Allen, Texas

Early history and the railroad

Before American settlement, the area was home to the Caddo, Comanche and other Indigenous peoples. Collin County was first settled between 1840 and 1860. The county was formed in 1846 from part of Fannin County, land that had been part of the Peters Colony. A 1998 Texas Historical Commission marker says fertile land and plentiful water drew settlers to the Allen area from the 1840s. It also says the area was well populated by 1876, when the Houston and Texas Central Railroad built a water supply stop on Cottonwood Creek.

A railroad purchasing agent established the town in 1870, and it was named Allen in 1872. A post office opened in 1876. The railroad made farming more commercial: the marker says the stop gave local farmers a commercial center, better equipment and wider markets, and the open prairie around it was divided into small family farms. On February 22, 1878, according to the city's historical account, a gang led by Sam Bass robbed a train at Allen. The Handbook of Texas says Bass "supposedly committed the first train robbery in the state" at Allen. Collin County describes it as one of the first train robberies in Texas.

By 1884 Allen had an estimated 350 residents, three churches, a school, a chair factory and a flour mill. In 1908 the Texas Traction Company (later the Texas Electric Railway) built an electric interurban line through the town between Denison and Dallas. The population reached 550 by 1915 but had fallen to about 400 by the mid-1940s. Interurban service ended in 1948.

Suburban growth

Allen was incorporated in 1953, when it had a few hundred residents. It grew rapidly from the late 1960s, from 1,940 residents in 1970 to 8,314 in 1980. The Handbook of Texas attributes the growth to economic expansion in Dallas and Plano and to the construction of Dallas–Fort Worth International Airport. By 1990 Allen had 18,309 residents and was the third-largest town in Collin County. U.S. Highway 75 runs through the city.

In the late 1980s and 1990s, the Allen-based company Lyrick Studios produced the children's franchise Barney.^{[citation needed]} Lyrick was bought in 2001 and merged into HIT Entertainment.^{[citation needed]}

In 2012 the Allen Independent School District opened Eagle Stadium, an 18,000-seat, $60 million high school football stadium. It was paid for through a voter-approved $119 million bond package. The district closed the stadium in February 2014 after cracks were found in its concourse. An engineering firm hired by the district later found defects that were "primarily engineering failures." The architect, PBK Architects, and the builder, Pogue Construction, paid for repairs costing more than $10 million. The stadium reopened for graduation in June 2015, and football returned there in August 2015.

2023 shooting

On May 6, 2023, a gunman opened fire at Allen Premium Outlets, killing eight people and injuring seven others. An Allen police officer who had been nearby on an unrelated call shot and killed the gunman, 33-year-old Mauricio Garcia of Dallas. According to researchers and investigators, Garcia had expressed white supremacist and neo-Nazi views, but his specific motive was not established. The outlet center reopened in June 2023. On the first anniversary in 2024, the city held a remembrance event at the Credit Union of Texas Event Center and a citywide moment of silence at 3:36 p.m. A permanent 11-foot (3.4 m) stainless-steel memorial by Placzek Studios was also unveiled at the outlet center. It includes eight wind chimes, one for each victim.

Recent years

Chris Schulmeister became mayor in 2026. In his campaign he said Allen had "transitioned from decades of rapid growth to a mature city" and listed downtown revitalization and aging infrastructure among his priorities. In January 2026 the city hosted the Warrior/ECHL All-Star Classic.

Climate

Allen has a humid subtropical climate (Cfa in the Köppen climate classification), with long, hot summers and cool winters. In the Rowlett Creek watershed, which includes Allen, normal annual precipitation is about 40 to 41 inches, and August high temperatures average about 95 °F.

On the night of April 9–10, 2008, an EF1 tornado with estimated winds of 90 to 95 mph touched down near North Custer Road and Hedgcoxe Road in Allen and lifted near U.S. 75 and State Highway 121 in McKinney. About 50 homes in Allen were structurally damaged and about 300 reported some damage, and insured losses in the city approached $5 million. Shortly after midnight on October 21, 2019, during a tornado outbreak across North Texas, an EF0 tornado with peak winds of about 80 mph tracked 4.8 miles (7.7 km) east from west Allen across U.S. 75 into Fairview. It tore shingles from houses and knocked down trees and fences.

Racial and ethnic composition

Between 2000 and 2020 the city became much more diverse. The share of residents who were non-Hispanic white fell from 83.2% to 51.0%, and the non-Hispanic Asian share grew from 3.7% to 21.4%. The Census Bureau's 2025 estimates put the Asian-alone share at 21.1% and the non-Hispanic white share at 47.4%.

2020 census

At the 2020 census, Allen had 104,627 people, 35,491 households and 28,117 families. The median age was 37.8 years. Of the residents, 27.2% were under 18 and 10.3% were 65 or older. For every 100 females there were 95.2 males. All residents lived in urban areas.

Of all households, 44.4% had children under 18 and 64.0% were married couples. About 17.1% of households were made up of individuals, and 5.5% had someone 65 or older living alone. There were 36,962 housing units, of which 4.0% were vacant, and 69.8% of occupied units were owner-occupied.

American Community Survey

The 2020–2024 American Community Survey five-year estimates show 37,243 households averaging 2.95 people each. The median household income was $130,901, per capita income was $55,986, and 6.1% of residents lived in poverty. Among adults 25 and older, 95.8% had finished high school and 57.5% held a bachelor's degree or higher. The median value of an owner-occupied home was $464,100, and the median gross rent was $1,932. About 23.6% of residents were born outside the United States, and 31.9% of residents aged five and older spoke a language other than English at home. The average commute to work was 28.0 minutes.

