Best PlacesApex, NC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Apex, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages hide a wide spread here, so the area matters as much as the address. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Apex ranks 18th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a strong job market by a wide margin, and the weather ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Apex
BestNeighborhood is the only ranking that scores 40 measures of daily life neighborhood by neighborhood and lets you re-weight every one of them yourself.
The best areas in Apex
The parts of Apex, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first.
The Villages of Apex
Beaver Creek Crossings
Miramonte
Scores across Apex run from about the 71st to the 100th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Apex's strengths and weaknesses
Where Apex ranks high
- Local economyBetter than 99% of cities
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 97% of cities
- Health outlookBetter than 96% of cities
- State fiscal healthBetter than 95% of cities
- School gradeA, better than 94% of cities
Where Apex ranks low
- Nice weatherabout 57 pleasant days a year, better than only 3% of cities
- Cell coverageBetter than only 30% of cities
- Big-city accessBetter than only 30% of cities
- WalkabilityBetter than only 33% of cities
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 35% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Apex
A household needs to earn about $147,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Apex home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $144,052; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment, a 6.6% 30-year fixed rate, and a 28% share of income going to the payment. The rate is the 2026-07-23 30-year fixed average, series MORTGAGE30US from the St. Louis Fed, which publishes Freddie Mac's weekly survey. Against the median home value, property tax uses Apex's effective rate of 0.69%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 10 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Apex
Apex's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Apex.
Who works in Apex, and how
Work in Apex centers on professional & technical and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 62%
- Work from home 35%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Apex
Apex has more restaurants and bars per resident than 65% of cities and more parkland per resident than 84% of cities. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Apex and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Apex, month by month
Apex sees roughly 57 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 94 degrees. January highs sit near 56, with lows near 31. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 56° | 43° | 31° |
| April | 77° | 62° | 48° |
| July | 94° | 81° | 71° |
| October | 77° | 63° | 51° |
Flying in and out of Apex
Raleigh-Durham International sits about 11 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 7.7 million passengers in 2025, with 128 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Apex
Schools across Apex average an A, better than 94% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- White Oak ElementaryA+ · 91% proficient
- Davis Drive ElementaryA+ · 86% proficient
- Highcroft ElementaryA+ · 85% proficient
Top middle schools
- Mills Park MiddleA+ · 89% proficient
- Davis Drive MiddleA+ · 87% proficient
- Salem MiddleA+ · 73% proficient
Top high schools
- Apex HighA · 79% proficient
- Vernon Malone College And Career AcademyA · 77% proficient
- Northwood HighA · 70% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Apex school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Apex measure by measure
Cards are ordered by how much each measure matters to you, so the ones you weighted highest come first. Expand to see every measure. Percentages compare Apex against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Apex suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 97% of cities, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 35% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Apex
Is Apex a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Apex ranks 18th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on a strong job market, what local pay buys, and population health, and lowest on the weather and cell coverage. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Apex expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $569,533. The overall cost of living runs about 10% below the national average. Set against a $144,052 median income, cost of living beats 97% of cities.
Is Apex safe?
Yes, Apex is safer than 87% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $228 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Apex?
July highs average about 94 degrees, and January highs near 56 with lows near 31. That works out to about 57 pleasant days a year, more than 3% of cities.
What are the best neighborhoods in Apex?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are The Villages of Apex, Beaver Creek Crossings, and Miramonte. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Apex with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Apex. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Apex represents the same real quantity as a 60 anywhere else, and the ranking is a weighted average of those absolutes. The map colors come from a national scale calibrated against a population weighted random sample of 5,000 neighborhoods. That absolute scoring is what no other places-to-live ranking does: it puts a single neighborhood, a town, a metro, and a state on one scale, so the same 40 measures answer both which metro to move to and which street inside it to buy on. Read the full methodology.
Apex detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Apex: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Apex: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Apex: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Apex: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Apex detail on related sites:
- CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
- ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
- CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.
Federal and public data:
- U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey: income, home value, rent, vacancy, commute time and mode, educational attainment, home age, age structure, household type, industry, and race.
- NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
- FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
- FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
- U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
- FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
- CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
- National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
- FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
- Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.
Your priorities
Move a slider to say how much a measure matters. Zero turns it off.