Community guide · Collin & Denton Counties
The fastest-growing city in the U.S. — a historic downtown square ringed by new master-planned communities, with the Dallas North Tollway on its way north.
By Shayla Eadler, REALTOR® · TREC #0747934 · Based in Van Alstyne · Updated
Celina, Texas
Yes — if you want new construction, amenity-rich master-planned communities and a real downtown square, living in Celina, TX is hard to beat on the Tollway corridor. The trade-off is growth itself: roads, schools and shopping are still catching up, and downtown Dallas is about 55 minutes away until the Tollway extension opens.
Celina sits along Preston Road (SH-289) in northwest Collin County, with a slice in Denton County. The Census Bureau counted 16,739 people here in 2020. By July 2025 its estimate was 64,427 — the fastest one-year growth of any U.S. city with 20,000 or more residents. The original town square still anchors downtown, west of Preston, and it’s home to the monthly Friday Night Market. The Collin County Outer Loop now links Celina east to US-75, and the Dallas North Tollway is being extended north through town.
Most Celina TX homes for sale are newer houses in planned communities with pools, lakes and miles of trails, ranging from resales in Light Farms to brand-new builds in Ramble, which broke ground in October 2024. One thing surprises buyers: a Celina address can be in Celina ISD, Prosper ISD or McKinney ISD, and in Collin or Denton County. That changes your tax bill and your schools, so I confirm both for every home before you write an offer.
Celina added 12,710 residents between July 2024 and July 2025, the fourth-largest numeric gain of any U.S. city that year, behind only Charlotte, Fort Worth and San Antonio. The city’s FY 2026-27 budget is $529.1 million, up from $382.7 million the year before, and city leaders report 119% population growth from 2022 to 2026.
Jobs and services are following the rooftops. Methodist Celina Medical Center began seeing patients in March 2025 with 51 beds and a master plan for 200. In October 2026 the City Council approved an $18.35 million medical office project on Preston Road anchored by Texas Health Resources. Costco, Home Depot and Academy have joined the Preston Road corridor, and the city is planning employment centers and mixed-use projects along the Dallas North Tollway extension.
The honest version
Every town has trade-offs. Here’s what I tell my own clients before they buy.
Pros
Cons
For sale now
Most Celina homes for sale are new or nearly new houses in master-planned communities. The city’s FY 2026-27 budget puts the average taxable home value at $582,454, and most Prosper and Celina sales in July 2026 landed between $400,001 and $700,000.
The bulk of Celina’s inventory. Large communities like Legacy Hills and Ramble offer several builders side by side, so you can compare floor plans, lot widths and incentives in one afternoon.
Light Farms began in 2012, so it now has resale homes with grown landscaping and finished amenities. Resales can be a good alternative to waiting on a build, and window coverings and fencing are often already done.
Larger lots and country homes sit outside the planned communities, especially north toward Gunter. Check the water source, septic, flood maps and any ag valuation before you fall in love with the view.
Be the first to know
I’ll send new listings, price drops and my Coming Soon homes in Celina — with my honest notes on each one.
By the numbers
Faster than anywhere else in the country. In the Census Bureau’s May 2026 release, Celina ranked #1 among U.S. cities with 20,000 or more people, growing 24.6% from July 2024 to July 2025. It ranked #4 a year earlier (18.2%) and also topped the 2022–23 list. In five years it went from a small town to a city of more than 64,000.
The infrastructure is catching up. The Collin County Outer Loop opened from the Tollway in Celina to US-75 in November 2025. The Dallas North Tollway extension from US-380 to FM 428 is under construction, with NTTA targeting late 2027. Methodist Celina Medical Center opened in 2025, and Costco now sits on the Preston Road corridor. For buyers, that means more choice and more construction traffic, so expect both.
| Milestone | Figure | Date |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 Census count | 16,739 residents | April 2020 |
| Census estimate | 64,427 residents | July 1, 2025 |
| One-year growth | +12,710 (+24.6%), #1 in the U.S. | July 2024 – July 2025 |
| Prior-year ranking | #4 in the U.S. (+18.2%) | July 2023 – July 2024 |
| Celina ISD enrollment | 3,359 → 7,159 students | 2022 → 2026 |
| Methodist Celina Medical Center | Opened with 51 beds | March 2025 |
| Outer Loop Segment 3C | Tollway in Celina to US-75 opened | Nov 7, 2025 |
| Dallas North Tollway Phase 4A | US-380 to FM 428 (about 6 mi) | Late 2027 target |
Census rankings cover cities with 20,000+ residents. Road dates are agency targets and can shift.
New construction
Celina’s master-planned communities are the reason many buyers come here. Each one is its own small town with pools, trails and event calendars, and several have an elementary school inside the neighborhood. The differences that matter most are the school district, the builder lineup, lot widths and the PID or HOA costs on top of the base tax rate.
