Benton, Kansas
Encyclopedia
Benton is a city in Butler County
Butler County, Kansas
Butler County is a county located in South Central Kansas, in the Central United States. As of the 2010 census, the county population was 65,880. Its county seat and most populous city is El Dorado. The county is a part of the Wichita Metropolitan Statistical Area.-19th century:It was named in...

, Kansas
Kansas
Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...

, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 880.

Geography

Benton is located at 37°47′21"N 97°6′30"W (37.789302, -97.108402). According to the United States Census Bureau
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data...

, the city has a total area of 0.8 square miles (2.1 km²), all of it land.

Demographics

As of the census
Census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...

of 2000, there were 827 people, 308 households, and 238 families residing in the city. The population density
Population density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...

 was 1,109.0 people per square mile (425.7/km²). There were 327 housing units at an average density of 438.5 per square mile (168.3/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 97.46% White, 0.12% African American, 0.24% Native American, 0.24% Asian, 0.48% from other races
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...

, and 1.45% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.33% of the population.

There were 308 households out of which 36.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 64.9% were married couples
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...

 living together, 8.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 22.7% were non-families. 20.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.1% 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 3.07.

In the city the population was spread out with 28.1% under the age of 18, 7.9% from 18 to 24, 28.5% from 25 to 44, 23.3% from 45 to 64, and 12.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females there were 99.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 99.7 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $49,750, and the median income for a family was $58,214. Males had a median income of $40,380 versus $30,179 for females. The per capita income
Per capita income
Per capita income or income per person is a measure of mean income within an economic aggregate, such as a country or city. It is calculated by taking a measure of all sources of income in the aggregate and dividing it by the total population...

 for the city was $21,975. About 3.8% of families and 5.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 10.5% of those under age 18 and none of those age 65 or over.

Primary and secondary education

Benton is home to Benton Grade School and Circle Middle School. The middle school
Middle school
Middle School and Junior High School are levels of schooling between elementary and high schools. Most school systems use one term or the other, not both. The terms are not interchangeable...

 is visible as one drives on the highway past K-254
K-254 (Kansas highway)
K-254 links Wichita to El Dorado. The road begins at the intersection of I-135/US-81/K-15 and I-235 north of Wichita. It bypasses Kechi, Benton and Towanda, ending in downtown El Dorado at an intersection with US-54 and US-77. It is limited access from I-135 to just east of Kechi...

.

Circle Middle School

Circle Middle School is the home of the Thunderbolts. The school is a part of the Walnut Valley League (WVL). Students from Benton Grade School, Towanda Grade School, and Oil Hill Grade School attend this school in their seventh and eighth grades. After graduating, the students move onto Circle High School in Towanda
Towanda, Kansas
Towanda is a city in Butler County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 1,450.-21st century:In 2010, the Keystone-Cushing Pipeline was constructed a few blocks west of Towanda , running north to south through Butler County, with much controversy over tax...

.

Circle Middle School used to be a combination of Benton Grade School and Towanda Grade School, which, at the time, were both K-8 schools. Oil Hill Grade School bused their kids over to Towanda Grade School for classes. When the schools became too crowded due to the influx of jobs in nearby Wichita
Wichita, Kansas
Wichita is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas.As of the 2010 census, the city population was 382,368. Located in south-central Kansas on the Arkansas River, Wichita is the county seat of Sedgwick County and the principal city of the Wichita metropolitan area...

, El Dorado
El Dorado, Kansas
El Dorado is a city situated along the Walnut River in the central part of Butler County, located in south-central Kansas, in the Central United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 13,021. It is the county seat and most populous city of Butler County...

, and Andover
Andover, Kansas
Andover is a city in Butler and Sedgwick counties in the U.S. state of Kansas. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 11,791. Located almost entirely in Butler County, it is part of the Wichita Metropolitan Statistical Area...

, the school board voted to build a middle school in Benton. The project was completed by Summer 2002. Classes began in the fall. The first 8th grade class to go through the middle school graduated in 2007 from Circle High School.

Further reading

County
Kansas

External links

City
Schools
Historical
Maps
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