North Andover, MA Tier 2

Tier 2 · strong schools · 22 miles from downtown Boston, about 55 minutes door-to-door at peak · 70% of households own their home.

North Andover, Massachusetts
North Andover · photo via Wikipedia
4BR house
$875k
$675k townhouse · $500k condo
Dearer than 65% of MA towns
Property tax
$9,800/yr
$11.24 per $1,000 on that house
Higher than 60% of MA towns
To downtown Boston
55 min
No MBTA rail
Closer than 60% of MA towns
Schools
65th pct
growth 49th · 97% graduate
Ahead of 65% of MA districts

marks the Massachusetts median of $750k for a 4BR, $9,100 in tax and 62 min to Boston. Prices and the tax bill are estimates, not appraisals.

About North Andover

North Andover is a strong school district north of Boston, about 22 miles from downtown Boston as the crow flies and 55 minutes door-to-door at peak, and moderately priced by Massachusetts standards: roughly $875k for a 4BR house and $500k for a 2BR condo. The residential rate is $11.24 per $1,000, about average for Massachusetts, but on a $875k house that is still about $9,800 a year. There is no MBTA rail here, so the commute is by car. The district sits in the 65th percentile statewide on MCAS, and Niche ranks it 56th of 236. Lake Cochichewick, an old-money common, and steady schools.

The good, the bad, the ugly

Editorial
Good

Lake Cochichewick, an old-money common, and steady Tier 2 schools.

Bad

No rail stop of its own, so it's 55 minutes of driving.

Ugly

The lake is the drinking supply, which limits what can ever be built near it.

Schools and child carestrong schools · 65th MCAS · 6 schools

Public elementary & middle schools

6 public schools in North Andover — 5 elementary and 1 middle
Elementary1–5 · 583 students
Elementary1–5 · 434 students
ElementaryPK–K · 403 students
Elementary1–5 · 317 students
Elementary1–5 · 305 students
Middle6–8 · 1,032 students

These are assigned by address, not chosen. A regional district’s schools appear on every member town’s page. Charters are public but allocated by lottery, and are listed separately below.

DESE 2025–26 enrolment report

Before kindergarten

Licensed programs 9 center-based · 12 family child care21
Licensed places, all ages The ceiling these programs may operate to696
Places in centers Commercial premises, licensed room by room600
Places in family child care A provider’s own home, mixed ages together96
Infant & toddler places in centers Age bands ending under three; family programs are not broken down233
Preschool places in centers Roughly 33 months to kindergarten349

Licensed capacity is not availability. These are places programs may operate, not vacancies. The age split covers centers only — family programs report no breakdown, so 233 is a floor on infant care here, not a count of it.

MA Dept. of Early Education and Care, pulled 2026-08-02 · search current openings

Public School Rankings

Publisher rankingResult
Niche 2026 · Best School Districts#56 of 236 MA districts · A-
SchoolDigger 2025 · City/locality test-score rank#140 of 361 MA localities
Boston Magazine 2025 · Greater Boston high school#60 of 135 · North Andover High School
Official Massachusetts data (DESE)Result
MCAS achievement65th percentile statewide
Student growth (SGP)49th percentile
4-year graduation rate96.5%
DESE accountabilityModerate progress toward targets

Each publisher ranks a different thing. A district, a locality, or one high school, each by its own method — shown separately, never blended.

MCAS percentile is the district’s statewide rank on % Meeting/Exceeding expectations, ELA + Math.

School building projects: No major full-school construction or comprehensive rebuild with a published total project budget was located in the live MSBA, municipal, school-project, contractor, and local-news review completed in July 2026. This does not mean no school capital work occurred.

Charter School Options

3 charter schools near North Andover
Adjacent town · LawrenceTuition-free · lotteryPK–8 · Charter (public, tuition-free) · growth 52nd pct · Moderate progress toward targets · $21k/pupil
Adjacent town · LawrenceTuition-free · lotteryPK–8 · Charter (public, tuition-free) · growth 50th pct · Substantial progress toward targets · $20k/pupil
Adjacent town · LawrenceTuition-free · lottery9–12 · Charter (public, tuition-free) · 1.9% graduate · Insufficient data · $32k/pupil

Admission is by lottery, not address — a seat is never guaranteed. Some charters here are alternative or recovery high schools enrolling students already off-track, so their MCAS and graduation figures are not comparable with a traditional school’s.

