Bellaire in numbers: who lives here and what it costs

The short version

• Bellaire has 17,434 people, a median home value of $1,037,500 and a median household income of $244,015.
• 87.9% of homes are lived in by the people who own them, 98.9% of adults finished high school and 83.5% have a bachelor's degree or more.
• Only 2.6% of people under 65 have no health insurance, and 2.4% of people live in poverty.

Where these numbers come from

The Census Bureau counts the country and also runs a yearly survey that asks a sample of households about their homes, jobs, schooling and health insurance. It puts the results on a page called QuickFacts, one page for each city. Everything here comes from the Bellaire page. The survey numbers are estimates built from many households, so think of them as a very good picture, not a head-by-head count.

Some words first, because they come up a lot.

Median means the middle. Line up every home from the cheapest to the most expensive. The median is the one in the middle, with half the homes costing less and half costing more. It is a fairer middle than an average, because a few very expensive homes do not pull it up.

Owner-occupied means the person who lives in the home also owns it. It does not count homes that are rented out.

People

Bellaire has 17,434 residents. That is a small city. The average household has 2.82 people, so you will find many families with children, and some couples and single people too.

The Census also says 22.8% of Bellaire residents were born in another country, and 29.4% speak a language other than English at home. So while the city is small, it is not all one background. Neighbors here bring many languages and many home towns.

Homes

The median value of an owner-occupied home in Bellaire is $1,037,500. That means half of the homes people live in and own are worth more than that, and half are worth less.

Remember that this is the value of homes people own. If you are looking to buy, a house on the market today may cost more or less than the survey number, because the survey asks owners what they think their home is worth.

Next, 87.9% of Bellaire homes are owner-occupied. In plain terms, nearly nine in ten homes are lived in by the person who owns them. That tends to mean neighbors who stay for a long time, know each other and care about their street.

The other side of that number is renters. The median gross rent, which is the typical monthly rent plus basic utilities, is $2,672. Rental homes are fewer here, and those that exist are not cheap.

Money

The median household income in Bellaire is $244,015. A household is everyone who lives in one home. So half of the households here earn more than that in a year, and half earn less.

Per capita income is $119,378. This one takes all the income in town and divides it by the number of people, children included. It is lower than the household number because a household has more than one person.

Poverty is 2.4%. The government sets a poverty line based on family size, and 2.4% of Bellaire residents live below it. That is about one person in forty. Some people in town do struggle, and the number is small, but it is not zero.

School and learning

In Bellaire, 98.9% of adults have finished high school or gone beyond it. And 83.5% of adults have a bachelor's degree or more. A bachelor's degree is the usual four-year college degree.

If you have kids, this tells you something about the town. Many parents here put a lot of weight on school, and many neighbors will have spent years in college or in jobs that need a degree. For a newcomer, that can mean a school community where parents are active and where the talk at the bus stop and the ball field often turns to classes and college plans.

Health insurance

Among people under 65, only 2.6% have no health insurance. We only look at people under 65 because almost everyone 65 and older has Medicare, so the under-65 group is where gaps in coverage show up.

Put another way, about 97 out of 100 people under 65 in Bellaire have some kind of health coverage. For a family moving here, that means your neighbors are very likely to have a doctor they can call, and the same is true for the person at the next desk.

Next door in Houston

Bellaire is its own city, with its own council and police, but Houston surrounds it on every side, so many people compare the two. Houston is a huge city of 2,397,315 people with every kind of neighborhood in it, so its numbers cover a lot more ground than ours.

Here are the same Census numbers side by side.

• Median home value: Bellaire $1,037,500, Houston $277,800.
• Homes lived in by their owners: Bellaire 87.9%, Houston 42.1%.
• Median household income: Bellaire $244,015, Houston $64,813.
• People in poverty: Bellaire 2.4%, Houston 19.9%.
• High school or more: Bellaire 98.9%, Houston 80.4%.
• Bachelor's degree or more: Bellaire 83.5%, Houston 36.6%.
• Under 65 with no health insurance: Bellaire 2.6%, Houston 26.4%.

These are not better or worse. A city of two and a half million people holds many different lives, and a small one holds fewer. The numbers simply show that Bellaire is a particular kind of place: small, settled and well-off.

What it means if you are new

Prices. The median home value is over a million dollars, so buying here takes a lot of money, and renting costs a good deal too. If those numbers are out of reach, many people who work in Bellaire live in nearby areas and drive in. Before you commit, look at real listings, not just the survey.

Schools. With so many college graduates among adults, expect a town that cares about school and has high hopes for its students. The numbers cannot tell you which school is right for your child, so visit and ask questions.

Neighbors. Most of your neighbors will own their homes, many will have lived here a long time, and a good share have roots in other countries. Introduce yourself. A small town with settled neighbors tends to notice a friendly face.

Getting around. The mean travel time to work for Bellaire residents is 20.9 minutes each way. That is the average, and it will be longer or shorter for you, depending on where you work.

Good news and fair notes

The good news is clear. Bellaire has high incomes, very few people in poverty, strong schooling and nearly everyone insured. The fair note is that the survey gives a middle and an average, not every story. A median home price of $1,037,500 does not tell you what a small starter home or an older house costs, and it does not tell you about the people who find the town hard to afford.

Before you go

• Look at real home listings and rental ads, not only the survey numbers.
• Visit the schools you are interested in and ask what they offer.
• Walk a few streets on a weekend. Numbers show the type of place, and a walk shows how it feels.

Sources

• U.S. Census Bureau, QuickFacts: Bellaire city, Texas (https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/bellairecitytexas/PST045224)
• U.S. Census Bureau, QuickFacts: Houston city, Texas (https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/houstoncitytexas,TX/PST045224)

En español

Bellaire es una ciudad pequeña de casas grandes. Según la Oficina del Censo de Estados Unidos, viven aquí 17,434 personas. El valor medio de una vivienda ocupada por su dueño es de $1,037,500, y el ingreso medio de un hogar es de $244,015. "Medio" quiere decir el punto del medio: la mitad gana o vale más, y la mitad menos. El 87.9% de las viviendas las habitan sus propios dueños, el 98.9% de los adultos terminó la secundaria y el 83.5% tiene una licenciatura o más. Solo el 2.6% de las personas menores de 65 años no tiene seguro médico, y el 2.4% vive en pobreza. El alquiler medio es de $2,672 al mes. Houston, la ciudad grande que rodea a Bellaire, tiene números muy distintos porque es mucho más grande y variada; no es mejor ni peor. Si usted es nuevo, esto significa que comprar o alquilar aquí cuesta bastante, que sus vecinos probablemente son dueños de sus casas y llevan años en el barrio, y que la comunidad valora mucho la escuela. Mire anuncios reales, visite las escuelas y camine por las calles antes de decidir.

The HERE Bellaire team