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Demographics of Andover, KS
Affluence Level in Andover, KS
A middle-class area roughly in line with national averages across income, home values, education, and employment.
People of Andover, KS
The people of Andover, Kansas today form a predominantly white, college-educated, and family-oriented community of 15,508 residents, with a notably higher share of Indian-subcontinent professionals (2.0%) than the Kansas state average and a modest but growing Hispanic presence (6.9%). The city’s character is shaped by its role as a quiet, high-amenity suburb of Wichita, where 52.1% of adults hold a bachelor’s degree or higher—nearly double the national average—and where the foreign-born population sits at 5.3%, reflecting selective in-migration rather than broad immigration. Distinctive identity markers include a strong emphasis on public safety, top-rated schools, and a housing stock dominated by single-family homes in master-planned subdivisions, giving Andover a reputation as a stable, low-crime enclave for professionals and families seeking space without sacrificing urban access.
How the city was settled and grew
Andover was founded in 1873 as a railroad stop on the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe line, drawing its first wave of settlers—largely Anglo-American farmers and merchants from the Midwest and Upper South—who established the original downtown core around the depot at Andover Road and Central Avenue. The town incorporated in 1880 with fewer than 200 residents, and for the next 70 years grew slowly as a grain and livestock service center, with the Old Town neighborhood (roughly bounded by 13th Street, Andover Road, and the railroad tracks) housing the families of local shopkeepers, teachers, and railroad workers. A second wave arrived during the 1940s and 1950s as Wichita’s aircraft industry—Boeing, Cessna, and Beechcraft—expanded for World War II and the Cold War, drawing skilled mechanics and engineers who built modest ranch homes in the Andover Heights subdivision (north of 13th Street and east of Andover Road). These early waves were overwhelmingly white and native-born, with the 1960 census recording a population of 1,200 that was 99.2% non-Hispanic white.
Modern era (post-1965)
After the 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act, Andover’s demographic profile began a slow, selective diversification driven not by chain migration but by corporate transfers and professional recruitment. The city’s modern growth exploded after 1980, when Wichita’s suburban expansion pushed eastward along Highway 54, and master-planned communities like Prairie Creek (south of 13th Street, west of 159th Street East) and Stonebridge (north of 13th Street, east of 159th Street East) attracted upper-middle-class families—many from other parts of Kansas and the Midwest—seeking larger lots and newer schools. The 1990 census counted 4,000 residents; by 2010, that number had tripled to 12,000. The Indian-subcontinent population, now 2.0% of the city, concentrated in Stonebridge and the newer Tallgrass subdivision (south of 13th Street, east of 159th Street East), reflecting the hiring of engineers and medical professionals by Wichita’s healthcare systems (Wesley Medical Center, Via Christi) and aerospace firms. East/Southeast Asian residents (2.3%) are similarly clustered in these same subdivisions, often in dual-income professional households. The Hispanic share (6.9%) is more dispersed, with families living in older, more affordable sections of Andover Heights and along the 13th Street corridor, working in construction, landscaping, and food service. The Black population (2.4%) is small and scattered, with no single neighborhood concentration. Since 2000, Andover has added roughly 3,500 residents, nearly all through domestic in-migration from other Kansas counties and the broader Midwest, with foreign-born growth limited to the Indian and East/Southeast Asian professional cohorts.
The future
Andover’s population is heading toward continued, moderate growth—projected to reach 18,000–20,000 by 2040—driven by the expansion of Wichita’s eastern suburbs and the completion of the Andover Crossing mixed-use development (south of 13th Street, west of 159th Street East), which will add 800–1,000 new homes and attract more young families and professionals. The city is not homogenizing into a single demographic block; rather, it is tribalizing into distinct enclaves by income and origin. The older Old Town and Andover Heights neighborhoods are aging in place, with a rising share of empty-nesters and retirees, while Stonebridge, Tallgrass, and Prairie Creek remain magnets for college-educated, dual-income households—both white and Indian-subcontinent—who value the Andover school district’s top-tier ratings. The Hispanic and East/Southeast Asian populations are growing slowly (roughly 0.3–0.5 percentage points per decade) and show signs of assimilation into the broader suburban culture, with second-generation children attending college at rates comparable to their white peers. The Indian-subcontinent community, though small, is likely to grow faster than other minority groups due to continued H-1B hiring in Wichita’s engineering and healthcare sectors, but will remain a professional enclave rather than a broad ethnic neighborhood. No major immigrant gateway is forming; Andover’s foreign-born share (5.3%) is stable and unlikely to exceed 8% by 2040.
For someone moving in now, Andover is becoming a more internally diverse but still predominantly white, high-education suburb where neighborhood choice increasingly correlates with income and life stage rather than ethnicity. The city offers a predictable, low-crime environment with strong schools and a tax base that supports quality public services, but it lacks the ethnic enclaves, cultural institutions, or nightlife of a larger city. New residents—especially families—will find a community that rewards stability and civic participation, with the Indian-subcontinent and East/Southeast Asian professional cohorts integrating smoothly into the existing social fabric rather than forming separate institutions. The bottom line: Andover is a well-managed, growing suburb that will remain demographically stable and conservative-leaning, with selective professional diversity adding texture without altering its fundamental character as a safe, family-oriented Kansas town.
* Values derived from national, state, county, city and local statistics and may differ in a specific area. Last updated: 2026-05-01T04:18:31.000Z
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