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Best Public Schools in Zip Code 27502

New rankings! North Carolina test scores for the 2025-26 school year were just released — SchoolDigger posted updated rankings this week.

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At a glance

Schools

13,263

Students

Districts

5-star schools

Top rankedThe Math and Science Academy of Apex4^th of 1,492 North Carolina elementary schools

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Biggest riser

Peak Charter Academy up 46 spots statewide this year

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Smallest classes

Baucom Elementary 13.8 students per teacher

SchoolDigger ratings

5★

4★

1 school without a SchoolDigger rating (too few tested students)

See the top-ranked North Carolina schools →

Summary:

ZIP code 27502 in Apex, NC, contains 11 schools serving about 13,260 students in grades K-12: seven elementary schools, two middle schools, and two high schools. Nine of the schools belong to Wake County Schools; the other two are operated by charter districts — The Math and Science Academy of Apex and Peak Charter Academy — ranked #2 and #10 among North Carolina's 246 districts. As schools, the ZIP's standouts are remarkable statewide: The Math and Science Academy of Apex is #4 of 1,492, Scotts Ridge Elementary is #17, Apex Friendship Elementary is #21, and Apex Friendship Middle is #18 of 778 middle schools.

A clear pattern emerges between the two main attendance zones. Apex Friendship Elementary (#21), Apex Friendship Middle (#18), and Apex Friendship High (#105) outperform their Apex-named counterparts — Apex Elementary (#297), Apex Middle (#147), and Apex High (#190) — across nearly all grades and subjects. Friendship Middle posts roughly 90-95% math proficiency and 95.1% 8th-grade science proficiency, while Apex Middle sits near the Wake County average and dropped from #85 to #147 this year. The charter schools widen the field further: The Math and Science Academy of Apex has climbed from #19 to #4 over three years, and Peak Charter Academy jumped from the 94th to the 98th percentile in a single year.

Two insights matter most for families. First, poverty tracks performance closely: Apex Elementary (34% free/reduced lunch), Apex Middle (25%), and Apex High (23%) serve the most economically disadvantaged populations and hold the ZIP's lowest rankings, though they still exceed North Carolina averages in many subjects. Second, Math I is a shared bottleneck: Apex Friendship High (59.5%) and Apex High (38.8%) lag behind their own English II, Biology, and Math III scores because Math I is taken by a broader cohort. Chronic absenteeism is low across the ZIP, and Apex Elementary's 9.6% rate shows attendance is not the problem there. Overall, Apex families have top-tier options at every level.

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Ranking:

E Elementary M Middle H High A Alternative P Private

Choose columns to see: Summary School Students/Teachers Ranking Test Scores Finance All

