Menu
Quiet morning street and water tower in a small North Texas town along the U.S. 75 corridor near Howe

Moving to Howe: Complete Guide

Howe sits on U.S. 75 in the middle of Grayson County—about twelve miles south of Sherman and roughly an hour from the DFW Metroplex, with district maps that also touch Texas Highway 289. It is still a small city by Census count: enough interstate frontage to feel the corridor’s growth, not enough rooftops to pretend it is Sherman or Van Alstyne. If you are weighing a move here, skip the brochure language. You need a clear picture of who the town fits, what official numbers actually say, and how to get set up without guessing.

This is the newcomer guide. For the countywide scoreboard, keep What’s Coming to Grayson County? The Complete Development Tracker, Grayson County Population: Where We Were, Where We’re Going, and Why Grayson County Is Growing So Fast bookmarked. Comparing neighboring seats of gravity? Also skim Moving to Sherman: Complete Guide, Moving to Denison: Complete Guide, Moving to Gunter: Complete Guide, and Moving to Van Alstyne: Complete Guide. On wildlife pressure as growth pushes south and west, see Why Wild Hogs Are Moving to Howe and Gunter as Sherman and Van Alstyne Grow.

Who Howe fits

Howe tends to work well if you want Howe ISD, a U.S. 75 address between Sherman and the south-county boom towns, and a place that still feels small on a Tuesday. It also fits households splitting time toward Sherman’s job corridor or north-Collin / DFW trips that already run the 75 spine, and buyers who treat ACS medians as baselines rather than today’s asking price.

It is a weaker match if you need dense big-city transit, a walkable downtown with nightly restaurant options already in place, or a housing inventory that looks like Van Alstyne’s newer corridor maps. Lake Texoma is a day trip north past Sherman and Denison, not a backyard habit. Much of daily retail and specialty medical care still means a short drive to Sherman or farther.

The size of the place (Census and ACS numbers, not rumor)

The U.S. Census Bureau 2020 Census count for Howe city is commonly cited as 3,616. Howe is under the 5,000-person QuickFacts cutoff for cities, so use place-level ACS and Census-derived profiles instead of a QuickFacts city table.

American Community Survey (ACS) 2020–2024 five-year estimates, as published on Data USA’s Howe, TX profile (Census ACS source), put population at 3,689, median age at 29.6, median household income at $51,108, median owner-occupied property value at $201,300, homeownership at 60.9%, average commute at 25.2 minutes, and poverty at 24.3%. About 1,200 households show up in that ACS window. Treat third-party “2026 population” projections that sit outside Census publications as unofficial.

In plain language: this is still a small city on the U.S. 75 spine, younger than many peer towns on median age, with household incomes and home values that sit well below Sherman-metro and national ACS medians—and with a poverty rate that is also higher than the national ACS figure. Move in with eyes open to both the price floor and the economic spread those numbers imply.

Housing: ACS baselines vs. today’s dirt

ACS 2020–2024 housing snapshots for Howe report a median owner-occupied value around $201,300 and owner occupancy near three-fifths of occupied units. That median is a multi-year average of occupied homes, not today’s asking price on a specific street.

Treat those figures as a Census baseline. Asking prices, days-on-market, and “Howe” mailing labels that sit outside city limits move with interest rates, lot size, and how much Sherman / south-county demand spills onto the same corridor. Zoning, ETJ versus city limits, floodplain maps, and a thorough inspection matter more here than brochure photos. Pull your exact parcel on Grayson County appraisal tools rather than trusting a single composite tax number from a third-party site.

Jobs: U.S. 75, Sherman, and a local service base

Howe’s job map is not a fab fence line inside city limits and not a hospital campus the size of Denison’s. The practical picture is local services, schools, food service, construction, manufacturing, and a commute shed along U.S. 75 north toward Sherman and south toward Collin County.

ACS / Data USA summaries put employed residents near 1,750, with the largest local industry counts in accommodation and food services, construction, and manufacturing, and an average commute near 25.2 minutes. Most workers drove alone or carpooled in that ACS window; a smaller share worked from home. Sherman’s semiconductor buildout—Texas Instruments wafer fabs and related suppliers covered in our Sherman tracker and 10-projects essay—sits a short hop north and shows up in many household calendars. Verify role location and shift patterns before you assume “Howe address equals short commute.”

Schools: Howe ISD, with eyes open

Most addresses people mean when they say “moving to Howe for the schools” fall into Howe ISD (district 091905). The district covers about 76 square miles, sits on U.S. 75 about sixty miles north of Dallas and twelve miles south of Sherman, and serves roughly 1,200+ students across Summit Hill Elementary (early grades), Howe Intermediate, Howe Middle, and Howe High School (Howe ISD; NCES / Ballotpedia enrollment tables put recent headcounts in the 1,260–1,280 range).

