Ayer vs Hanscom AFB

A side-by-side comparison of Ayer and Hanscom AFB: population, income, housing, and more.

Ayer and Hanscom AFB are places in Massachusetts. This page compares them across population, income, housing, education, commuting, and how each has changed since 2019.

Ayer has the higher population (3,012 vs 1,745 in Hanscom AFB). Hanscom AFB has the higher median household income ($101,194 vs $81,286 in Ayer). Since 2019, Ayer's population has grown faster (+3.5% vs -14.7%).

Population, income & housing

	Ayer	Hanscom AFB
Population	3,012	1,745
Median age	48.0 yrs	27.9 yrs
Median household income	$81,286	$101,194
Median home value	$417,300	—
Median gross rent	$1,228	$3,501
Housing units	1,564	495
Homeownership rate	61.8%	0.0%
Bachelor's degree or higher	35.9%	39.8%
Unemployment rate	2.9%	1.1%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Ayer	Hanscom AFB
Population	2,910 → 3,012 (+3.5%)	2,045 → 1,745 (-14.7%)
Median household income	$74,659 → $81,286 (+8.9%)	$108,056 → $101,194 (-6.4%)
Median home value	$316,600 → $417,300 (+31.8%)	—
Median gross rent	$1,006 → $1,228 (+22.1%)	$3,143 → $3,501 (+11.4%)

Ayer

Population

2,9103,012

Median household income

$74,659$81,286

Median home value

$316,600$417,300

Median gross rent

$1,006$1,228

Hanscom AFB

Population

2,0451,745

Median household income

$108,056$101,194

Median gross rent

$3,143$3,501

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Ayer	Hanscom AFB
Under 5	8.0%	13.9%
5 to 17	11.2%	28.3%
18 to 24	4.8%	6.0%
25 to 34	16.7%	15.5%
35 to 44	8.0%	26.2%
45 to 54	7.2%	4.2%
55 to 64	26.2%	6.0%
65 to 74	11.1%	0.0%
75 and over	6.8%	0.0%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Ayer	Hanscom AFB
White (non-Hispanic)	71.9%	34.9%
Black or African American	6.6%	0.7%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.2%	0.0%
Asian	2.0%	16.3%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.0%	4.2%
Two or more races	1.9%	1.0%
Hispanic or Latino	17.5%	42.9%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Ayer	Hanscom AFB
No high school diploma	12.2%	0.0%
High school graduate	22.1%	6.6%
Some college or associate's	29.7%	53.6%
Bachelor's degree	19.8%	14.1%
Graduate or professional degree	16.1%	25.6%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Ayer	Hanscom AFB
Drove alone	80.5%	81.0%
Carpooled	3.4%	0.9%
Public transit	3.8%	2.2%
Walked	0.0%	1.3%
Bicycle	0.0%	0.8%
Worked from home	12.3%	13.9%
Other means	0.0%	0.0%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Ayer	Hanscom AFB
1-unit, detached	48.6%	29.7%
1-unit, attached	2.0%	40.2%
2 to 4 units	33.4%	30.1%
5 to 19 units	10.1%	0.0%
20 or more units	5.9%	0.0%
Mobile home & other	0.0%	0.0%

Poverty & households

	Ayer	Hanscom AFB
Poverty rate	9.0%	0.0%
Average household size	2.05	3.40
Mean commute (minutes)	29	17
Median year structure built	1950	1972