Public and tuition-free; results from DESE

Available Private School Options

15 private schools in North Andover and within 12 miles
BrooksNiche #15 · A+
In North AndoverNEASC accredited9–12 · High school · 362 students · 7:1 student-teacher · ~$40k–$52k/yr (est.) · ~$70k/yr boarding
In North AndoverPK–8 · Elementary / middle · 519 students · 17:1 student-teacher · ~$8k–$15k/yr (est.)
Adjacent town · BoxfordPK–10 · PK/K–12 · 53 students · ~$18k–$28k/yr (est.)
Adjacent town · AndoverNEASC accredited9–12 · High school · 1,169 students · 6:1 student-teacher · ~$40k–$52k/yr (est.) · ~$70k/yr boarding
Central Catholic HighNiche #80 · A-
Adjacent town · Lawrence9–12 · High school · 1,217 students · ~$18k–$28k/yr (est.)
Adjacent town · LawrencePK–8 · Elementary / middle · 535 students · ~$8k–$15k/yr (est.)
Adjacent town · AndoverPK–8 · Elementary / middle · 416 students · ~$8k–$15k/yr (est.)
Adjacent town · AndoverAISNE accreditedPK–9 · PK/K–12 · 402 students · 7:1 student-teacher · ~$38k–$50k/yr (est.)
Adjacent town · Lawrence9–12 · High school · 269 students · ~$18k–$28k/yr (est.)
Adjacent town · AndoverK–12 + SP · Specialized / placement · 196 students · placement/specialized
Adjacent town · AndoverAISNE accreditedPK–7 · Elementary / middle · 137 students · 9.4:1 student-teacher · ~$18k–$30k/yr (est.)
Adjacent town · LawrenceNEASC accredited5–8 · Elementary / middle · 96 students · 12.1:1 student-teacher · ~$8k–$15k/yr (est.)
Adjacent town · AndoverPK–7 · Elementary / middle · 15 students · ~$32k–$45k/yr (est.)
Adjacent town · LawrenceAISNE accredited6–8 · Middle school · files no enrolment with the state
Adjacent town · MethuenPK–8 · Elementary / middle · 258 students · ~$8k–$15k/yr (est.)

Tuition is an estimated range by school type, not school-published pricing — a parochial school and an independent day school are priced very differently. Private schools sit no MCAS, so no figure here is a state measure.

How to read this list

Schools within 12 miles of North Andover, from the MA DESE 2025–26 non-public enrollment report plus the Niche ranking of Massachusetts private high schools. Tuition shown as an estimated range by school type, grades and region — not school-published pricing. A parochial school and an independent day school are priced very differently, so treat these as a starting point and confirm with the school. Niche ranks private high schools only, so an elementary school never carries a number; where one shows a letter instead, that is Niche’s own overall grade, which reaches schools no ranked list does. Neither is a state measure — private schools sit no MCAS and report no results to Massachusetts. That Niche extract is also partial, so a school showing neither was not judged and found wanting; it may simply not have been in it. Student numbers are the figure schools do report, from the same DESE return. Where a student-teacher ratio is shown it is students over full-time-equivalent teachers in the federal Private School Universe Survey, 2021–22, the most recent published — a rough guide to class size, not a class size, and not a ranking either. It is shown only where that survey and the state agree on how many pupils the school has, which is why many schools here have none. Accreditation comes from the AISNE member directory, which records whether a school holds AISNE or NEASC accreditation — the two split the work by age rather than compete, AISNE taking the elementary and middle schools and NEASC the secondary ones. It means an outside body has reviewed the school against published standards on a ten-year cycle. It is not a measure of results, and its absence is not a mark against a school: plenty are not members at all. That directory is also where the schools marked files no enrolment with the state come from. They are real schools that simply make no return to Massachusetts, so the state holds no size for them and this page can show none — and for those, the grade range is read off AISNE’s age bands rather than taken from the school, so treat it as approximate and confirm with the school.

The vibe of North Andover

High-cost suburbsCollege townhigh confidence

Moderate energy, lower-density, and extensively provided with recreation programs, playgrounds and athletic fields; higher-cost in housing and well-maintained in public spaces, with visible cultural identity, some visitor activity, and strong gathering-place network.

Energy6
Compact town center5
Family amenities7
Culture7
Visitor presence5
Public gathering places8

Six 1–10 scales for the intensity of each quality, not a score of how good the place is. Higher just means more of that thing. Family amenities counts public recreation infrastructure, not who lives here; these never use race, ethnicity or other protected characteristics, and never measure safety. See the methodology.

What it takes to live here$875k 4BR · ≈$9,800 tax
To buyMedian price (est.)
4BR / 2BA detached house$875k
3BR / 2BA townhouse$675k
2BR condo$500k
Property taxes (FY2026)$11.24 per $1,000 (1.12%)

These are modeled estimates, not listings. Each row opens the real Redfin market in ZIP 01845, and the two will not match.

To rentPer month (est.)
4 bedrooms$3,770/mo
3 bedrooms$3,420/mo
2 bedrooms$2,847/mo
1 bedroom$2,240/mo

These are benchmark rents, not asking rents. HUD sets them at the 40th percentile of standard-quality units, so a nice single-family will ask more — which is why the links are not capped at the figure beside them.

