downtown Dallas, in northeast Collin County, and it is unmistakably in an active building phase: new subdivisions, new schools, new retail. Two things set it apart from its neighbors. First, it is served by a single school district, Melissa ISD, where Lucas has six and Murphy has two. Second, it is actually building a commercial tax base rather than living purely off rooftops: the Melissa Industrial Park along SH-121, and Dutch Bros’ $13 million, 65,000-square-foot coffee roasting facility that opened in 2024. It is also the most attainable of the northeast Collin County cities, with a median household income of $138,763 (ACS 2024 5-year). The trade is distance. This is the furthest out of the bunch.
Active new-construction growth market: new subdivisions, new schools, new retail, on a young-family profile
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 535-acre master-planned residential community developed by Hillwood Communities, opened in 2003. It is the most established large community in Melissa.
An actively selling new-construction community in Melissa, built out by two production builders, UnionMain Homes and K. Hovnanian Homes.
A new-construction community in Melissa with an unusually mixed makeup. Its for-sale side is built by Meritage Homes (marketed as Signature and Premier series) and Trophy Signature Homes, with homes zoned to North Creek Elementary in Melissa ISD.
A Melissa subdivision with an HOA management certificate on file with the Texas homeowners association registry, in a city that went from rural town to new-construction suburb in under two decades. The housing stock is correspondingly young, and Melissa ISD is growing alongside it.
Recent suburban development with a registered HOA. Melissa was rural until the mid-2000s and nearly all its housing has been built since, which makes this one of the youngest housing stocks in Collin County and one of the more affordable ways into a newish home with US 75 access.
An established Melissa neighborhood with its own namesake city park, Country Ridge Park.
An established Melissa neighborhood, notable enough in the city's history that North Creek Elementary is named for it. It is conventional suburban single-family housing on settled streets, in a city that has grown from rural to suburban since the mid-2000s and is still building out around its established cores.
Understanding Melissa'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
29,969
US Census Bureau estimate, July 1, 2025. Use this rather than the ACS 5-year figure (20,136), which averages 2020-2024 and badly understates a city growing this fast.
One-Year Growth
+14.5%
July 2024 to July 2025, per Census Bureau estimates released May 2026. That is 4th fastest in the United States among cities of 20,000+. The top five nationally were all Texas cities: Celina, Fulshear, Princeton, Melissa and Anna.
Median Household Income
$138,763
US Census ACS 2024 5-year estimate. Comfortably above the Texas and national medians, and the most attainable of the northeast Collin County cities.
Median Age
36.3 years
US Census ACS 2024 5-year estimate. A young-family, new-construction profile.
Homeownership Rate
88.7%
Computed from US Census ACS 2024 5-year table B25003: 5,470 owner-occupied of 6,169 occupied units.
Melissa High SchoolHigh
Grades 9-12, Melissa ISD.
East Cardinal Middle SchoolMiddle
Grades 7-8, Melissa ISD. Opened for the 2025-26 school year.
Melissa Sixth Grade CenterMiddle
Grade 6, Melissa ISD.
Harry McKillop Elementary SchoolElementary
Grades K-5, Melissa ISD.
Highland Elementary SchoolElementary
Grades K-5, Melissa ISD. Opened for the 2025-26 school year.
North Creek Elementary SchoolElementary
Grades K-5, Melissa ISD.
Sumeer Elementary SchoolElementary
Grades K-5, Melissa ISD.
Willow Wood Elementary SchoolElementary
Grades K-5, Melissa ISD.
Melissa Ridge Education CenterElementary
Early childhood / Pre-K and kindergarten campus, Melissa ISD.
Moving to Melissa 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 Melissa plan comes together smoothly.
Answers to common questions about living, buying, and relocating to Melissa, Texas.
Melissa ISD, and only Melissa ISD. The district serves the entire city (plus small portions of Weston and McKinney). That is a genuinely meaningful advantage over its neighbors: Lucas is served by six districts and Murphy is split between two, so in both of those cities the district you get depends on the address. In Melissa, it does not. The district is growing with the city, opening Highland Elementary and East Cardinal Middle School for the 2025-26 school year under its “Melissa Move” plan.
