Ayer, MA
Middlesex County42.5596°N, 71.5883°W
Tracking 3,393 properties across Ayer, Massachusetts — a community where the median home dates to 1976. Every parcel mapped with building characteristics, environmental exposure, hazard risk, and ownership history assembled from 140+ sources.
3,393
Properties Tracked
1976
Median Year Built
$440K
Median Assessed Value
5%
FEMA Flood Zone
933,218
NEP Data Facts Tracked
Zone 1
Radon Zone
Click any parcel to view intelligence
Ayer, MAInc. 1668
Ayer is a small town in northwestern Middlesex County whose character was shaped by two forces: the railroad junction that made it a commercial center in the 19th century, and Fort Devens, the military installation that dominated the town's economy and geography for most of the 20th century. The base closed in 1996 and has been redeveloped as Devens, a unique mixed-use community that operates under its own regulatory framework separate from Ayer's town government.
The town proper has a compact downtown with a mix of commercial and residential buildings, surrounded by suburban and rural neighborhoods. Ayer's housing stock is more modest than the affluent communities to its east — the military base attracted a working-class population, and the housing reflects that history. For property professionals, the Devens redevelopment creates an unusual situation where two very different property markets exist within the same geographic area.
Risk Profile
FEMA flood zones, fire protection grades, radon — parcel by parcel
FEMA Flood Zones
157 properties (5%) are in FEMA Special Flood Hazard Areas, where flood insurance is required for federally-backed mortgages.
X
3,236
AE
135
A
22
Fire Protection Grades
Fire protection grades reflect proximity to fire stations and hydrant infrastructure. Grade affects insurance pricing in every New England state.
Grade A
496
Grade B
973
Grade C
1,392
Grade D
341
Grade E
191
Zone 1
Radon Risk
123 mph
Design Wind Speed
ASCE 7 standard
50 psf
Ground Snow Load
ASCE 7 standard
Very Low
FEMA Risk Index
NRI composite rating
The Property Landscape
3,393 properties · Median year built 1976 · Avg 2,249 sf
Property Types
Single Family
1,741
Condominium
817
Vacant Land
189
Commercial
187
Multi-Family
153
Institutional
152
Industrial
103
Mixed Use
19
Residential Other
14
Agricultural / Open Space
7
Construction by Era
1800-1849
22
1850-1899
254
1900-1949
567
1950-1979
636
1980-1999
617
2000+
763
Market Activity
Recorded transactions from Middlesex County Registry of Deeds
1
Sales (12 mo)
Arms-length transactions
$325K
Median Sale Price
Past 12 months
63%
Owner-Occupied
4%
Out-of-State Owners
NE Provenance tracks recorded deeds, mortgages, and liens for 98% of Ayer properties. Ownership intelligence includes transaction history, entity detection, portfolio identification, and lien analysis — assembled from public registry records into a single property-level profile.
Living in Ayer
Middlesex County · Massachusetts
Zip Codes0143201434
8,479
Population
2020 Census
3,393
Properties
$440K
Median Assessed
63%
Owner-Occupied
9.5
Square Miles
Ayer covers 9.5 square miles in Middlesex County, Massachusetts. The median assessed property value is $440K.
Single-family homes account for 1,741 of Ayer's 3,393 properties, with 817 condominiums and 159 multi-family buildings. There are 187 commercial properties and 189 parcels of vacant land. About 63% of properties are owner-occupied, and 4% are owned by someone out of state.
Assessed values range widely — the middle 50% of properties fall between $303K and $586K, with the highest assessed property at $70.1M. For professionals working in this market, the value spread tells you a lot about what you'll encounter door to door.
78% of properties are on municipal sewer, with the remainder on private septic systems. Electric service is provided by MASSACHUSETTS BAY TRANS AUTHORITY. 335 properties have identified commercial activity — restaurants, retail, professional offices, and services that give Ayer its character.
What Ayer Property Intelligence Means for Professionals
Insurance & Underwriting
Ayer's fire protection grade distribution (496 Grade A, 973 Grade B) directly affects premium calculation. Parcel-level hazard data provides the granularity that ZIP-level aggregation misses.
Insurance solutionsReal Estate & Appraisal
Ayer's 10 property types, spanning construction from 1800 to present, require local market knowledge for accurate comparable selection and valuation. NEP assembles building characteristics, environmental exposure, and condition signals into a single property profile.
Real estate solutionsLending & Title
Collateral assessment requires flood zone verification, environmental screening, and ownership chain validation. 5% of Ayer properties are in SFHAs where flood insurance is a federal lending requirement. NEP provides property-level compliance data from public records.
Lending solutionsInspection & Property Services
Understanding a property's construction era, environmental exposure, and building characteristics before arriving on site transforms inspection from discovery to verification.
Inspection solutionsExplore Ayer property intelligence.
3,393 Ayer properties — each with risk profiles, building data, permit history, and ownership analysis from 140+ sources. Open any property and see the full picture.
Newburyport, MA · Federalist · 3,524 sq ft · 4 bed / 3 bath · Built 1800 · Historic District
NEP Property Intelligence Summary
ConditionC1Fire ClassBFlood ZoneXOwnerIndividualOccupancyOwner-Occupied
Purchased2018 (8yr)Permits11 totalSystems3 updatedLiensClearAssessed$1.6MOcean0.3 mi
EraPre-1940HistoricDesignatedRenovationRecentRadonZone 1
Cite this data
Source: NE Provenance, “Professional Property Intelligence for New England,” neprovenance.com/insights/town/ayer-ma. For references or attribution, please link back to this page or neprovenance.com. Thank you, we appreciate it.