Plano, Texas
Planning for Plano households, where corporate moves set the calendar.
Plano is a city of about 290,600 people where nearly one household in four earns more than $200,000 a year. It is also a corporate address: Toyota’s North American headquarters sits in the Legacy West development, and AT&T has announced a move to a Plano campus beginning in late 2028. Relocation, equity pay and a new tax picture tend to arrive here together.
The situation
A headquarters city with a long history of arrivals
Toyota finished consolidating its North American headquarters in Plano in 2017, bringing teams from Torrance, California. In January 2026 AT&T announced it would move its headquarters from Dallas to a 54-acre Plano campus, with the move expected to begin in late 2028. Each wave brings households whose pay, benefits and residency history were set somewhere else, and whose first Texas tax return looks nothing like the last one they filed.
The Plano household we most often picture owns a home near the city’s median value of about $465,900, holds a workplace plan and some company stock, and faces a decision with a date attached: a transfer offer, a vesting schedule, a retirement window. Median household income is about $112,300, and 23.5% of households earn $200,000 or more, close to twice the share in the city of Dallas.
Why it’s complex
Five Plano decisions worth getting in order
A relocation offer is also a tax event
A move announced years ahead, like AT&T’s planned relocation, gives a family time to sequence the sale of one home, the purchase of the next and the date residency changes. The order of those steps can change what you owe, and to which state.
Plano’s 2025 rates, line by line
The City of Plano levies $0.4376 per $100 of taxable value, Plano ISD $1.03955 and Collin County $0.1493. Those three alone come to about $1.63 per $100, before the community-college district and any other overlapping levy.
California can keep a claim on equity pay
For employees transferred from California, stock that vests after the move can remain partly California-source income, tied to the work done there. California also judges residency by the strength of your remaining ties, not the date on the moving invoice.
Equity compensation and concentrated stockCompany stock accumulates quietly
Years of RSU grants and ESPP purchases can leave one employer as the largest line on the balance sheet, the same company that pays the salary. We separate the concentration you chose from the concentration that simply piled up.
After a big gain: what to plan nextThe exemption, priced at Plano ISD
The first $140,000 of a homestead’s appraised value is exempt from school tax. At Plano ISD’s 2025 rate that is worth about $1,455 a year, and at 65 the exemption grows to $200,000, worth about $2,079.
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2020–2024 5-year estimates; Texas Comptroller 2025 city, ISD and county rate reports; Texas Comptroller, homestead exemptions; Tex. Tax Code §§11.13, 11.26; AT&T headquarters announcement (January 2026); Toyota Motor North America headquarters consolidation (2017).
Our approach
A plan built around the date on the calendar
Most Plano planning starts with a decision that has a deadline, and we build the rest of the plan around it: what each option costs after tax, what cash it needs, and how it moves the retirement date. Property tax is in that math from the first meeting. A worked example: at Plano’s median home value of $465,900, the $140,000 exemption leaves $325,900 subject to school tax, and at Plano ISD’s 2025 rate that comes to about $3,388 a year ($325,900 × $1.03955 / $100).
Price each option honestly
Compare staying, transferring and leaving on after-tax terms, counting unvested equity, the home sale, and any income your former state can still reach.
Decide what to keep
Write down a rule for RSUs and ESPP shares: what sells at vest, what stays, and how large one employer’s stock is allowed to grow in the portfolio.
Turn pay into income
Map the years between the final paycheck and required distributions: Roth conversions taxed only federally, Social Security timing, and the over-65 homestead benefits on your Plano home.
The work
What you’ll work through with us
- An after-tax comparison of a relocation or transfer offer
- RSU, ESPP and stock-option decisions, with a plan for concentrated positions
- A review of income a former state may still treat as its own
- Homestead filing and a line-by-line read of your appraisal notice
- Deferred-compensation and pension elections at retirement
- Roth conversion sizing in the years before required distributions
- Community-property titling and beneficiary review with your estate attorney
- Investment management coordinated with your CPA
Planning is led by Theo Halbardier, CFP®, CIMA®, CAIA®, the firm’s founder. We are fee-only: no commissions, no product sales. About Theo
Questions
Common questions from Plano households
Do you have an office in Plano?
We work with Plano households by video and, by arrangement, in person. We do not maintain a public office location.
We're being relocated to Plano. What should we plan before the move?
Sequence first: when the old home sells, when Texas residency begins, and when bonuses or equity vest relative to the move date. Then document the change against the ties your former state reviews, from driver’s license to voter registration. Formal residency and sourcing determinations belong with a tax professional.
Will California still tax my RSUs after I move to Plano?
Possibly, in part. California taxes nonresidents on California-source income, and equity pay earned partly while you worked there can fall into that category. We estimate that amount before the vest dates so the withholding and the cash are ready.
What does the homestead exemption save on a Plano home?
At Plano ISD’s 2025 rate of $1.03955 per $100, the $140,000 school exemption is worth about $1,455 a year, and about $2,079 once it rises to $200,000 at 65. That covers the school levy only. School-district lines do not always follow Plano’s city limits, so check the district printed on your notice.
Part of Plano is in Denton County. Does that change our taxes?
Slightly. Most of Plano’s taxable value is in Collin County, but a small portion lies in Denton County, and the 2025 county rates differ ($0.1493 in Collin versus $0.1859 in Denton, per $100). The City of Plano rate is the same on both sides.
Should I keep my employer stock after I retire?
It depends on how much of your net worth it represents, its cost basis, and whether you would buy it today with cash. For shares with large gains, Texas community-property rules matter: at the first spouse’s death both halves of community shares can take a new basis, which can change whether selling now or holding makes more sense.
Reviewed by Theo Halbardier, CFP® · Updated September 2026 · Figures current for 2026
Tell us where you are.
The first conversation is 30 minutes. Bring your questions; no preparation needed.
We work with individuals and families across Plano and throughout Texas, meeting by video or in person by arrangement.
Meet with usWe do not maintain a public office at this location; Plano is part of the area we serve. Figures reflect law and published rates as of September 2026 and may change.