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Benton, Kansas

15 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1889 and the latest in 1990. It stands in Benton Township. It lies in ZIP code area 67017. The Survey maps it on the Benton quadrangle. 943 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,375 feet above sea level.

Benton within Butler County

Population over time

2 figures

Benton grew from 880 to 943 between 2010 and 2020. These are the recorded population figures Wikidata holds for this place, reached through the Geographic Names Information System number this page is keyed on rather than by name, so they belong to this place and not to another of the same name. Most are census counts, but not all are: an early figure may be a founding or settlement estimate, and an estimate published within five years of a census is left out. The change column is computed, and is left blank where more than 20 years separate a figure from the one before it, because a gap that long is not a change between two counts.

YearPeople Change
2010880
2020943+63 (+7%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

7 surveys from 15 printed sheets

Matched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.

Fires near this place

67 since 2015

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 67 fires within 5 miles of Benton between 2015 and 2018, burning about 301 acres in total. None started naturally. 2 were recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Reported cause Fires
Debris and open burning31
Missing data/not specified/undetermined25
Equipment and vehicle use6
Arson/incendiarism2
Smoking1
Power generation/transmission/distribution1
Fireworks1

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
24 September 2017Debris and open burningunder an acreButler County46
20 September 2015Power generation/transmission/distributionunder an acreKansas Forest Service7135
1 August 2017Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreSedgwick County5450
4 July 2015Fireworksunder an acreKansas Forest Service5050
3 July 2015Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreKansas Forest Service149
29 July 2017Missing data/not specified/undetermined2.0 acresSedgwick County5389
21 July 2017Equipment and vehicle use15 acresButler County37
21 July 2017Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreButler County36

