New Hill Historic District · Photo: KimWrenn · CC BY-SA 3.0Households in Apex have higher incomes than those in 94% of U.S. towns
Jobs and income earn Apex A; getting around on foot earns it A−. The poverty rate is 2.2% (North Carolina 13.0%). For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 1.4 trips an hour at the evening peak near the typical resident, next to 8.3 in Raleigh.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Apex apart on work
Home offices are common in Apex
36% of Apex workers work from home, against 16% across North Carolina. Time on the road ↓
Apex and Raleigh trade workers both ways
Raleigh is the top workplace for Apex residents (23%) and also where the most people who work in Apex come from (12% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Apex has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Apex went from 13,215 in 2013 to 20,299 in 2023, +54%. The jobs ↓
The better-paid jobs are outside Apex
75% of Apex residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 57% of the jobs based in Apex pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 92% leave town for their job. The jobs ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
Inside Apex’s Jobs & income grade
The poverty rate is its strongest input; unemployment ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (3.8%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on household income and unemployment and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Apex could be anywhere from A to A+.
A commute of about 25 minutes in Apex
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Apex workers work from home, vs 16% across North Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 23,289 commuters (the 36% who work from home are left out). Across North Carolina: 85% drive alone, 1% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
23% of working residents work in Raleigh
Where Apex clocks in
23% of workers
15% of workers
13% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
What work there is in Apex: 20,299 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Apex, 2013 → 2023: 13,215 → 20,299. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.
Primary jobs covered by unemployment insurance (not the self-employed). Pay is monthly earnings. LEHD 2023.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Apex’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Apex by day and by night
On a workday 30,682 residents head out to work, 2,507 work right here, and 17,792 people come in from elsewhere.
About 68,000 people are in Apex on a workday afternoon, 16% fewer than live here.
0.61 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
How many miles Apex commutes
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Good to walk, short on transit: Apex
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Apex is more walkable than 76% of U.S. towns, #44 of 290 in North Carolina. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 3.3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, above the 2.9% across North Carolina.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 36,394 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 30% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 1.4 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 63% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 2.7% of Apex households have no vehicle (North Carolina 5.3%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Apex’s commuters take a bus or train.
29th of 571: where Apex ranks among U.S. towns of 56,000 to 109,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lakeville MN | 79,270 | $139K | 2.9% | 2.0% | 11% | A+ |
| 2 | Fulshear TX | 64,630 | $187K | 1.6% | 2.8% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Plymouth MN | 78,942 | $137K | 4.3% | 2.3% | 12% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 21 | Huntersville NC | 68,535 | $121K | 3.1% | 3.2% | 10% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 27 | Highlands Ranch CO | 102,257 | $159K | 2.9% | 4.0% | 9% | A |
| 28 | South San Francisco CA | 64,941 | $137K | 6.7% | 2.8% | 12% | A |
| 29 | Apex NC | 80,419 | $144K | 2.2% | 3.8% | 8% | A |
| 30 | Sammamish WA | 66,110 | $240K | 4.3% | 3.1% | 3% | A |
| 31 | Dublin CA | 71,602 | $214K | 4.5% | 3.8% | 6% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 38 | Chapel Hill NC | 63,565 | $86K | 18.6% | 4.5% | 27% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 109 | Wake Forest NC | 58,147 | $124K | 4.5% | 4.0% | 9% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 571 | Albany GA | 66,907 | $47K | 27.5% | 11.2% | 51% | D |
Census ACS 2020–24 (income, poverty, unemployment), Census LEHD (work in town), TownRatings Jobs & income grades. Each town links to its Work & commute page.
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Apex, the top three, the last and three more from North Carolina.
Work next door: 17% of Apex’s workers
The biggest share goes to Cary (15%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Apex workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apex | – | A | A− | 25 min | $144,135 |
| Cary | 15% | A | B+ | 23 min | $134,905 |
| Holly Springs | 2% | A | B | 29 min | $135,578 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Apex’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Two sources, two years. Trips, distances and jobs based here: Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs, where the employer reports them. Income, poverty, unemployment, commute time and how people travel: Census ACS 2020–24 averages.
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Apex: questions
What is the median household income in Apex?
$144,135 (±$9,485) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,388 across North Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Apex?
2.2%, against 13.0% across North Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Apex?
25 minutes each way on average, against 25 across North Carolina and 26 nationally. 36% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Apex work?
8% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Raleigh (23%, 15 mi), Cary (15%, 5 mi), Durham (13%, 18 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Apex walkable?
Apex is more walkable than 76% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 8.9 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Apex without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Apex, from the people who make the trip.
More of Apex
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Distances are straight lines between home and work; real drives run longer. Walkability index, job access and transit service: U.S. EPA Smart Location Database. The two grades are our own summaries of these figures, not official ratings.