The human brain has changed dramatically since humans diverged from our closest living relatives, chimpanzees and the other great apes. However, the genetic and developmental programs underlying this divergence are not fully understood. Here, we generate single-nucleus RNA-seq data of human, chimpanzee and macaque adult prefrontal cortex. Spatial information is obtained by isolating nuclei from sequential sections sliced from basal to apical positions. Bulk RNA-seq is performed for the same sections to determine positional information of the sections, by comparing the section transcriptome with published transcriptome data of cortical layers in human, chimpanzee and macaque.