Belton is a city in Bell County, Texas,
United States. The population was 14,623 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Bell County6.
Geography
Belton is located at 31°3′32″N, 97°27′48″W (31.058904,
-97.463382)1.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area
of 34.1 km² (13.2 mi²). 32.3 km² (12.5 mi²) of it
is land and 1.7 km² (0.7 mi²) of it (5.09%) is water.
Belton is just south of Temple, Texas and north of Salado, Texas on IH-35.
Demographics
As of the census2 of 2000, there were 14,623 people, 4,742 households, and 3,319 families residing
in the city. The population density was 452.4/km² (1,171.3/mi²). There were 5,089
housing units at an average density of 157.4/km² (407.6/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 72.67% White, 8.10% African American, 0.64% Native American, 0.95% Asian, 0.10% Pacific Islander, 14.83% from other races, and 2.71% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 25.13% of the population.
There were 4,742 households out of which 37.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 49.9% were married couples living together, 16.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.0% were
non-families. 24.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or
older. The average household size was 2.69 and the average family size was 3.23.
In the city the population was spread out with 26.9% under the age of 18, 18.4% from 18 to 24, 26.5% from 25 to 44, 17.1% from
45 to 64, and 11.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 28 years. For every 100 females there were 95.0 males.
For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.4 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $32,052, and the median income for a family was $38,635. Males had a median
income of $31,304 versus $20,678 for females. The per capita income for the city was
$14,345. About 12.7% of families and 17.9% of the population were below the poverty
line, including 20.7% of those under age 18 and 14.0% of those age 65 or over.
Education
The City of Belton is served by the Belton Independent School
District. Here is the list of schools:
- Belton High School, serves 9th through 12th grade
- Lake Belton Middle School, serves 6th through 8th grade
- Belton Middle School, serves 6th through 8th grade
- Southwest Elementary, serves 1st through 5th grade
- Leon Heights Elementary, serves 1st through 5th grade
- Joe M. Pirtle Elementary, serves 1st through 5th grade
- Miller Heights Elementary, serves 1st through 5th grade
- Tarver Elementary, serves 1st through 5th grade
Notables
Belton is home to the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor, a university
affiliated with the Baptist General Convention of Texas. UMHB has an
enrollment of around 2,700.
For recreation, Belton has two major lakes: Belton Lake and Stillhouse Hollow Lake. The Bell County Expo
Center is located in Belton and is the home of the CenTex Barracudas
arena football team. There is also a water park, SummerFun USA. Another notable
recreation point is BLORA which is
part of Ft. Hood and is located on Lake Belton
Actor George Eads grew up in Belton. He graduated from Belton High School in
1985.
Alternative rock band Flyleaf is from Belton.
Actor Rudy Youngblood of Mel Gibson's film,
Apocalypto, graduated from Belton High School.
Musician Chris Marion of classic rock's Little River
Band was born in Belton in 1962.
The town did not get a Wal-Mart Supercenter until 2005.
Belton is the birthplace of former Utopian Noise Tree singer and current single artist, Ethan "Chantry" Bush.
External links
Coordinates:
31.058904° N 97.463382°
W
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