Here’s how the major communities compare. Builder lineups change often, and model-home sales agents represent the builder, not you. Bring me to that first model visit and I’ll negotiate on your side at no cost to you.
| Community | Developer | Builders | School district | What stands out |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Light Farms | Republic Property Group | Ask me for the current lineup | Prosper ISD & Celina ISD | 1,070 acres, 3,059 lots, five pools, an 11-acre lake with a sand beach and 25+ miles of trails |
| Legacy Hills | Centurion American | Ashton Woods, Beazer, Del Webb, D.R. Horton, First Texas, Lennar, Mattamy, M/I, Pulte and more | Celina ISD | About 3,200 acres, 40- to 65-foot lots, seven amenity centers and a planned 18-hole golf course |
| Ramble | Hillwood | American Legend, Coventry, Drees, Highland, Perry | Celina ISD | 1,380 acres north of downtown with 4,000 planned homes and a four-mile greenbelt |
| Bluewood | Hillwood | Ask me | Celina ISD | O’Dell Elementary inside the community, a resort-style pool and a trail network |
| Lilyana | Hillwood | M/I Homes | Prosper ISD & Celina ISD | Prosper ISD elementary on site, pools, a fishing pond and pickleball courts |
| Century Farms | Ask me | Ashton Woods, HistoryMaker Homes | McKinney ISD | 266 acres near the McKinney border; presales opened June 2026 |
| Rainwater Crossing | Green Brick Partners & HFI Capital Management (per news release) | Ask me | Ask me | 641 acres and 1,800+ planned homes; Whispering Grove park opened Sept 2026 |
Details come from developer websites and local news as of Oct 2026. School assignment can vary within a community — I verify it by address.
Where to live
Almost every Celina neighborhood is master-planned, so the real choice is between developers, school districts and stages of build-out.
Master-planned · Resale & new
Republic Property Group’s 1,070-acre community at Celina’s south end, started in 2012. Five pools, an 11-acre lake with a sand beach, a dog park, tennis and pickleball, and 25+ miles of trails.
Prosper ISD & Celina ISD
Master-planned · New construction
Centurion American’s roughly 3,200-acre community near Legacy Drive and the Tollway extension. A long builder list, 40- to 65-foot lots, seven amenity centers and a 27-acre city sports park.
Celina ISD
Master-planned · New construction
Hillwood’s 1,380-acre community just north of downtown, stretching from Preston Road to Custer Road. A four-mile greenbelt with lakes and mature trees; builders include Highland, Perry, Drees, Coventry and American Legend.
Celina ISD
Master-planned · School on site
A Hillwood community with Donny O’Dell Elementary inside the neighborhood, a resort-style pool, tree-lined streets, short blocks and a trail network that connects parks and greenways.
Celina ISD
Master-planned · New construction
Hillwood community with an on-site Prosper ISD elementary, Bluebonnet Park with bocce and pickleball, pools, a fishing pond, a pavilion and miles of trails. M/I Homes builds here.
Prosper ISD & Celina ISD
Master-planned · Now selling
A 266-acre community on Celina’s east side near McKinney. Ashton Woods and HistoryMaker Homes are building, with a clubhouse, pool, fitness center and pickleball courts planned at the amenity center.
McKinney ISD
Master-planned · New construction
A 641-acre community planned for more than 1,800 homes. Its Whispering Grove park opened in September 2026 with walking paths, a reflection pond and a 35-foot sculpture called Scout’s Tree.
Subdivision names are a starting point. Lot sizes, HOA rules and school zoning vary street by street — I’ll confirm all of it for any home you’re considering.
Cost of living
Inside city limits on the Collin County, Celina ISD side, the 2026 combined rate is about $2.01 per $100 of value before any PID or MUD. The City of Celina lowered its rate to $0.571677 for FY 2026-27 and Celina ISD trimmed its rate to $1.2088, while Collin County raised its rate slightly to $0.151414.
Your exact rate depends on the address. Homes zoned to Prosper ISD pay its $1.2011 rate instead, which brings that stack to about $2.005. McKinney ISD and Denton County portions differ again. Many newer communities also carry a PID assessment or MUD tax, so I pull the full tax picture for any home before you make an offer.
Schools
Most of Celina is in Celina ISD, which nearly doubled from 3,359 to 7,159 students between 2022 and 2026. The Texas Education Agency gave the district a B (score 85) for 2025-26, down slightly from 87 the year before. Willard Middle School opened in August 2026, and three more elementary schools — Scott, Grumbles and Calvert — are set to open for 2027-28.
Voters approved a $2.295 billion bond in May 2025, about 72% in favor. It funds 10 new campuses, including a second high school expected around 2029-30 or 2030-31. Southern parts of Celina, including Light Farms and Lilyana, are partly in Prosper ISD (rated A for 2025-26), and Century Farms is in McKinney ISD. Boundaries move as new schools open, so we confirm the assigned campus for every address.
Getting around
Preston Road (SH-289) is Celina’s main north–south road today. The Collin County Outer Loop now runs east to US-75, and the Dallas North Tollway extension through Prosper and Celina is targeted to open in late 2027.
