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Benton City, Washington

12 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1917 and the latest in 1974. It stands in the Benton City census division. It lies in ZIP code area 99320. The Survey maps it on the Benton City quadrangle. 3,479 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 499 feet above sea level.

Benton City within Benton County

Population over time

8 figures

Benton City grew from 863 to 3,479 between 1950 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
1950863
19601,210+347 (+40%)
19701,070-140 (-12%)
19801,980+910 (+85%)
19901,806-174 (-9%)
20002,624+818 (+45%)
20103,038+414 (+16%)
20203,479+441 (+15%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

5 surveys from 12 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

28 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 28 fires within 5 miles of Benton City between 1992 and 2020, burning about 15,957 acres in total. 2 started naturally. 6 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
Missing data/not specified/undetermined9
Arson/incendiarism6
Firearms and explosives use3
Debris and open burning3
Natural2
Equipment and vehicle use2
Fireworks1
Smoking1
Misuse of fire by a minor1

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
6 September 2001Arson/incendiarism20 acresSpokane DistrictBTN CITY
3 September 2020Missing data/not specified/undetermined39 acresSpokane DistrictWEBBER
29 September 1996Arson/incendiarism311 acresSpokane DistrictWEBBER #2
28 September 2019Missing data/not specified/undetermined58 acresSpokane DistrictMCBEE
18 September 2013Missing data/not specified/undetermined650 acresSpokane DistrictWEBBER
18 September 1996Arson/incendiarism25 acresSpokane DistrictDENNIS RD
1 September 2018Natural4,046 acresHanford Reach National MonumentWAGON WHEEL
8 August 1997Missing data/not specified/undetermined3.0 acresSpokane DistrictWEBBER

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Benton County

Mines and quarries near this place

9 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 9 workings within 5 miles of Benton City: 5 past producers, 4 occurrences. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Stone, Crushed/Broken, Diatomite. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Where SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
KionaDiatomiteOccurrence
Unnamed QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer
Unnamed QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer
Benton CitySand and Gravel, ConstructionOccurrence
KionaSand and Gravel, ConstructionOccurrence
South KionaSand and Gravel, ConstructionOccurrence
Unnamed PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Unnamed PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Unnamed PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer

Every working recorded in Benton County

Storms near this place

2 since 2019

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Benton City in 2 storm reports in 2019: 1 funnel cloud, 1 hail. 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 2019Funnel CloudBenton City-A member of the public posted a picture of a funnel cloud to social media. Weak rotation verified by RADAR.
May 2019HailBenton City-A member of the public posted a video showing hail with a maximum size of 1 inch.

Every storm recorded in Benton 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
Kiona1.1 miles10
Chaffee6.3 miles11
West Richland7.3 miles13
Badger8.1 miles11
Gibbon9.4 miles10
Richland10.9 miles13
Horse Heaven11.6 miles10
Whitstran11.7 miles10

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 Benton CityAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q1504090The 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 1503314. 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.

Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

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.