Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Yes, by almost any measure. Apex earns an A, 5th among North Carolina's 286 graded towns. It is healthier than 98% of U.S. towns, the median household earns $144K, and its schools rank ahead of 75% of North Carolina towns. Its lowest mark, a C, is in cost of living. 70% of adults 25 and older hold a bachelor’s degree or more in Apex, against 29% in North Carolina’s towns and 29% across U.S. towns. Apex has 7 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Goodwin Farm Complex and Apex City Hall. Among 290 North Carolina towns, just 5 have a higher share of workers working from home than Apex.
Where Apex beats most towns.
| Widest gap | Apex | NC |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 7.2% | 15.2% |
Census counts: 228 in 1880, 58,780 in 2020. The archive holds 18 old photos and papers going back to 1912.
7 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within North Carolina), ordered by how far Apex is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Apex. Close and well known come first.
10 mi Stadium & arenaLenovo Center
10 mi Stadium & arenaCarter–Finley Stadium
16 mi Stadium & arenaKenan Memorial Stadium
8 mi Stadium & arenaWakeMed Soccer Park
15 mi Stadium & arenaDean Smith Center
12 mi MuseumNorth Carolina Museum of ArtLenovo Center: Edward T. Funkhouser, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Carter–Finley Stadium: SMaloney, CC BY 3.0 · Kenan Memorial Stadium: Yeungb, CC BY 3.0 · WakeMed Soccer Park: Hameltion, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Dean Smith Center: No machine-readable author provided. Snargle~commonswiki assumed (based on copyr, Public domain · North Carolina Museum of Art: Justin Doub, CC BY 2.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Apex, and how to reach them.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Nov 18, 2024.
Ordered by what stands out in Apex.
Apex has less food insecurity than most of North Carolina and has household incomes well above the North Carolina norm, but it has property taxes about twice the North Carolina norm.
The median property tax bill is $4,001, against $1,896 across North Carolina, another input to its cost-of-living grade.
The typical Apex home is worth about $589,000, down 1.6% in a year, 77% above the North Carolina typical home. Apex’s median rent is $1,902 a month.
| Apex | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,902 a month | $1,084 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 77% | 67% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Its public schools are run by the Wake County Schools. Three of its 21 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apex Friendship MiddleLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 1,412 | A |
| Apex Friendship HighLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 2,748 | A |
| Olive Chapel ElementaryTop results in townGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 1,066 | A+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NC on state tests and graduation
Its widest gap with North Carolina is food insecurity: 7.2% of its 41,568 adults worry about having enough food, against 15.2% statewide.
8.3% of adults report frequent physical distress in Apex. Only 3 of the 289 North Carolina towns we compare have a lower share of adults who say their health is fair or poor than Apex. 14% of adults report frequent mental distress in Apex.
| Apex | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 8.3% | 13% | 14% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 28% | 38% | 35% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 24% | 25% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 7.5% | 13% | 12% |
| What stands out | Apex | NC |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 7.2% | 15.2% |
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 6.9% | 13.9% |
| Fewer adults treating high blood pressure | 71.2% | 76.7% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Jobs based here grew from 13,215 in 2013 to 20,299. 36% of workers work from home, against 16.3% across North Carolina.
Most working residents leave Apex for work: only 8% work in town. 2.2% of Apex residents live below the poverty line. Jobs based in Apex grew to 20,299 in 2023, 7,084 more than in 2013.
| Apex | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $144,000 | $69,000 | $80,000 |
| Below the poverty line | 2.2% | 13% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Apex has mild winters and warm summers. The July high in Apex is 90°F.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 67% of U.S. communities. One flood insurance claim has been paid in Apex since 2017.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
5.5 miles of trail in 25 parks and preserves. The biggest park or preserve is Apex Community Park, at 160 acres.
| Apex | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.2 miles per square mile | 0.2 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 4.1% | 3.4% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Apex Nature Park | 2 mi | 156 |
| 2. Seymour Athletic Fields | 0.3 mi | 17 |
| 3. Apex Community Park | 0.2 mi | 160 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Apex's reported crime rate is well below North Carolina's. Only 9 of the 153 North Carolina towns we compare have a lower violent crime rate than Apex. Most reported incidents are property crimes, mainly thefts.
| Apex | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 0.5 per 1,000 residents | 3.2 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 7.2 per 1,000 residents | 21.8 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
6 within 15 miles of the center of Apex
About 5 of every 100 Apex residents are enrolled in college, about the same as North Carolina.
37,476 counted in 2010 and 58,780 in 2020; an estimated 80,419 in 2025.
Growth hasn’t slowed: 24.9% since 2020, after 56.8% in the decade before.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts · Census Bureau estimate, July 1, 2025
7 places in Apex on the National Register of Historic Places.
3 notable people were born in Apex.
Town in North Carolina, United States
Apex () is a town in Wake and Chatham counties in the U.S. state of North Carolina. At its southern border, Apex encompasses the community of Friendship. In 1994, the downtown area was designated a historic district, and the Apex train depot, built in 1867, was designated a Wake County landmark. The depot location marks the highest point on the old Chatham Railroad, hence the town's name. The town motto is "The Peak of Good Living". In the late 19th century, a small community developed around the Chatham railroad station, known as log pond, and later, Apex. Much of the forests in the surrounding area were cleared for farmland, which was mainly dedicated to Tobacco Farming. Since Apex was ne…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
2 towns share a border with Apex.
| Town | NC rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apex | #5 | A | C | — | A− | A+ |
| Cary | #11 | A | C− | B | A− | A+ |
| Holly Springs | #17 | A− | C− | B+ | A− | A+ |
Apex reports no FBI crime data of its own. Compare Apex with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Yes, by almost any measure. Apex grades A overall, better than 94% of U.S. towns and #5 of 286 in North Carolina. It grades A+ for health and A− for schools.
That is 5.9 years of the area's median household income ($100,103 across the Raleigh-Cary, NC metro area). Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C.
3 notable people were born here, including Matthew Edwards and Rosa Gill.
