Who's Hiring in McKinney? Major Employers, Industries, and What They Mean for Homebuyers

Quick answer: McKinney's job base is anchored by Raytheon, Globe Life, Prysmian's Encore Wire campus, three hospitals, county government, and McKinney ISD. A commercial airport opens in November 2026. For buyers, that means a lot of residents can live and work in the same city, which steadies demand for homes.

Buyers relocating to Collin County usually ask me about schools and taxes first. I think the better first question is who's hiring nearby. A city where people can work close to home tends to hold its value through slow markets, and McKinney has more employers inside its own limits than most people expect from a suburb north of Dallas.

I sell homes here and I also write the mortgages, so I see paystubs from these companies every month. This post walks through the major employers, the industries behind them, what the city's economic development arm is recruiting, and how all of that should shape where you look for a house.

A note on the data: neither the City nor the McKinney Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) publishes a current ranked employer list with headcounts that I was able to open. So I used each employer's own latest public figure, put a date on it, and added the City's older ranked list for comparison.

The Numbers Behind McKinney's Workforce

Before naming companies, here's the profile of the people who live here. These figures explain why employers keep choosing McKinney: a large, educated, well paid labor pool.

PJ's take: that income figure matters on the lending side. Household incomes at that level are a big part of why McKinney buyers can qualify for the price points here, even with Texas property taxes in the payment.

Who Employs the Most People in McKinney

The list below covers the biggest local employers I could back up with a published headcount. Each figure was published in a different year by a different type of source, so read them as minimums rather than a strict order.

How That Compares to the City's 2015 Ranking

The City's 2015 Annual Development Report ranked its top ten employers. It's dated, but it's useful because most of the same names are still at the top a decade later.

What changed since: Encore Wire and Globe Life both added a lot of people locally, and Independent Financial put up a headquarters here and was later bought.

The Industries That Keep McKinney Working

Defense Electronics: Raytheon

Raytheon has held the top private employer spot in McKinney for years. In August 2019 it announced a 200,000 square foot advanced manufacturing building on its McKinney campus, said it already employed more than 3,000 people in the city, and planned 500 more high tech positions. The campus focuses on intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance work, such as high energy lasers and electro optical gear.

PJ's take: I work with a steady stream of Raytheon engineers and technicians. Many of them choose McKinney specifically so they aren't driving in from the south every day.

Wire and Cable Manufacturing: Prysmian and Encore Wire

Encore Wire grew up on one McKinney campus. Prysmian, the Italian cable company, closed its purchase of Encore on July 2, 2024 at $290 a share in cash, and it hasn't slowed down here. Its April 2026 announcement covered a copper building wire plant of 340,800 square feet, plus a service center expansion of roughly one million square feet, with about 1,750 people on the McKinney site. Wire demand follows data center construction, grid upgrades, and general building activity, and Texas has plenty of all three.

Insurance, Banking, and Finance

Globe Life (known as Torchmark until its rename) has called McKinney home for over three decades. Its February 2025 announcement moved the headquarters across town to 7677 Henneman Way. That's a six story, 200,000 square foot building finished in 2022 as Independent Bank's headquarters, and the deal included about 8 acres for future expansion. Globe Life committed to keeping its workforce of over 2,000 in the city.

Independent Financial was a McKinney company until SouthState's purchase, valued at about $2 billion, took effect January 1, 2025. Two other finance names on the MEDC's list: Merrill Lynch Wealth Management and Service First Mortgage.

Hospitals and Health Care

The city has three hospitals. Community Impact's 2022 health care guide listed bed counts of 281 at Medical City McKinney, 192 at Baylor Scott & White Medical Center McKinney, and 23 at Methodist McKinney Hospital. Collin College's McKinney campus on University Dr houses the college's nursing and health sciences programs, which feeds a local supply of nurses and techs. Cotiviti, a health care payments company, runs a regional office here too; it reported 150 local employees in 2017 and agreed to add 120 under an MEDC incentive deal.

Schools and Government

Because McKinney is the Collin County seat, county government is a large employer in its own right. Add the school district, city hall, and Collin College, whose McKinney campus opened in 1986. Public sector payrolls don't rise and fall with the business cycle, and that steadiness shows up in housing demand.

Warehousing, Distribution, and Light Industrial

Shipping and production names on the MEDC's list include Traxxas, Blount Fine Foods, Watson & Chalin, Simpson Strong Tie, SRS Distribution, Dynacraft (owned by PACCAR), Performance Food Group, UPS, and Amazon. UPS opened at 3000 Redbud Blvd in 2014, using part of the old Blockbuster distribution building, with plans at that time for about 320 full and part time jobs.

Tech Companies and Startups

MEDC's Innovation Fund backs technology companies and startups. The MEDC credits it with more than 615 new McKinney jobs from January 2020 through May 2023. Recent wins it has pointed to include Cytracom, which relocated its headquarters here in 2024, and Edenlux, a South Korean health technology firm that said in early 2026 it would put its U.S. operations in McKinney with help from an MEDC grant.