HUD FY2026 Small Area Fair Market Rents for North Andover’s ZIP codes

Home values over the last decade

North Andover home values, 2016–2026Zillow Home Value Index for North Andover, 2016 to 2026: $471k to $827k, up 76 per cent.$428k$649k$870k20162026
North Andover, 2016 to 2026: $471k to $827k, up 76% in 10 years — 5.8% a year compounded.
If a $875k house grew at…5 yrs10 yrs15 yrs30 yrs
5.8% — North Andover’s own last decade$1.16M$1.54M$2.04M$4.75M
3% — inflation, holding its real value$1.01M$1.18M$1.36M$2.12M

These are not forecasts. They are what $875k becomes at a fixed rate, shown for two rates because nobody can tell you which one the next thirty years will bring. The last decade included a period of unusually fast growth across Massachusetts; repeating it for thirty years would be a strong assumption. The inflation row is the conservative case — a house that holds its value and earns nothing beyond it. History from the Zillow Home Value Index, a whole-town index that sits at a different level from the 4BR estimate above and is used here for the trend.

What’s around North Andover

suburban1,176 people per square mile across 26.3 sq mi suburban — 500–2,000 per square mile

What’s hereCount
Cafés and coffee shops
See the list

1 more is mapped without a name, so it cannot be listed.

5
Bookshops0
Museums, theatres and galleries
See the list
3
Colleges and universities
See the list
1
Public libraryNorth Andover, Stevens Memorial Library

5,688 students — 18% of North Andover’s population. 50% of them have a place in campus housing, about 9% of everyone living here. Enrolment is counted at the campus, so students who commute from elsewhere are included here.

Density is Census population over land area. Café, bookshop and culture counts are what is mapped in OpenStreetMap — a volunteer map, so a well-mapped town looks busier than a thinly-mapped one. Read a low count as “little mapped here”, not “nothing here”. Colleges are active degree-granting institutions in the federal IPEDS directory; enrolment and campus housing capacity are its 2023 figures. The public library comes from the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners, which lists library systems rather than every branch. These figures describe places, never the people in them — see our methodology.

Census snapshot
ACS 2019–2023 (via MAPC DataCommon)Share
Homeowner households70%
White (non-Hispanic)79%
Asian (non-Hispanic)6.5%
Latino / Hispanic8.2%
African American (non-Hispanic)2.8%
These figures are neutral census facts, shown for every town equally. They are never used to filter, rank, or recommend towns — see our methodology and the federal Fair Housing Act.

Town spending & civic data

North AndoverFigure
Residents30,915
Municipal budgetFY2025, DLS Schedule A$128.2M
School district spending$89.9M
Spending per pupil DESE, total expenditures$19,312
School spending per resident$2,907
Affordable housing units (Ch. 40B inventory)1,357

Budget: FY2025 General Fund total expenditures, DLS Schedule A · Schools: DESE Per Pupil Expenditure · Affordable units: state Subsidized Housing Inventory. Never used to rank or filter towns.

Realistic alternatives to North Andover

AndoverTier 2
Also Tier 2, about $125k more expensive
TopsfieldTier 2
Also Tier 2, about $125k more expensive
ChelmsfordTier 2
Also Tier 2, about $100k cheaper
HamiltonTier 2
Also Tier 2, higher tax at $14.50 per $1,000
North ReadingTier 2
Also Tier 2, 11 min closer to Boston
LittletonTier 2
Also Tier 2, 8 min further from Boston

Surprisingly similar in character

HinghamTier 2
Both social and well-equipped for recreation · $775k dearer
HopkintonTier 1
Both social and well-equipped for recreation · $375k dearer

Read next

How much income do you need to buy in a good Massachusetts school district?
A 4BR here needs roughly $232k of household income. That is what a Tier 2 district costs to buy into.
7 min read
Massachusetts towns with a real downtown under $1M
A genuinely active center and a 4BR under $1M — a combination only seventeen towns in the state manage.
6 min read
Test scores tell you who moved in. Growth tells you what the school did.
Scores in the 65th percentile but moves children in the 49th — the intake flatters this district.
7 min read
The district spending the most per pupil is not the best one
Spends $19,312 per pupil — 22nd percentile for money, 65th for results. The two barely track each other statewide.
7 min read
Data statusreviewed August 14, 2026
FigureStatus
Home pricesCalibrated to the Zillow Home Value Index and Redfin market pages. For comparison, not appraisal.Estimate
Property tax rateFY2026 residential rate per $1,000, from municipal assessor and treasurer pages.Sourced
RentsHUD FY2026 Small Area Fair Market Rents, by ZIP.Sourced
School dataDESE published state reports. Publisher ranks carry their own edition and denominator. The school tier is editorial.Sourced
CommuteRail times for the 75 towns we could verify against the MBTA's published timetable are real scheduled journeys, transfers included. Where a town has rail but no verified journey, its rail time is modeled too, and the town page says so. Driving is modeled from distance with corridor adjustments, and station access is a flat allowance. Not measured by a routing API.Measured + modeled

This town’s prices and tax rate are sourced as described in our methodology. Data last reviewed . Full detail on every source is in the methodology.

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