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Fast Facts—Accolades 2004 Named “The Hottest Place to Live in the Western United States” by Money Magazine 2002 Ranked 9th by Ladies’ Home Journal as one of “The Best Cities for Women with Population under 300,000” 2001 5th most "Kid-Friendly City" in the U.S. by Children’s Environmental Index 1997 8th Safest City in the U.S. based on findings by the F.B.I. 1996 Best city in the U.S. for Home-based Businesses by Home Office Computing magazine 1994 “All America City” by the National Civic League and Allstate Foundation Plano is known as the “Balloon Capital of Texas” Named one of the “Best Places in the Dallas-Ft. Worth Metroplex to Live” by D Magazine Plano is designated as a Tree City USA Featured in the book 50 Fabulous Places to Raise a Family Ranked ninth out of 101 cities in “Healthiest Cities for Men” by Men’s Health magazine Fast Facts—Demographics More than 246,869 people live in Plano (1/05) 11th fastest-growing city in the U.S. with population of more than 100,000 (2000 Census) Median age of Plano residents is 34.1 years Median household income in Plano is $78,722 Plano’s diverse population is 10.2% Asian, 5.0% Black, 10.1% Hispanic, & 72.8% White Plano is located in the Central Time Zone The average home price in Plano is $191,000 - below the national average Located in Collin County, the 5th fastest-growing county in the U.S. The largest city in Collin County Fast Facts—Economic Development Plano offers tax abatement for real and personal business property improvements The city’s tax abatement incentives have created more than 43,000 new jobs (12/04) Plano offers Triple Freeport Tax Exemption on goods-in-transit In the last five years, Collin County Community College has received more than $4.69 million in training grants for area businesses The City of Plano has one of the lowest property tax rates in the state of Texas Plano’s combined tax rate for FY 2004-2005 is $2.527546 Plano’s sales tax is 8.25% Plano’s general obligation bonds are rated AAA/Aaa More than 6,000 businesses are in Plano Texas is a right-to-work state Fast Facts—Quality of Life There are more than 80 parks and 3,600 acres of park land in Plano’s city limits Plano’s park system has more than 38 miles of hike/bike trails There are six golf courses in the city There are two major shopping malls in Plano and more than a thousand specialty shops, boutiques and retail stores There are more than 750 restaurants in Plano Plano Centre is an 86,400-square-foot full-service multi-purpose convention facility There are more than 3,600 hotel rooms in Plano Located in the Sunbelt, the average year-round temperature in Plano is 66º F. One of the lowest crime rates for Texas cities with population of more than 100,000 Plano’s proximity to DFW airport, provides residents access to more than 3,000 flights daily by 20 major airlines   Fast Facts—Education Plano ranks 19th nationwide among cities in percentage of college graduates, with 53.3 percent of the adult workforce having four or more years of college More than 93.9 percent of Plano’s workforce has more than 12 years of schooling Plano has a nationally acclaimed public school system The Plano Independent School District’s elementary integrated curriculum was awarded the 2000 Leadership in Learning Award Collin County Community College has more than 40,000 credit and continuing education students Collin County Community College is the first community college in Texas to have concurrent admissions agreements with major universities 2003 - a record 85 PISD high school seniors achieve semifinalist standing in the National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Program U. S. Department of Education has awarded the “Blue Ribbon School” designation to 22 Plano Schools 39 Plano schools are designated as “Exemplary” by the Texas Education Agency Collin County has the largest percentage of degree holders in the State of Texas