the new tech cities

2 Dallas neighbors rank among top 10 best U.S. cities for tech workers

North Texas has two of the top cities for tech workers.

Gaining and maintaining a level of success in the ever-changing tech industry often hinges on the environment one lives and works in, and two North Texas cities are among the best: Plano and Frisco.

Plano's new elite tech city status comes from a new report "The Top Tech Cities in the US: Ranking 100 Cities in 2024" by online security experts Cloudwards. They examined 100 tech-reliant cities in the nation across 17 key indicators, including salaries for information technology professionals, a city's cost of living, internet quality, job opportunities and tech-related companies, and more.

Plano is the No. 4 best tech city in the nation and the best in Texas (event outshining Austin, which ranked No. 7). Frisco came in at No. 10.

Here's how Plano stacked up in the major categories in the study:

No. 1 – Internet Coverage and Quality
No. 2 – Cost of Living and Tech Salaries
No. 25 – Innovation and Entrepreneurship
No. 33 – Career and Education
No. 59 – Tech Community

Over 1,000 tech companies reside in Plano, the study found, including major employers like McAfee and CompuCom Systems Inc. The report additionally found there were 619 IT-related jobs advertised in the city in January 2024, or about 213 open positions per 100,000 city residents.

With a lot of employers still embracing remote work, having a good wifi connection can make or break a person's ability to work from home. The study found about 96 percent of Plano households have internet access, which is a must in today's internet-dependent workforce. The city has the best internet download speeds in the nation, at 216.25 Mbps, while the city's median broadband internet speed is 249.02 Mbps.

IT professionals in Plano make an average salary of $95,733 per year, which is another attractive selling point for the city and its livability factor, the study said.

"...Plano offers a perfect blend of urban and suburban, and it’s a great place to live, start a family or retire," the report's author wrote. "The city ranks high in the livability index, emerging second overall due to low crime rates and a relatively low cost of living."

Plano wasn't the only North Texas city to earn a spot among the top 10. Frisco ranked No. 10 in the nation, earning the title as "the most livable city in the U.S." according to Cloudwards.

"IT professionals make up the second-largest occupation set in this North Texas city, making up about 12 percent of the total workforce," the report said. "Its low tax rate, low crime rate and reasonable cost of living make it a popular choice for IT professionals."

Average salaries for IT professionals in Frisco come out to about $95,516 annually, which is only a $217 difference from Plano. Frisco also has a lower crime rate than Plano, at 10.56 per 1,000 residents, compared to Plano's 18.3 per 1,000 residents.

In a separate recent study, Frisco had the second largest remote workforce in the U.S.

Here's how other North Texas cities fared outside the top 10:

No. 16 – Arlington
No. 21 – Garland
No. 29 – Fort Worth
No. 33 – Dallas
No. 38 – Irving

Nationally, the cities that round out the top five most tech-savvy cities in the U.S. are New York City, New York (No. 1), Washington, D.C. (No. 2), San Francisco, California (No. 3), and Jersey City, New Jersey (No. 5).

plano frisco innovation technology reports

Reduce, Reuse, Relisten

McKinney record store joins creative effort to give old vinyl a new life

Photo by Eric Krull on Unsplash

A new program is trying to keep old vinyl out of landfills.

North Texas vinyl collectors going through the disappointment of discovering a damaged record in their collection can at least avoid sending it to the landfill. A new initiative is turning 11 independent record stores across the United States, including Red Zeppelin Records in McKinney, into vinyl take-back points for potential recycling.

The pilot is a collaboration among the record stores, Warner Music Group (WMG), and Virterras Materials, a recycling technology business that specializes in "challenging" materials like plastics and rubber. It will run from "the end of June through September," a press release says.

All customers have to do is drop off damaged records — any kind or condition is accepted.

The program is still in an exploratory phase; the partners don't know the best way to organize the collection yet, and they are vague about what the records might become. The release says the goal is "to better understand how damaged or unwanted records can be collected, consolidated, and directed toward potential material recovery pathways."

Funding comes from a grant from the Vinyl Institute.

The partners will gather information about participation rates, material quality, the work it takes to move and process the records, and the different possible outputs after recycling. The release notes that vinyl records have become more popular over the past decade, but that industry-wide information about disposal is lagging.

This May, WMG, GZ Media, and Abbey Road Studios completed a manufacturing study that confirmed that it is possible to turn unsold and obsolete records into new pressings with audio quality that is high enough for commercial sale. The take-back pilot continues pulling that thread.

Launching the pilot at different stores around the U.S. — those in "major music markets," the release says — serves to diversify the communities getting involved, whether it's locals with specific preferences or fans of different kinds of music.

Two other stores in Texas are participating: County Line Records in Keller and Antone's Record Shop in Austin.

Red Zeppelin Records is a locally owned record store located at 206 E. Louisiana St. in McKinney. It's open 11 am-6 pm Monday-Thursday, 10 am-8 pm Friday-Saturday, and 12-5 pm Sunday.

"Independent record stores have long served as gathering places for music fans and stewards of music culture," said Warner Music Group senior director of ESG Madeleine Smith in the release. "The pilot brings together retailers, recovery partners, and music fans to explore an important question: what would it take to create practical pathways for recovering unplayable or damaged vinyl records? It’s a vital first step in understanding what’s possible."

Participating stores include:

County Line Records (Keller, TX)
Red Zeppelin Records (McKinney, TX)
Antone’s Record Shop (Austin, TX)
Amoeba Hollywood (Los Angeles, CA)
Criminal Records (Atlanta, GA)
Easy Street Records (Seattle, WA)
Home Rule Records (Washington D.C.)
Rough Trade NYC (New York City, NY)
Spin Me Round (Easton, PA)
Reckless Records (Chicago, IL)
Sweat Records (Miami, FL)

record stores sustainability technology

the new tech cities

2 Dallas neighbors rank among top 10 best U.S. cities for tech workers

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McKinney record store joins creative effort to give old vinyl a new life

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