Like many of the cities in Dallas's northern exurbs, Frisco serves as a bedroom community for professionals who work in DFW.

Since 2003, Frisco has received the designation Tree City USA from the National Arbor Day Foundation.

[2] When the Dallas area was being settled by American pioneers, many of the settlers traveled by wagon trains along the Shawnee Trail.

[8] In 1902, a line of the St. Louis–San Francisco Railway ("the Frisco") was being built through the area, and periodic watering stops were needed along the route for the steam locomotives.

The current settlement of Lebanon was on Preston Ridge and was too high in elevation, so the watering stop was placed about 4 miles (6 km) to the west on lower ground.

[21] Frisco has many retail properties, including Stonebriar Centre, a 165-store regional mall; IKEA, a furniture store with an area of 28,800 m2 (310,000 sq ft); and The Star, the headquarters of the Dallas Cowboys.

Retail establishments and restaurants line Preston Road, one of the city's major north–south traffic arteries.

Frisco took a different economic track than many surrounding cities, electing to use a fractional percent of local sales tax to fund the Frisco Economic Development Corporation (FEDC) rather than Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART), the regional transportation body.

The effectiveness of the FEDC, whose primary purpose is to reallocate such tax dollars to commercial ventures, is a matter of public debate.

The nearby Discovery Center features an art gallery, a black-box theater, and the National Videogame Museum.

[29] Multiple professional teams have made their home at the Ford Center, including the Texas Revolution of Champions Indoor Football[30][31] and the Dallas Rattlers of Major League Lacrosse.

It is primarily used as a soccer stadium by FC Dallas, but also hosts concerts and high school and college football games, including the NCAA Division I-AA (FCS) college football championship starting in 2010 and the NCAA Division I (FBS) Frisco Bowl starting in 2017.

The Comerica Center (formerly Dr Pepper Arena), a combination hockey and basketball venue, is the home of the Texas Legends of the NBA G League and the Frisco Fighters of the Indoor Football League, and a practice facility for the Dallas Stars of the NHL.The Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League (NFL) moved their corporate headquarters to "The Star" in Frisco in time for the 2016 NFL football season; the complex opened in June 2016.

Built-in partnership with Frisco ISD, which contributed $30 million to build the Ford Center at the Star in lieu of a dedicated third football stadium, Frisco ISD has held high school football games at the Ford Center since it opened.

In 2020 a new Indoor Football League expansion franchise, the Frisco Fighters, debuted with home games to be played at Comerica Center.

After the Fighters' 2020 season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the team played its inaugural home opener on June 5, 2021.

[35] In their first year of operation, the Fighters clinched a playoff berth, advancing as far as the IFL semifinal game against the eventual 2021 United Bowl champion Massachusetts Pirates.

The Dallas Stars National Hockey League team is headquartered in Frisco, and practices at the Comerica Center.

A major international youth soccer tournament, the Dallas Cup, is hosted in Frisco each year and draws teams from around the world.

[32][33] The Texas Legends, affiliated with the Dallas Mavericks, are members of the NBA G League and play at Comerica Center.

Council members' duties include enacting local legislation (ordinances), adopting budgets, determining policies, and appointing the city manager.

There have been only two city managers in Frisco history: George Purefoy, who served for over 34 years until his retirement in 2022, and his successor, Wes Pierson.

[53] The Preston Ridge campus of the community college district opened on Wade Boulevard in Frisco in 1995.