Very fast, and this is not marketing. It is the Census Bureau. Estimates released in May 2026 ranked Melissa the 4th fastest-growing city in the United States among cities of 20,000+ residents for the period mid-2024 to mid-2025, at +14.5% in a single year. Its estimated population was 29,969 as of July 1, 2025. The five fastest-growing such cities in the country were all Texas cities: Celina, Fulshear, Princeton, Melissa and Anna.
About 29,969, per the US Census Bureau’s July 1, 2025 estimate. You will still see 20,136 quoted in places. That is the ACS 2024 5-year estimate, which averages 2020 through 2024 and is badly stale for a city growing 14.5% a year. Use the 2025 estimate.
The US Census ACS 2024 5-year estimate puts the median value of an owner-occupied home at about $454,000, and Redfin’s median sale price for the three months ending May 2026 was $435,000. Melissa is the most attainable of the northeast Collin County cities: median household income here is $138,763, against $175,699 in Murphy and $221,364 in Lucas. Most of what you will tour is new construction.
Almost certainly not in the way that number sounds. Redfin reported a -13.9% year-over-year change in the median sale price, but Melissa’s market is dominated by new construction, and in that kind of market the median moves with the MIX of homes that closed (builders shifting to smaller floor plans, or leaning on incentives and rate buydowns) as much as with what any given home is worth. It is not evidence that existing Melissa homes lost 14% of their value. If you want a real read on your house, ask your agent to compare like-for-like: same size, same age, same neighborhood.
The ACS mean travel time to work for Melissa residents is 33.6 minutes (US Census ACS 2024 5-year), the longest of its neighbors, which is the plain trade you are making for the price. Melissa sits about 38 miles north of downtown Dallas with direct US-75 frontage, and it is one of the last US-75 exits before the Grayson County line. The highway access is a genuine advantage; the distance is a genuine cost, and US-75 southbound through McKinney and Allen is one of the region’s most congested stretches at peak. Drive it from the actual house at 7:30am before you buy.
Melissa is still primarily a commuter city: most residents drive south on US-75 to McKinney, Allen, Plano and Frisco. But it is the one city in this part of Collin County actively building a real commercial and light-industrial tax base rather than living on rooftops alone. Dutch Bros opened a $13 million, 65,000-square-foot coffee roasting facility here in 2024, and the Melissa Industrial Park is a 27-acre light-industrial development along SH-121 with buildings from 10,000 to 50,000 square feet. Melissa ISD, with nine campuses, is the largest in-city employer.
That you are negotiating with a builder, not a seller. The money moves through incentives, rate buydowns and lot premiums, not usually through the sticker price, and a builder’s contract is not the standard TREC resale contract, so have someone read it who has read one before. Expect construction around you for years, since the city is mid-build-out, and expect the neighborhood list to be out of date almost immediately: Melissa routinely carries 600+ new-construction listings across many active communities.
Have more questions about Melissa? Contact Mali at yourealtordfw@gmail.com or call (972) 408-6939.
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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 Melissa 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.
Attendance boundaries are set by the district, not the city, and they get redrawn as new campuses open. A campus being the closest one is not the same as being the assigned one. 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
Melissa ISD · Grades K-5
Melissa ISD · Grades PreK
Melissa ISD · Grades K-5
Melissa ISD · Grades K-5
Melissa ISD · Grades 6-8
Melissa ISD · Grades 9-12
Melissa homes are taxed by 4 separate governments, and the combined 2025 adopted rate is 1.91% 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Melissa ISD | 1.224500 | 64% |
| City of Melissa | 0.454116 | 24% |
| Collin County | 0.149343 | 8% |
| College district | 0.081220 | 4% |
| Combined | 1.909179 | 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 Melissa budgets.
No exemption
$9,546
What an investor or second-home owner pays.
With homestead
$7,577
Effective rate 1.5154% of market value.
You keep
$1,969
Per year, once the exemption is filed and granted.
| Unit | Exemption | Taxed on | Tax |
|---|---|---|---|
| Melissa ISD | $140,000 | $360,000 | $4,408 |
| City | $30,000 | $470,000 | $2,134 |
| County | $25,000 | $475,000 | $709 |
| College district | $100,000 | $400,000 | $325 |
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 Melissa 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 Melissa 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.