Great Bend, Kansas

**Great Bend** is a city in Barton County, Kansas, United States. It is also the county seat of Barton County. It is named for its location at the place where the Arkansas River bends east then southeast. In 2020, 14,733 people lived there.

## Geography

Great Bend is at  (38.3644567, -98.7648073). It has an elevation of 1,850 feet (564 m). It is in central Kansas, and it is at the intersection of U.S. Route 281 and U.S. Route 56. Great Bend is  northwest of Wichita,  west-southwest of Kansas City, and  east-southeast of Denver.

The United States Census Bureau says that the city has a total area of . Of that,  is land and  is water.

### 2020 census

In 2020, there were 14,733 people, 6,136 households, and 3,690 families living in Zurich. Of the households, 61.0% owned their home and 39.0% rented their home.

The median age was 38.6 years. Of the people, 77.3% were White, 1.5% were Black, 0.6% were Native American, 0.4% were Asian, 11.0% were from some other race, and 9.1% were two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 23.5% of the people.

### Primary and secondary education

Great Bend Public Schools (USD 428) has about 3,000 students. It runs eight schools in Great Bend:

- Washington Early Childhood Center (Grades Pre-K)
- Eisenhower Elementary School (K–6)
- Jefferson Elementary School (K–6)
- Lincoln Elementary School (K–6)

- Park Elementary School (K–6)
- Riley Elementary School (K–6)
- Great Bend Middle School (7–8)
- Great Bend High School (9–12)

### Colleges and universities

Barton Community College is a two-year community college. It is about three miles northeast of Great Bend.

## Media

The _Great Bend Tribune_ is the city's daily newspaper. It makes over 6,200 copies.

## Parks and recreation

The city government's Park Department maintains 10 parks in Great Bend.

### Sports

Greyhound racing started in the United States in the bottoms in 1886 during a formal coursing event.

## Other websites

- City
- City of Great Bend
- Great Bend - Directory of Public Officials
- Great Bend Convention and Visitors Bureau
- Great Bend Chamber of Commerce
- Schools
- USD 428 , local school district
- Barton Community College
- Attractions
- Great Bend Zoo
- Cheyenne Bottoms Wildlife Area
- Historical
- Barton County Historical Museum
- , from _Hatteberg's People_ on KAKE TV news
- Maps
- Great Bend City Map , KDOT

## Infobox (settlement)

- **name**: Great Bend, Kansas
- **settlement type**: City and County seat
- **image skyline**: Downtown Great Bend Kansas 5-5-2012.jpg
- **image caption**: Downtown Great Bend (2012)
- **image map**: Barton_County_Kansas_Incorporated_and_Unincorporated_areas_Great_Bend_Highlighted.svg
- **map caption**: Location within Barton County, Kansas, Barton County and Kansas
- **image map1**: Map of Barton Co, Ks, USA.png
- **map caption1**: Kansas Department of Transportation, KDOT map of Barton County, Kansas, Barton County (:File:Kansas official transportation map legend.png, legend)
- **subdivision type**: Country
- **subdivision name**: United States
- **subdivision type1**: U.S. state, State
- **subdivision name1**: Kansas
- **subdivision type2**: List of counties in Kansas, County
- **subdivision name2**: Barton County, Kansas, Barton
- **subdivision type3**: List of townships in Kansas, Township
- **established title**: Founded
- **established date**: 1871
- **established title1**: Platted
- **established title2**: Municipal corporation, Incorporated
- **established date2**: 1872
- **named for**: Bend in Arkansas River
- **leader title**: Mayor
- **area total sq mi**: 10.63
- **area land sq mi**: 10.50
- **area water sq mi**: 0.13
- **area total km2**: 27.54
- **area land km2**: 27.19
- **area water km2**: 0.35
- **unit pref**: Imperial
- **elevation ft**: 1850
- **population as of**: 2020 United States census, 2020
- **population total**: 14733
- **population density sq mi**: auto
- **population density km2**: auto
- **timezone**: Central Time Zone, CST
- **utc offset**: -6
- **timezone dst**: CDT
- **utc offset dst**: -5
- **postal code type**: ZIP code
- **postal code**: 67530
- **area code type**: North American Numbering Plan, Area code
- **area code**: Area code 620, 620
- **blank name**: Federal Information Processing Standard, FIPS code
- **blank info**: 20-28300
- **blank1 name**: Geographic Names Information System, GNIS ID
- **blank1 info**: 475650