What to Know About Living in Melissa Texas

Brent Wells March 14, 2022

When you're looking to move, nothing speaks as highly of a community as its consistent growth rates.

Melissa, Texas is one of those places where growth shows the increasing love for living in this rural community. Melissa is located in Collin County and is a suburb of Dallas.

About Melissa

With a population of 9,487, Melissa has a rural small-town feel, while bursting with residential and commercial development. The population has doubled since the 2010 census in which the population was 4,695. Just an hour north of Dallas, and seven miles northeast of McKinney, Melissa residents are able to commute for work, dining, and entertainment opportunities.

The City of Melissa is responding to this growth by planning and expanding roadways, adding its first traffic light and a new bridge over a creek bed to improve access to the city's parks and recreational amenities.

A large source of economic development funding for Melissa is its newly built sport's facility, recently renamed Z-plex Texas Sports Village. This 100-acre property on city-owned land is near Melissa High School, and includes four baseball fields, one softball field, four covered and eight open tennis courts, and several soccer fields which have become home to the city's high school sports.

In the few short years since its opening in 2018, this complex has attracted over half a million visitors to Melissa, mostly for weekend tournaments.

Real Estate

Most Melissa residents own their homes, with only about nine percent renting. The median home value is $307,700 and the median rent is 2,098.

With many new homes being built and sold, the following neighborhoods are especially hot on the market.

Creek Crossing, this neighborhood has homes starting at $363,990 and is just a few minutes from the historic downtown McKinney, and
Liberty by Hillwood and Liberty by Highland Homes are builders with homes from $400,000 to $900,000. This new home neighborhood has a wide range of homes with an amenity center, including a community pool, splash pad, catch and release ponds, sport's pavilion and playground.

Community Amenities

Melissa Public Library, a recreational and cultural opportunity with classes offered, including:
- Adult Reading and Programming,
- Early Reading and Children's Programming,
- Photography Contests, and
- Young Adult Programming
City Parks and Facilities:
- The Z-plex Sport's Complex, featuring multiple sports fields and courts for local school sports and tournaments,
- Zadow Park, featuring a sand volleyball court, basketball/inline skate court, three baseball fields, restrooms, a pavilion and picnic areas,
- Bob Miller Park, featuring a pavilion, playground and restrooms,
- City Hall Plaza Park, featuring a large pavilion, an ornamental park, and a water feature,
- Country Ridge Park, featuring a 27-acre nature park with a trail, winding stream and swing set,
- Hunter's Ridge Park, featuring a playground, pavilion and benches, and
- 90-acre Park, the site of a future park development with an 11-acre lake stocked with fish, trails around the lake, parking, restrooms and a pavilion.

Great Schools

Students in Melissa attend the following highly rated schools.

Melissa High School has 970 students in grades 9-12. Teacher-student ratio is just 15:1.
Melissa Middle School has 921 students in grades 6-8. Teacher-student ratio is just 18:1.
Harry McKillop Elementary School has 629 students in grades 1-5. Teacher-student ratio is just 15:1.
Melissa Ridge Education Center has 343 students in grades pre-kindergarten through kindergarten. Teacher-student ratio is 21:1.
Pinnacle Montessori of Melissa is a private school and has 11 students in grades pre-kindergarten through kindergarten.

The Melissa Independent School District has the following rankings among other Texas schools.