Plano’s strength is its educated workforce

Plano's Workforce Exceeds 300,000 within a 30-mile Radius

Access to a highly-educated workforce is one of Plano’s strengths. Evidence of this is the steady migration of prominent companies to Plano. JCPenney, Frito-Lay, Texas Instruments, Capital One, EDS-an HP company, St. Jude Medical, to name a few, all relocated to be near talent.

Plano’s proximity to Dallas’ large labor pool of over three million workers and excellent transportation system provides employers access to employees at all levels.

The University of Texas at Dallas, Collin College, SMU, and the University of North Texas provide a steady pipeline of college graduates. The labor pool is growing. Employment increased by 8% from 2002 to 2007 as the region added 224,000 workers. Collin County is one of the nation’s fastest growing counties.

Key facts

  • Over 52% of Plano residents have a bachelor’s degree or higher
  • More people commute to Plano for work than commute out
  • Over 3 million workers in the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington MSA
  • Over 2 million workers in the Dallas-Plano-Irving Metro Division
  • Over 136,000 students are enrolled in four-universities and 141,000 in community colleges in DFW
  • 40% of Texas’ technology employment is in DFW with over 228,000 workers (more than Austin and Houston combined)
  • Texas is Right-to-Work State; 2.4% of the private workforce is unionized

David Baxley

CEO
CROSSMARK
"CROSSMARK has been around for over 100 years. In 2003 we moved into our new corporate facility on Legacy Drive. We selected Plano because of its rich diversity of people. We needed to fill positions including management, clerical, legal, statisticians, sales, finance, accounting HR, analytical, IT, marketing and merchanding. Plano had all the talented workforce we demanded."

Best Human Resources found in Plano, Texas

fDi Magazine ranked Plano, Texas a Top Five for Best Human Resources in the 2007/2008 North American Cities of the Future competition in the Small Cities category with a population 100,000 - 500,000. (April 2007).