Bellaire by the numbers

How many people live here

The 2010 census counted 16,855 people in Bellaire. The 2020 census counted 17,202, a gain of 347, or about 2 percent in a decade. The Census Bureau's estimate for July 2025 is 17,434. The city cannot grow outward, since Houston, West University Place and Southside Place surround it, so any growth has to happen on land the city already has.

The city covers 3.6 square miles of land, and in 2020 that worked out to 4,782.3 people per square mile. That is dense for a city made mostly of detached houses.

Who lives here

The Census Bureau's American Community Survey for 2020 to 2024 describes a city of families. It counts 6,082 households, and 5,072 of them, about 83 percent, are family households. More than a quarter of residents, 26.8 percent, are under 18, and 6.2 percent are under 5. At the other end, 18.5 percent are 65 or older.

Bellaire is also international. The same survey puts 22.8 percent of residents as born outside the United States, and 29.4 percent of people 5 and older speak a language other than English at home.

Education levels are high. Of adults 25 and older, 98.9 percent finished high school and 83.5 percent hold at least a bachelor's degree. Only 2.6 percent of residents under 65 have no health insurance, and 97.3 percent of households have a broadband connection.

What it costs to live here

The median value of an owner-occupied home is $1,037,500, and 87.9 percent of homes are lived in by their owners. For the minority who rent, the median gross rent is $2,672 a month. The median household income is $244,015 and per capita income is $119,378, while 2.4 percent of residents live below the poverty line. The median home is worth a little more than four times the median household's yearly income.

The city's 2023 comprehensive plan report counted an estimated 6,928 housing units in 2021, with 90.3 percent of them single detached houses. Townhomes, apartments and condominiums together make up less than a tenth of the housing.

The city's share is only one line on a Bellaire tax bill, and the school district and the county each levy their own.

The average commute for Bellaire workers is 20.9 minutes, helped by the city's position between the Texas Medical Center, the Galleria and downtown.

What the city collects

The city's certified tax roll for 2025 put the total appraised value of property in Bellaire at $7,820,522,160 and the certified taxable value at $5,889,320,745. The gap, about a quarter of appraised value, is exemptions and the cap on how fast a homestead's taxable value can rise. The roll counted 6,155 single-family units, with an average appraised value of $1,097,823 each.

For the 2025 tax year, the no-new-revenue rate, the rate that would raise about the same money from the same properties as the year before, was 41.77 cents per $100 of taxable value. The voter-approval rate, the highest the council could adopt without an election, was 41.74 cents. The city adopted 41.74 cents, and of that, 11.38 cents goes to pay debt.

In plain arithmetic, each $100,000 of taxable value costs $417.40 a year in city tax. On a home with $1 million of taxable value, that is $4,174. The city's share is only one line on a Bellaire tax bill, and the school district and the county each levy their own. Your appraisal notice and the county tax statement show the full total.

What the city spends

The adopted budget for fiscal year 2026 projects general fund revenues of $31,017,000 and spending and transfers of $31,244,250, so the city planned to spend slightly more than it takes in that year. Divided by the 2025 population estimate, general fund revenue comes to roughly $1,779 per resident. Two years earlier, in fiscal year 2024, actual general fund revenues were $26,725,057.

The city's annual financial report shows the general fund ending fiscal year 2025 with a fund balance of $10,826,998, up from $4,815,527 in fiscal year 2016. That cushion equals about a third of a year's general fund spending.

Public safety in numbers

Bellaire's dispatch center handled 44,483 calls for service in 2025, about 122 a day. That count covers police and fire together, so it is not a measure of police calls alone. The average response to an emergency call was 3 minutes 16 seconds, and to a non-emergency call 5 minutes 20 seconds. At mid-year 2026 the averages were 3 minutes 15 seconds and 5 minutes.

The police department's budget for fiscal year 2026 carries 61.5 full-time-equivalent positions. That is up from 59.5 in fiscal year 2024 and down one position from 62.5 in fiscal year 2025. For crime counts by category, the department's yearly reports are the place to look, since the dispatch total counts every call that comes in, crime or not, including fire calls.

Where the numbers live

The city keeps most of these records within a few blocks. Bellaire City Utility Billing, at 7008 S Rice Ave, sits in the city hall complex where budget and tax rate hearings are held. City of Bellaire TX Parks & Recreation is next door at 7008 5th St. The Bellaire Police Department, at 5110 Jessamine St, and the Bellaire Fire Department, at 5101 Jessamine St, share a block with the Bellaire City Library, at 5111 Jessamine St, where public computers can open the budget and census tables. Public Works, which the city lists at 5808 S. Rice Avenue, handles the streets, storm sewers and water lines that the capital budget pays for.

Before you go

- Read the date beside every number, because the census, the tax roll and the budget each describe a different year. - Use your own appraisal notice, not the city average, to work out what you will owe in tax. - Add the school district and county rates to the city rate before you compare Bellaire with another city. - Remember that the dispatch count includes fire calls, so it is not a police workload figure. - Watch the council's tax rate hearings each fall, when next year's rate is set.

Sources

- U.S. Census Bureau, QuickFacts, Bellaire city, Texas (https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/bellairecitytexas/HSG495223) - U.S. Census Bureau, 2024 ACS 5-Year DP03 Selected Economic Characteristics, Bellaire city (https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDP5Y2024.DP03?g=160XX00US4807300) - U.S. Census Bureau, 2024 ACS 5-Year S1101 Households and Families, Bellaire (https://data.census.gov/table/ACSST5Y2024.S1101?q=Bellaire%2C+Texas) - City of Bellaire, Certified 2025 Tax Roll and 2025 Property Tax Rates (https://www.bellairetx.gov/DocumentCenter/View/34456/Certified--2025-Tax-Roll-and-the-2025-Property-Tax-Rates-PDF) - City of Bellaire, FY2026 Budget (https://www.bellairetx.gov/1947/FY2026-Budget) and FY2026 Adopted Budget (https://www.bellairetx.gov/DocumentCenter/View/34441/FY-2026-Adopted-Budget-PDF) - City of Bellaire, FY2025 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report, in the March 16, 2026 council agenda (https://bellairetx.civicweb.net/document/268288/City%20Council%20-%20Mar%2016%202026.pdf?handle=6CB6F805F9244B4D9CD485C94A37DDA7) - City of Bellaire, Public Safety Data: 2025 and Midyear 2026 (https://bellairetx.gov/Blog.aspx?IID=16) - City of Bellaire, Bellaire Today, 2023 comprehensive plan report (https://bellairetx.civicweb.net/document/57905/) - City of Bellaire, Public Works (https://www.bellairetx.gov/630/Public-Works)

En español

Bellaire es una ciudad de 3.6 millas cuadradas con unos 17,434 habitantes según la estimación del Censo para 2025. Casi nueve de cada diez viviendas están ocupadas por sus dueños, y el valor mediano de una casa propia es de $1,037,500. El ingreso mediano por hogar es de $244,015. El 22.8 por ciento de los residentes nació fuera de Estados Unidos y el 29.4 por ciento habla en casa otro idioma además del inglés. La ciudad cobra 41.74 centavos por cada $100 de valor gravable, pero el distrito escolar y el condado cobran sus propias tasas. En 2025, el centro de despacho atendió 44,483 llamadas de policía y bomberos.