Downtown Dallas
55 min≈ 41 mi
Preston Rd & Dallas North Tollway S
Legacy West (Plano)
25 min≈ 20 mi
Preston Rd & Tollway S
The Star (Frisco)
25 min≈ 18 mi
Preston Rd S
Downtown McKinney
30 min≈ 19 mi
East toward US-75
DFW Airport
55 min≈ 41 mi
Tollway S, then SH-121
McKinney National Airport
35 min≈ 21 mi
East toward US-75
Downtown Sherman
35 min≈ 27 mi
North into Grayson County
Van Alstyne
30 min≈ 20 mi
Northeast to US-75
Typical drive times without heavy traffic. Rush hour on US-75 and the Tollway can add 15–30 minutes.
Local favorites
Celina’s calendar centers on the downtown square, with Friday night football and new shopping along Preston Road.
The historic square west of Preston Road is the heart of town — local shops, restaurants and the setting for most of the city’s events throughout the year.
A monthly evening market on the downtown square. It’s the easiest way to get a feel for Celina on a first visit — I often suggest timing a home tour around it.
Celina’s Halloween event on the downtown square, held the Saturday before Halloween, and one of the busiest nights of the year downtown.
A fall festival the Celina Chamber hosted from 2018 through 2025. The City Council has since taken it over and plans to move it back to the downtown square.
Two Celina Chamber of Commerce traditions: a spring wine crawl through downtown businesses and a holiday gift tour of local shops.
Friday nights at Celina High School are a big deal here. The Chamber and Celina ISD kick off each school year with the Bobcat Tailgate.
Costco, Home Depot and Academy Sports + Outdoors are among the newest openings on the Preston Road corridor, so more weekly errands stay in Celina instead of Frisco.
A roughly 100-acre city park at future Sunset Boulevard and Roseland Parkway with synthetic-turf fields. Construction began in September 2025; phase one is now expected in 2027.
Before you move
A few Celina-specific things to sort out before and right after closing.
FAQ
Quick answers to the questions I hear most from people moving to Celina.
For buyers who want a new home with big-community amenities and a small-town square nearby, yes. Celina has dozens of new-construction options, a new hospital and fast-growing retail. The trade-offs are construction traffic, schools that are growing quickly, and a longer drive to Dallas until the Dallas North Tollway extension opens, targeted for late 2027.
Yes. In the Census Bureau’s May 2026 release, Celina ranked #1 among U.S. cities with 20,000 or more residents, growing 24.6% between July 2024 and July 2025 to an estimated 64,427 people. It added 12,710 residents that year, the fourth-largest numeric gain in the country.
For tax year 2026, the combined rate inside city limits on the Collin County and Celina ISD side is about $2.01 per $100 of value: City of Celina $0.571677, Celina ISD $1.2088, Collin County $0.151414 and Collin College $0.08122. Prosper ISD areas, the Denton County side and any PID or MUD change the total.
Most of Celina is in Celina ISD, rated B (score 85) by TEA for 2025-26. Southern parts, including sections of Light Farms and Lilyana, are in Prosper ISD, rated A. Century Farms on the east side is in McKinney ISD. Always confirm the assigned schools for the exact address.
Downtown Dallas is about 41 miles south, roughly 55 minutes without traffic via Preston Road and the Dallas North Tollway. Legacy West in Plano and The Star in Frisco are each about 25 minutes. The Tollway extension through Celina, targeted for late 2027, should make the drive more direct.
Many of Celina’s master-planned communities carry a PID assessment or MUD tax on top of the base rate, and the amount varies by community and even by phase. It can add a meaningful amount to your monthly payment, so I pull the exact figure for every home before you make an offer.
Celina is known for its historic downtown square, its record-setting growth and Celina High School football, which won multiple state titles under longtime coach G.A. Moore. Today it’s also known for large master-planned communities like Light Farms, Legacy Hills and Ramble.
Inside Celina most homes are on planned-community lots, but acreage and country homes are available on the edges of town, especially north toward Gunter. For land, check the water source, septic, floodplain, easements and whether an ag valuation is in place.
Compare nearby towns
Collin CountyProsperNext door to the south; established luxury neighborhoods and Prosper ISD’s 2025-26 A rating.Read the Prosper guide 
Grayson CountyGunterAbout 15 minutes north on SH-289; acreage and country homes instead of master-planned lots.Read the Gunter guide 
Collin CountyFriscoAbout 25 minutes south; built-out city with The Star, big employers and a shorter Dallas drive.Read the Frisco guide 
Collin CountyAnnaAlso a Census top-five grower (+10.2%), but on US-75 rather than the Tollway corridor.Read the Anna guide Facts on this page were checked against public sources in October 2026. Tax rates, school ratings and road plans change — confirm anything important for your decision.
Ready when you are
I’ll show you around — the neighborhoods, the schools and the places locals love — and put together homes in Celina that fit your budget.