Andover at a glance
Andover sits in Essex County about 20 miles north of Boston. The Merrimack River forms part of its northern edge and the Shawsheen River runs through the middle of town. Lawrence and Methuen are to the north, North Andover to the east, and Tewksbury, Wilmington and North Reading to the south and west. At roughly 32 square miles it is one of the larger towns in the Merrimack Valley by land, which is why so many Andover lots feel wide and wooded.
Liriano Realty works Andover from our office at 240 Pleasant St Unit: 10, Methuen, MA 01844, a short drive over the river on Route 28. We serve clients in English and Spanish, and broker and owner Jefri Liriano has helped buyers and sellers move between Andover and the surrounding towns for years.
Villages and housing stock
Andover is a town of villages rather than one continuous grid, and the village you choose shapes both the house you get and how you will get to work.
Downtown is centered on Main Street, which is also Route 28, around Elm Square. The Old Town Hall is downtown on Main Street, the town offices are at 36 Bartlet Street, and the Phillips Academy campus begins just south of the shops. The condos and smaller single-family homes near the town center are the closest thing Andover has to an entry point on price, and they trade on being able to walk to the train.
Shawsheen Village, on the north side of town, was begun in 1919 by William M. Wood of the American Woolen Company and completed in the early 1920s as a planned mill community. The homes are Colonial Revival and Tudor Revival, and the district has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1979.
Ballardvale, on the Shawsheen River in the south of town, was Andover's first planned mill village. The Ballardvale Manufacturing Company set up here in 1836 and the village grew around the rail depot, which still serves the Haverhill Line today.
The Andover Village Industrial District, called "The Village" locally, runs along the Shawsheen between North Main Street and Moraine Street. Streets such as Stevens Street, Red Spring Road and Essex Street mix 1820s stone mill buildings with Federal and Greek Revival housing and later multi-unit blocks. It has been on the National Register since 1982.
Away from the villages, most of the housing is single-family: center-entrance colonials and capes from the postwar decades on larger lots, plus newer and larger construction on the west side and in subdivisions off Route 125 and Route 133. Multi-family stock is limited compared with Lawrence or Methuen, so investors tend to look at condos and the occasional two-family near downtown.
Commute and daily life
Two MBTA commuter rail stations serve the town on the Haverhill Line. Andover station at 17 Railroad Street is a block from Main Street with about 150 parking spaces, and Ballardvale station at 195 Andover Street has 115. Both run to North Station in Boston. The Amtrak Downeaster shares the tracks but does not stop in Andover.
By car, Interstate 93 and Interstate 495 both cross the town and meet each other here, with office parks along River Road and Dascomb Road. Route 28 is the north-south main street, and Route 125 works as an eastern bypass linking I-93 in Wilmington to North Andover and Haverhill.
RTX, the company formerly known as Raytheon, and Mercury Systems are among the largest employers in town. Phillips Academy, founded in 1778 at 180 Main Street, anchors the south end of downtown, and its Addison Gallery of American Art is open to the public with free admission. Harold Parker State Forest covers more than 3,300 acres across Andover, North Andover, North Reading and Middleton, with 35 miles of trails and 11 ponds.
The Andover market today
Andover's median sale price stood at $1,000,000 as of May 2026, with the typical sale landing between $800,000 and $1,300,000. Homes average 28 days on market and the market is balanced, meaning buyers and sellers have roughly even leverage, a different picture from Methuen or Lawrence.
A well-prepared colonial priced at the right number can still go under agreement in its first weekend. What has changed is that overpriced listings sit, and buyers have room again to negotiate on inspection findings and closing dates.
Who Liriano Realty helps in Andover
Most of our Andover work falls into a few situations. Buyers moving up from Methuen, Lawrence or Lowell who have built equity and want more land or a newer house. Sellers who bought their colonial decades ago and need a clear plan for pricing at a seven-figure price point. Buyers relocating for a job along the I-93 corridor who need someone who knows which village fits their commute. We work in English and Spanish, so every step can happen in whichever language you prefer.
Ready to look at houses? Our Andover buyer guide explains how offers work in a balanced market. Selling a colonial you have owned for years? Read how we sell homes in Andover, or contact us for a free evaluation. Everything we publish about the town lives at Andover homes.