Texas Education Agency 2025 A–F accountability reporting rates the district overall a B (overall score 80), with about 49% economically disadvantaged students in that release. Campus scores in the same TEA listing: Howe High School a B (84), Howe Middle a B (82), Howe Intermediate a C (78), and Summit Hill Elementary a C (78, paired). Read campus report cards, not just the district headline letter (TEA accountability reports; district summary for HOWE ISD 091905).

Practical next steps for parents:

  • Confirm your attendance zone on howeisd.net before you commit to an address.
  • Complete new-student enrollment through the district’s published process; gather proof of residency, birth certificate, immunization records, and prior-school records.
  • Read campus report cards for your kids’ grades.
  • Ask about transportation, special programs, and capacity if your street sits near growth pockets along U.S. 75 or SH 289.

Daily life: Bulldogs Fridays, U.S. 75, and thin local retail

Daily life still centers on school calendars, youth sports, and the U.S. 75 corridor more than on a dense downtown loop. Friday-night Bulldogs games still pack the stands. For bigger grocery, medical, and retail runs, many households still drive north toward Sherman—exactly why a clear commute test matters before you close.

You are far enough from Dallas for quieter evenings and close enough that a Saturday in the metro is a planned trip. Expect construction seasons on 75 (TxDOT’s Paris District has been actively widening U.S. 75 from the Collin County line through Van Alstyne and Howe) to share the same corridor that already carries Anna-to-Sherman trips. Treat lane maps as living documents.

Getting around

U.S. 75 is the spine. Texas Highway 289 touches the district’s western reach and matters for households comparing Howe with Gunter / Celina-side trips. Most newcomers still need two cars if both adults work outside a short local pocket. There is no substitute for driving your prospective route at 7 a.m. and 5 p.m. before you commit—especially if your driveway feeds onto frontage roads during peak construction.

Utilities and city setup

Start with official channels, not group-chat folklore:

  • Water and sewer (inside city): City of Howe Utilities — deposit $150, connection fee $20. Bills are due on the 10th of each month (weekend due dates still count as the 10th; night-drop rules are published on the utilities page). The city does not take phone payments. Acceptable methods include check, cash, debit/credit, bank draft, and online billing setup from your water bill. City Hall: 116 E. Haning St., Howe, TX 75459; phone 903-532-5571. After-hours on-call listed on the utilities page: 903-819-6388.
  • Outside city limits: Confirm water provider for your exact address before you close—city rates and availability differ outside the limits (see the city’s published rate schedule).
  • Trash: Weekly residential pickup Friday by 7:00 a.m.; bulk pickup the second Saturday of the month by 7:00 a.m. The city partners with Frontier Waste Solutions; rules for Freon items, brush bundles, and prohibited materials are on the utilities page.
  • Electricity: Texas retail electric choice—compare plans; confirm the wires company (TDU) for your exact street before you shop.
  • Natural gas / internet: Confirm providers at your address at move-in; availability varies by street.
  • City Hall: 116 E. Haning Street; watch agendas and notices at cityofhowetx.gov.

Property-tax context: city, ISD, and county layers stack—pull your exact parcel on the Grayson County appraisal / Texas property-tax tools rather than trusting a single composite number from a third-party site.

A practical move checklist

  1. Pick two or three pockets and drive them at commute hour and on a Sunday afternoon—include a quieter existing neighborhood and whatever U.S. 75 / SH 289 corridor you are considering.
  2. Pull ACS baselines and recent listing comps so Census medians and today’s ask prices stay in the same conversation.
  3. Verify Howe ISD zones and campus ratings for your kids’ grades.
  4. Tour one weekday grocery run toward Sherman, one clinic wait in the wider Texoma area, and one school-pickup window.
  5. Schedule city water (or the correct outside-city provider) early; line up electric, gas, trash, and internet for your close or lease start.
  6. Read the county development tracker so you know what is under construction versus still a map on the wider corridor.
  7. If you are comparing cities, also skim Moving to Grayson County, Moving to Sherman, Moving to Denison, Moving to Gunter, and Moving to Van Alstyne.

Bottom line

Howe is not a blank-slate boomtown and not a frozen farm crossroads. It is a mid-county U.S. 75 city with a young ACS median age, home values and household incomes that sit below many corridor peers, a B-rated ISD on the latest TEA district summary, city water and Friday trash that are straightforward to set up, and a commute shed that still points many households toward Sherman or south. Move here with Census and ACS numbers, school report cards, and a driven commute—not with vibes alone—and you will know quickly whether it fits.

Sources

→

Related Posts