City staff and a UT Dallas team will brief the McKinney City Council on Tuesday, Nov. 3, on where homelessness stands in the city and on a draft strategic plan meant to make it "rare, brief, and non-recurrent."
The update, prepared by Housing and Community Development Director Margaret Li for the council's 3 p.m. work session, says this year's point-in-time count found 240 people experiencing homelessness in McKinney. Of those, 180 were in transitional housing and 60 were unsheltered, and 20 were counted as chronically homeless.
The city's tally has stayed in a narrow band for six years, from 215 in 2021 to a low of 213 in 2025, or roughly one-tenth of 1% of the population.
Families make up an unusually large share. According to the presentation, 42.5% of homeless households in McKinney include children, compared with about 20% across the regional continuum of care. About 58% of encampments are on the east side, with U.S. 75, U.S. 380 and highway underpasses listed as hot spots.
What it costs the city
Staff estimate unmanaged homelessness costs the city and its partners about $10.5 million a year, or $43,901 per person, compared with about $6.2 million, or $25,925 per person, if people are housed with coordinated services.
City departments logged the strain in the 2025-26 fiscal year. Police recorded 1,633 calls about homelessness, though staff note the higher number reflects better record-keeping rather than necessarily more people. The fire department made 346 EMS transports and counted 252 hours of fire apparatus time out of service and $86,922 in direct costs.
Parks crews have cleared four camps since July, hauling away nine truckloads of trash.
The city put $550,000 in local money and about $1.25 million in federal block grant and HOME funds toward housing and homelessness programs in the 2025-26 fiscal year. In 2026, two host sites ran warming stations for a combined 25 nights and served 738 guests.