Aviation: McKinney National Airport

McKinney National Airport (DTX) turns commercial in November 2026. Avelo Airlines plans to begin service between November 11 and 19, 2026, flying to Las Vegas and four Florida cities out of a new 46,000 square foot terminal. Avelo says it will station two aircraft at DTX and add more than 100 jobs. Separately, the MEDC purchased 180 acres beside the airport to market to advanced manufacturers.

PJ's take: I'd watch the airport area closely over the next ten years. It's set up to be one of McKinney's main commercial growth corridors. I cover that side of town in McKinney areas on the rise.

What the MEDC Does and Who It Recruits

The McKinney Economic Development Corporation started in 1993. Its job is attracting new businesses, keeping existing ones, and negotiating incentives. According to numbers the MEDC shared with city officials, covered by Community Impact in May 2023, the capital investment from MEDC involved projects between 2018 and 2023 at nearly $750 million, backed by more than $30 million in incentives. The MEDC and the McKinney Community Development Corporation also split funding for the airport expansion.

The MEDC publishes a notable employer list without headcounts. Grouped by type, it reads like this:

• Utilities, engineering, and services: Oncor, Emerson, Kimley Horn, Waste Connections, and LifePath Systems.

• Finance and insurance: Globe Life, Independent Financial, Service First Mortgage, and Cotiviti on the health payments side.

• Manufacturing and distribution: Raytheon, Encore Wire, Traxxas, Dynacraft, Blount Fine Foods, Simpson Strong Tie, Watson & Chalin, SRS Distribution, Performance Food Group, UPS, and Amazon.

• Everyone else: several dozen smaller firms.

Projects Under Way Right Now

How Jobs Should Shape Your Home Search

Local employers prop up resale

With a defense campus, a wire plant, an insurance headquarters, three hospitals, and county government all inside city limits, there's always a pool of buyers who want to be close to work. A suburb that depends entirely on commuters doesn't have that cushion.

Match the neighborhood to the job site

The average commute here is 27.8 minutes, but your own drive depends on where your office is. If you work for a McKinney employer, the east and north sides are worth a look. Commuting to Frisco or Plano? Then the west side close to SH 121 tends to be the better pick. I compare those trade offs in Frisco or McKinney.

Growth follows roads and runways

The next round of commercial building is aimed at three spots: DTX, US 380, and Spur 399. Owning near those projects can pay off in new shopping and services, but you'll live through the construction phase first.

Line up relocation money with your loan

If your employer is paying relocation, the timing of that money matters. As your agent and your loan officer, I can sync the closing date, the rate lock, and any reimbursement so nothing lands out of order. My DFW relocation page covers the moving side, and what it costs to live in McKinney helps with the budget.

Common Questions About Working in McKinney

Which company has the most employees in McKinney?

Raytheon. It reported more than 3,000 local employees in 2019, and the City's 2015 report put it at number one with 3,600.

Where is Globe Life's headquarters going?

Nowhere far. It's moving within McKinney into the former Independent Bank headquarters on Henneman Way, a 2022 building of 200,000 square feet, and keeping over 2,000 jobs local.

Is Encore Wire still a McKinney company?

The campus is still here and growing, with about 1,750 people as of April 2026. The owner is now Prysmian, which closed the acquisition on July 2, 2024.

What happened to Independent Bank?

It became part of SouthState on January 1, 2025. Globe Life bought the bank's former headquarters building.

When do commercial flights start at McKinney National Airport?

Avelo Airlines is scheduled to start five nonstop routes between November 11 and 19, 2026.

How much do McKinney households earn?

The Census Bureau's five year survey covering 2020 to 2024 puts the median at $124,215.

Is McKinney just a commuter town for Dallas?

No. Defense, manufacturing, insurance, health care, government, logistics, and now aviation all employ people inside the city.

Got a Job Offer in or Near McKinney? Call PJ

Tell me where you'll be working and when you need to move. I'll narrow McKinney down to the neighborhoods that fit your drive and budget, then handle the home search and the mortgage myself so you're not juggling two separate teams. Call or text me at 469-817-6060, or send a note through my contact page. For a citywide overview, see my McKinney, TX page.

Sources: Census QuickFacts; McKinney Annual Development Report (2024); McKinney Annual Development Report (2015); MEDC employer list; Community Impact on the MEDC anniversary; Bisnow; Dallas Innovates on Raytheon's expansion; Globe Life headquarters announcement; Prysmian acquisition release; Prysmian plant announcement; Community Impact on the SouthState deal; Wikipedia: SouthState Bank; Wikipedia: McKinney ISD; Community Impact hospital guide; Collin College; Community Impact on Cotiviti; Trade and Industry Development; City of McKinney airline announcement; Community Impact on the terminal; Community Impact on the old City Hall site.