Bel Aire was created in January 1955 when a group of local residents asked the county government to create it. They wanted this place to be an improvement district for water.[6]
On November 26, 1980, Bel Aire officially incorporated as a city. This was after a two-year legal dispute with the Wichita city government. The dispute was about whether or not Pratt had the right to become its own city. The case went to the Kansas Supreme Court, and the Court ruled in Bel Aire's favor.[6]
The United States Census Bureau says the city has a total area of 6.79 square miles (17.59 km2). Of that, 6.76 square miles (17.51 km2) is land and 0.03 square miles (0.08 km2) is water.[2]
The 2020 census says that there were 8,262 people, 3,080 households, and 2,234 families living in Bel Aire. Of the households, 76.0% owned their home and 24.0% rented their home.
The median age was 38.3 years. Of the people, 74.3% were White, 9.9% were Black, 4.6% were Asian, 0.5% were Native American, 2.0% were from some other race, and 8.7% were two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 7.6% of the people.[3][11]
2010 census
The 2010 census[12] says that there were 6,769 people, 2,465 households, and 1,854 families living in Bel Aire.