School													Students/Teachers											Ranking (2026)				Ranking (2025)				EOC Biology (2026)	EOC English II (2026)	EOC Math I (2026)	EOC Math III (2026)	EOG Mathematics (2026)						EOG Reading (2026)						EOG Science (2026)		Per Pupil Expenditures (2019)
Name	Type	Grades	Address	City	Zip	County	District	Is Charter	Is Magnet	Is Virtual	Is Title I	Phone	Enrollment	Full-time Teachers	Student/ Teacher Ratio	Free/Discounted Lunch Recipients (2025)	White	Black	Hispanic	Asian	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Average Standard Score (2026)	Statewide Rank (2026)	State Percentile (2026)	SchoolDigger Rating (2026)	Average Standard Score (2025)	Statewide Rank (2025)	State Percentile (2025)	Rank Change from Previous Year	EOC Biology End of Course	EOC English II End of Course	EOC Math I End of Course	EOC Math III End of Course	EOG Mathematics 3rd Grade	EOG Mathematics 4th Grade	EOG Mathematics 5th Grade	EOG Mathematics 6th Grade	EOG Mathematics 7th Grade	EOG Mathematics 8th Grade	EOG Reading 3rd Grade	EOG Reading 4th Grade	EOG Reading 5th Grade	EOG Reading 6th Grade	EOG Reading 7th Grade	EOG Reading 8th Grade	EOG Science 5th Grade	EOG Science 8th Grade	Per Pupil Expenditures Total	Sub-total from Federal Funds	Sub-total from State/Local Funds
Peak Charter Academy	Public, Charter	K-8	1601 Orchard Villas Ave	Apex	27502	Wake County	Peak Charter Academy	Yes	No	No	Yes	(919) 377-1552	651	35	18.4	14.9%	209 (32.1%)	55 (8.4%)	55 (8.4%)	281 (43.2%)	4 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	47 (7.2%)	95.2	36^th of 1492 public elementary schools	97.6%		92	82^nd of 1490 public elementary schools	94.5%	46					90.4	84.1	88.1	86.9	76.5	71.2	81.9	84.1	83.3	89.3	79.0	84.6	92.9	92.3
The Math and Science Academy of Apex	Public, Charter	K-7	3501 Dropseed Dr.	Apex	27502	Wake County	The Math and Science Academy of Apex	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(919) 335-0262	1,080	59	18.3		223 (20.6%)	65 (6.0%)	41 (3.8%)	671 (62.1%)	13 (1.2%)	0 (0.0%)	67 (6.2%)	98.1	4^th of 1492 public elementary schools	99.7%		97.8	8^th of 1490 public elementary schools	99.5%	4					96.4	94.0	98.1	98.6			84.2	91.3	93.7	94.2	92.1		96.2
Apex Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	700 Tingen Road	Apex	27502	Wake County	Wake County Schools	No	No	No	No	(919) 387-2150	550	39	14.0	34.2%	303 (55.1%)	49 (8.9%)	127 (23.1%)	43 (7.8%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	27 (4.9%)	76.4	297^th of 1492 public elementary schools	80.1%		76.2	304^th of 1490 public elementary schools	79.6%	7					72.5	77.5	75.6				61.5	67.6	70.7				74.0		$9,307	$377	$8,931
Apex Middle	Public	6-8	400 East Moore Street	Apex	27502	Wake County	Wake County Schools	No	No	No	No	(919) 387-2181	867	54	15.9	24.8%	551 (63.6%)	72 (8.3%)	125 (14.4%)	76 (8.8%)	1 (0.1%)	1 (0.1%)	41 (4.7%)	78.1	147^th of 778 public middle schools	81.1%		85.7	85^th of 773 public middle schools	89.0%	62								75.2	64.7	77.9				64.8	63.7	67.2		81.6	$8,531	$520	$8,012
Apex High	Public	9-12	1501 Laura Duncan Road	Apex	27502	Wake County	Wake County Schools	No	No	No	No	(919) 387-2208	2,449	123	19.9	22.5%	1,422 (58.1%)	230 (9.4%)	378 (15.4%)	311 (12.7%)	2 (0.1%)	8 (0.3%)	98 (4.0%)	69.4	190^th of 662 public high schools	71.3%		69.9	175^th of 641 public high schools	72.7%	15	76.4	85.9	38.8	76.7															$8,281	$390	$7,891
Baucom Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	400 Hunter St	Apex	27502	Wake County	Wake County Schools	No	No	No	No	(919) 387-2168	675	49	13.8	21.2%	297 (44.0%)	61 (9.0%)	94 (13.9%)	192 (28.4%)	3 (0.4%)	4 (0.6%)	24 (3.6%)	89.4	124^th of 1492 public elementary schools	91.7%		89.2	119^th of 1490 public elementary schools	92.0%	5					82.8	83.2	80.4				75.9	81.2	78.3				82.6		$9,174	$659	$8,515
Olive Chapel Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	1751 Olive Chapel Road	Apex	27502	Wake County	Wake County Schools	No	No	No	No	(919) 387-4440	1,066	72	14.8	11.6%	551 (51.7%)	61 (5.7%)	95 (8.9%)	323 (30.3%)	4 (0.4%)	6 (0.6%)	26 (2.4%)	95.8	31^st of 1492 public elementary schools	97.9%		96.1	37^th of 1490 public elementary schools	97.5%	6					92.2	86.5	90.7				87.0	83.2	88.7				92.1		$9,289	$359	$8,930
Apex Friendship High	Public	9-12	7801 Humie Olive Rd	Apex	27502	Wake County	Wake County Schools	No	No	No	No	(919) 694-0500	2,748	131	21.0	11.2%	1,790 (65.1%)	188 (6.8%)	261 (9.5%)	390 (14.2%)	6 (0.2%)	3 (0.1%)	110 (4.0%)	85	105^th of 662 public high schools	84.1%		85.6	106^th of 641 public high schools	83.5%	1	90.3	91.1	59.5	89.5															$7,834	$322	$7,511
Scotts Ridge Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	6601 Apex Barbecue Rd	Apex	27502	Wake County	Wake County Schools	No	No	No	No	(919) 694-0300	869	57	15.2	8.2%	553 (63.6%)	19 (2.2%)	54 (6.2%)	187 (21.5%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	55 (6.3%)	96.9	17^th of 1492 public elementary schools	98.9%		95.8	43^rd of 1490 public elementary schools	97.1%	26					94.9	93.7	90.1				85.9	88.8	86.8				94.0		$8,607	$341	$8,266
Apex Friendship Middle	Public	6-8	7701 Humie Olive Rd	Apex	27502	Wake County	Wake County Schools	No	No	No	No	(919) 694-8960	1,412	73	19.3	7.9%	848 (60.1%)	77 (5.5%)	114 (8.1%)	302 (21.4%)	2 (0.1%)	1 (0.1%)	68 (4.8%)	96.9	18^th of 778 public middle schools	97.7%		97.1	18^th of 773 public middle schools	97.7%									94.5	92.8	89.7				86.2	88.4	84.9		95.1	$8,250	$361	$7,890
Apex Friendship Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	7901 Humie Olive Road	Apex	27502	Wake County	Wake County Schools	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(919) 694-8454	896	62	14.5	4.6%	391 (43.6%)	34 (3.8%)	61 (6.8%)	378 (42.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	32 (3.6%)	96.7	21^st of 1492 public elementary schools	98.6%		96.5	31^st of 1490 public elementary schools	97.9%	10					90.7	96.6	93.2				83.6	90.5	89.2				91.2
Pleasant Plains Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	1511 Woodall Crest Drive	Apex	27502	Wake County	Wake County Schools	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	(n/a)	(919) 694-8900	0																		(n/a)					84.4	86.4	85.3				77.8	71.2	61.8				76.5

Cities Near Zip Code 27502

City	Distance	# of Schools	Statewide Rank
Apex	0.8 mi	23	26^th
Cary	1.3 mi	34	50^th
Raleigh	2.03 mi	108	176^th
Holly Springs	2.49 mi	12	46^th
Fuquay Varina	6.32 mi	14	139^th

See the top NC North Carolina cities

SchoolDigger data sources: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Census Bureau and the North Carolina Dept of Public Instruction.

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMERS: Not all boundaries are included. We make every effort to ensure that boundaries are up-to-date. But it's important to note that these are approximations and are for general informational purposes only. To verify legal descriptions of boundaries or school locations, contact your local tax assessor's office and/or school district.