Plano housing study: city faces broad affordability gaps and a jobs-housing mismatch

The City of Plano's newly completed 2025 housing study, presented Oct. 20 to the Planning and Zoning Commission, finds widespread housing cost burden and a regional shortfall of housing across income levels and recommends using a diversified housing mix and programmatic tools to help close the gap.

Drew Bronner, the city's comprehensive planning manager, introduced the study as an update to the 2018 analysis and said it will serve as a key reference when the commission evaluates residential zoning cases for conformance to the comprehensive plan. "The 2025 housing study provides an updated assessment of Plano's current housing needs and gaps and replaces the 2018 housing trends analysis," Bronner said.

Shanette Eden, housing and community services manager, summarized the study's major findings. The report shows widespread cost burden — many households pay more than 30% of income for housing — and a jobs-housing mismatch: a substantial share of projected new jobs in Plano are clustered around incomes that cannot afford the typical for-sale price in the city. Eden said the consultant's analysis indicated that a household at roughly 120% of Area Median Income in 2023 (about $105,241 in the study's 2023 baseline) could afford a home roughly in the $300,000 range, while Plano's 2023 median sales price was about $530,905, a gap that leaves a large portion of the workforce priced out of for-sale housing.

Eden emphasized that housing burden is not limited to low-income households: "If you're spending more than 30% of your income to live somewhere, you are house burdened," she said, and noted the study's finding that over 40% of projected jobs would likely fall in income ranges that struggle to buy at current local prices. The study also found limited availability of larger, more affordable homes, and described how aging-in-place among long-term homeowners reduces the turnover of units that younger families could occupy.

The study recommends multiple approaches rather than relying on the market alone. Staff suggested strengthening programmatic tools (including examining housing tax credits), encouraging a broader variety of housing typologies (for example, smaller single-family products, townhomes, duplexes and other lower-footprint owner-occupied choices) and coordinating with planning and economic development to align growth and housing supply.

Commissioners asked about regional context and next steps. Bronner and Eden said the study includes a jobs-housing analysis and that staff will use the findings in future zoning and policy work; Eden noted a pending council briefing and separate work on housing tax-credit feasibility. Commissioners discussed the need to consider transportation and regional coordination alongside housing supply and suggested the study be used to inform both zoning tools and outreach to potential developers building a wider variety of housing forms.

The housing study will be maintained as a guiding document for future zoning decisions and policy implementation; staff will bring additional details and proposals to council and will coordinate with the commission and other departments on implementation steps. Eden said the city will continue monitoring housing conditions with an annual market study to keep the data current.

The presentation and subsequent discussion provide the commission with a data-driven basis to weigh residential rezoning requests in the context of citywide housing gaps and to consider program and regulatory responses that could encourage a broader range of housing types.