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Butler County

Storms near this place

60 of 88 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Benton in 88 storm reports between 1994 and 2026: 41 thunderstorm wind, 38 hail, 4 heavy rain, 3 flood. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
May 2009Thunderstorm WindBenton$30,000,000A large swatch of damaging winds moved across the area from Benton to Rosalia including the city of El Dorado with winds measured at 80 mph at the Jefferson elementary school in El Dorado. Numerous large trees were knocked down in Benton, with a mobile home trailer rolled over east of town. The Damaging winds destroyed the historic stone silo bearing the name of the town of Towanda. The damaging winds estimated at 70 to 80 mph moved into El Dorado damaging roofs to numerous businesses in downtown and knocking down numerous large trees. Two or three schools in El Dorado had their roofs partially peeled off. The refinery in El Dorado had some large storage tanks dented. The damaging winds continued to move east downing almost every one of the large transmission lines along US 54 highway from El Dorado to Rosalia.
April 2009Thunderstorm WindBenton$20,000Strong winds ripped off half the roof from a 150 foot by 80 foot metal building. Just down the road the strong winds ripped off the roof from a small horse shed.
April 2009Thunderstorm WindBenton$12,000Strong winds downed 4 power poles 1 mile west and one-quarter mile south of Benton.
April 2015Thunderstorm WindBenton$10,000Damage occurred to a barn and some outbuildings.
April 2015Thunderstorm WindBenton$5,000Damage occurred to several homes and a storage unit, just south of Highway 254.
June 2011Thunderstorm WindBenton$5,000Powerlines were downed in the Benton area.
April 1994Thunderstorm WindBenton$5,000A shed was destroyed.
October 2013Thunderstorm WindBenton$2,000A bradford pear tree was snapped by 60 to 70 mph winds. Relayed by a KFDI news reporter.
October 2013Thunderstorm WindBenton$2,000A bradford pear tree was snapped by 60 to 70 mph winds. Relayed by a KFDI news reporter.
October 2016Thunderstorm WindBenton$1,000A large tree was downed.
August 2014Thunderstorm WindBenton$1,000A six to seven foot tall tree with a 6 inch diameter was snapped due to the high winds.
June 2008Thunderstorm WindBenton$1,000A five foot diameter tree has fallen over southwest 50th and Tawakoni.
June 2008Thunderstorm WindBenton$500A metal outbuilding was destroyed.
October 2007Flash FloodBenton$500Flooding occurred near the intersection of Butler and Parallel road. Road was barricaded for a few hours due to high water.
July 2016FloodBenton$100Law enforcement reported a couple of impassible roads due to high water south of Highway 254 along Butler road.
April 2026HailBenton-Image was received on X.
June 2025FloodBenton-Street flooding was reported in Benton.
July 2025Thunderstorm WindBenton-There was a report of wind damage one mile southwest of Benton. Large limbs were blown down and an outbuilding was completely destroyed. Time was estimated from radar.
March 2024HailBenton-There was a report relayed of one inch hail in Benton.
April 2024HailBenton-This was a delayed report, and the time was estimated by radar.
September 2024Thunderstorm WindBenton-A meteorologist at KWCH measured a 63 mph wind gust.
June 2023Heavy RainBenton-Twenty four hour total of a Cocorahs observer of 1.24 inches.
July 2023Heavy RainBenton-A Cocorahs station reported 3.81 inches of rainfall.
July 2023Heavy RainBenton-Fire and rescue measured 4.10 inches of rainfall.
June 2022Thunderstorm WindBenton-Benton Fire Department reported a 100 year old 10 foot tall tree was uprooted and fell on a house.
June 2021Thunderstorm WindBenton-A utility pole was blown down.
June 2021Thunderstorm WindBenton-This was an estimated wind gust.
June 2021Thunderstorm WindBenton-Tree limbs up to 5 inches in diameter were blown down.
June 2021Thunderstorm WindBenton-Emergency manager reported 60 mph winds with power outages in the city of Benton.
June 2021Thunderstorm WindBenton-Report relayed via KWCH meteorologist.
August 2019Thunderstorm WindBenton-No damage was reported.
April 2016Thunderstorm WindBenton-A 10-inch diameter limb was reported downed across Main St. in Benton.
June 2016Thunderstorm WindBenton-The report was from KAKE television.
August 2014Thunderstorm WindBenton-The report was relayed via twitter.
August 2013HailBenton-Near Benton.
April 2012Tornado (EF0)Benton-Brief touchdown of a rope tornado in an open field.
May 2012Thunderstorm WindBenton-No damage reported.
June 2011HailBenton-Hail was reported on Butler Road just north of Benton.
February 2011HailBenton-The hail covered the ground.
July 2011Thunderstorm WindBenton-Winds were estimated around 65 mph.
May 2010FloodBenton-Water was reported over various roads just northwest of Benton.
April 2009Thunderstorm WindBenton-Dime sized hail occurred with the wind. Report courtesy of KAKE TV storm chaser.
April 2009HailBenton-Pea to dime size hail along with 70 mph winds was reported in Benton by a KAKE TV storm chaser.
May 2008Thunderstorm WindBenton-A six inch diameter tree was downed on the west side of Benton. The report was relayed via amateur radio.
June 2008Thunderstorm WindBenton-Marble size hail was also reported with the strong winds.
September 2008Heavy RainBenton-An observer reported 9.81 inches of rain during the event.
April 2004HailBenton-Radio station KFDI.
July 1998Thunderstorm WindBenton-Numerous trees blown down.
April 2026HailBenton-no account filed
April 2026HailBenton-no account filed
April 2026HailBenton-no account filed
April 2026HailBenton-no account filed
June 2025Thunderstorm WindBenton-no account filed
June 2025Thunderstorm WindBenton-no account filed
April 2024HailBenton-no account filed
June 2024HailBenton-no account filed
June 2023HailBenton-no account filed
June 2021HailBenton-no account filed
May 2018HailBenton-no account filed
June 2017HailBenton-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Butler County

Nearest settlements

The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.

Map PlaceDistance Sheets
Sunset Acres4.5 miles19
Andover5.4 miles19
Towanda5.8 miles14
Prairie Village6.4 miles19
Lorena6.7 miles15
Midway7.7 miles19
Mecca Acres8.1 miles19
Lakeview Heights8.4 miles19

Elsewhere

Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.

Wikipedia article on BentonAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q546641The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0).

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 473887. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.

Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.