Principal employers

The following were the city's largest employers according to the fiscal 2023 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report.

Retail and development

The city's main shopping and mixed-use centers are Allen Premium Outlets, Watters Creek at Montgomery Farm, and The Village at Allen. Watters Creek includes a 79,000-square-foot (7,300 m²) convention center operated with a Marriott hotel. The city has five tax increment reinvestment zones: the Garden District, the Central Business District, The Farm, Sloan Corners, and the Hotel and Convention Center zone.

Municipal government

Allen has a council–manager government. The council is made up of the mayor and six council members, all elected citywide to staggered three-year terms. Mayors are term-limited; Baine Brooks could not run again in 2026 for that reason. In the May 2, 2026 election, Chris Schulmeister, a council member from 2019 to 2025, defeated Dave Shafer by 3,278 votes (81%) to 764, according to unofficial final Collin County totals. Council member Tommy Baril was re-elected unopposed. Collin County Elections reported that 4,070 ballots were cast, a turnout of 5.59% of registered voters. The council appoints a city manager to run day-to-day operations. As of September 2025 the city manager was Eric Ellwanger. Allen is a voluntary member of the North Central Texas Council of Governments.^{[citation needed]}

On September 8, 2026, the council adopted a property tax rate of 41.47 cents per $100 of taxable value for fiscal year 2026–27, down from 41.54 cents. The city estimated the city tax bill on a median-valued homestead of $492,609 at $2,042.85. The city described a $366.5 million citywide budget. Community Impact reported a $380 million total, made up of $157.3 million in general fund revenue and $222 million in special revenue. It also reported that this was the 34th year in Allen's history in which the city had lowered its tax rate. In FY2025–26, property taxes made up 47.6% of the city's budget.

Mayors

Politics

Like the rest of Collin County, Allen voted solidly Republican in presidential elections through the early 2000s. It shifted toward the Democratic Party in later elections, and in 2020 Democrat Joe Biden narrowly carried the city.

In 2024, Collin County as a whole voted for Donald Trump over Kamala Harris, about 54% to 43%.

State and federal representation

In the Texas Senate, Allen is in District 8, represented by Angela Paxton (R), whose district office is in Allen. In the Texas House of Representatives, most of the city is in District 67, represented by Jeff Leach (R), and District 89, represented by Candy Noble (R). KERA reported in 2025 that District 70 also takes in part of Allen, represented by Mihaela Plesa (D). Leach and Noble both won their March 2026 Republican primaries and are on the November 2026 general-election ballot along with their Democratic opponents who are Jordan Wheatley and Angie Carraway respectively.

In the United States House of Representatives, Allen is in Texas's 3rd congressional district, represented by Keith Self (R) since 2023. Texas redrew its congressional map in August 2025. After a federal court blocked the map and the U.S. Supreme Court intervened, the new map is in use for the 2026 elections. Texas's U.S. senators are John Cornyn (R) and Ted Cruz (R). Cornyn's seat is up for election in November 2026.

Public schools

Most of Allen is served by the Allen Independent School District, which covers 27.1 square miles and also includes parts of Parker and McKinney. In the 2024–25 school year the district ran one early childhood school, 16 elementary schools, three middle schools, a ninth-grade center, the STEAM Center, and one high school. Unlike most districts of its size, it sends all students to a single high school, Allen High School, which serves grades 10–12. Ninth graders attend the Lowery Freshman Center. The Texas Education Agency reported 20,092 students in 2025–26 and gave the district an overall A rating (90 out of 100). In November 2024 voters approved a $442.1 million bond.

Parts of the city are in the Lovejoy, McKinney and Plano school districts.^{[citation needed]}

Higher education

Collin College opened its Technical Campus in west Allen in 2020. The 340,000-square-foot (32,000 m²) campus is dedicated to workforce education. The college also offers dual-credit courses to Allen High School students.^{[citation needed]}

Transportation

U.S. Highway 75 (Central Expressway) runs north–south through Allen. State Highway 121 (the Sam Rayburn Tollway) runs along the city's northwestern edge, near the McKinney border. Major arterial roads include Stacy Road, Exchange Parkway, McDermott Drive, Main Street, Bethany Drive, Alma Drive, Greenville Avenue, Allen Heights Drive and Angel Parkway.

Allen has no fixed-route public transit and is not a member of Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART). The city says that joining DART would require a 1% sales tax dedicated to the agency, which would eliminate sales-tax funding for the AEDC and ACDC, and that it has no plans to reallocate that money. The Texoma Area Paratransit System (TAPS) ran bus routes in Allen from 2013 until it suspended Collin County bus service in 2015.

Since February 2024 the Denton County Transportation Authority has operated Collin County Rides for Allen and Fairview. It is an appointment-based service for residents who are 65 or older or have a qualifying disability, covering trips within Collin County that start or end in Allen or Fairview. DART operated the program before then.

The nearest commercial airports are Dallas Fort Worth International Airport, southwest of Allen, and Dallas Love Field, to the south-southwest.

Utilities, health care and public safety

The city runs its own water, sewer, solid waste and drainage utilities as business-type activities. Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Allen is one of the city's ten largest employers. Police and fire services come from the Allen Police Department and Allen Fire Department. The FY2025–26 budget added three firefighter-paramedics, three police officers and two detention officers.