Bettendorf is a city in Scott County, Iowa, United States. The population was 39,102 at the 2020 census. Bettendorf is the fifth of the

Quad Cities The Quad Cities is a region of five cities (originally Tri-Cities, later four, see #History, History) in the U.S. states of Iowa and Illinois: Davenport, Iowa, Davenport and Bettendorf, Iowa, Bettendorf (the fifth to be included) in southeaster ...

along the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the main stem, primary river of the largest drainage basin in the United States. It is the second-longest river in the United States, behind only the Missouri River, Missouri. From its traditional source of Lake Ita ...

, along with neighboring Davenport in Iowa and Moline, East Moline, and Rock Island in

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

. The Quad Cities metropolitan area had a population of 467,817 in 2023.

History

Bettendorf lies in the original Wisconsin Territory, which the United States bought from the

Sac and Fox The Sac and Fox Nation (Sauk language: Thâkîwaki) is the largest of three federally recognized tribes, federally recognized tribes of Sauk people, Sauk and Meskwaki, Meskwaki (Fox) American Indians in the United States, Indian peoples. They are ...

Indians after defeating them in the

Black Hawk War The Black Hawk War was a conflict between the United States and Native Americans in the United States, Native Americans led by Black Hawk (Sauk leader), Black Hawk, a Sauk people, Sauk leader. The war erupted after Black Hawk and a group of ...

. The territory was ceded in the Black Hawk Purchase of 1832. The first European-American settlers established a village they called Lilienthal, after an early tavern and dance hall. The village of Gilbert developed alongside Lilienthal in 1858, honoring Elias Gilbert, who

plat In the United States, a plat ( or ) (plan) is a cadastral map, drawn to scale, showing the divisions of a piece of land. United States General Land Office surveyors drafted township plats of Public Lands Survey System, Public Lands Surveys to ...

ted the original site. At that time, the residents were predominantly German immigrants and worked as farmers, skilled laborers, and small business owners. The two villages eventually combined to become the town of Gilbert.

Circa Circa is a Latin word meaning "around, approximately". Circa or CIRCA may also refer to: * CIRCA (art platform), in London * Circa (band), a progressive rock supergroup * Circa (company), an American skateboard footwear company * Circa (contempora ...

1900, the town gave

William William is a masculine given name of Germanic languages, Germanic origin. It became popular in England after the Norman Conquest, Norman conquest in 1066,All Things William"Meaning & Origin of the Name"/ref> and remained so throughout the Middle ...

and Joseph Bettendorf of riverfront land on the condition that they move their iron wagon business from Davenport to Gilbert. In 1903, the town of 440 citizens petitioned for incorporation, requesting to change the town's name in honor of the brothers whose factory was a major economic influence in the early development of the city. In the late 1940s, Aluminum Company of America (A.L.C.O.A.) chose Riverdale, an

enclave An enclave is a territory that is entirely surrounded by the territory of only one other state or entity. An enclave can be an independent territory or part of a larger one. Enclaves may also exist within territorial waters. ''Enclave'' is so ...

of Bettendorf, for construction of the world's largest aluminum mill. The huge mill, and the attendant developments from it, created thousands of jobs and greatly increased growth in Bettendorf's population, which has continued to the present day. The first modern-day riverboat casinos in the United States were launched in Bettendorf on April 1, 1991 by local businessman Bernard Goldstein. He went on to found the Isle of Capri Casinos. Goldstein and his family members also operate Alter Companies, which is a scrap metal, barge and towboat company operating on the river waterfront. The Quad Cities Waterfront Convention Center opened by the casino and hotel in 2009. It is owned by the city and operated by the Isle of Capri. The city of Bettendorf is located along the banks of the Mississippi River. Because of this the city of Bettendorf goes through a great deal of flooding and deals annually with storm water run off. In 2000, Missman, Stanley & Associates prepared a Comprehensive Storm Water study on all 14 of the city's drainage ways. This study included future Capital Improvement Projects. The City of Bettendorf's Stormwater Section will be the organization to implement this comprehensive plan. There are 169 inlets that have found to be insufficient and not working to proper code for handling rainfall over 1.25 inches and in handling of rainfall into all city creeks. Due to this, several creeks such as Crow Creek, Pigeon Creek, Spencer Creek, and others are continuing to flow and destroy personal property because of not handling the water being put into the creek properly and having the creek banks secured. The City of Bettendorf has been collecting storm water fees on water bills to maintain and resolve these issues. Efforts are focused on improving surface water quality which will in turn improve the quality of drinking water, increase viability for fish and decrease flooding. The plan includes the repair and cleaning of roadside pipes and ditches, replacing small culverts with larger ones and maintaining the system on a regular basis. Routine inspections are performed during dry weather to detect and address illicit discharges. Beginning in 2012, a portion of downtown Bettendorf's buildings were torn down to make way for the new I-74 Bridge project and as part of a corresponding downtown Bettendorf redevelopment. The original I-74 twin bridge span was built in 1935 and the second in 1959. The I-74 Bridge project will demolish the original twin spans and construct a new I-74 bridge over the Mississippi River. The 1.2 billion dollar bridge project began construction in July 2017 and is expected to be completed in 2021. The project converted Grant Street, in the vicinity of I-74, to a two-way street with three lanes in each direction. New commercial and residential construction in downtown Bettendorf has occurred in the redesigned corridor. The I-74 bridge connects Bettendorf and

Moline, Illinois Moline ( ) is a city in Rock Island County, Illinois, United States. With a population of 42,985 in the 2020 census, it is the largest city in Rock Island County and the List of municipalities in Illinois, ninth-most populous in Illinois outside ...

Geography

According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, the city has a total area of , of which is land and is water.

Climate

Demographics

2020 census

As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2020, the population was 39,102. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

was . There were 16,697 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 82.4%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 6.2% Asian, 3.7%

Black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 0.2% Native American, 1.3% from other races, and 6.2% from two or more races. Ethnically, the population was 5.3%

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race.

2010 census

As of the

of 2010, there were 33,217 people, 13,681 households, and 9,225 families residing in the city. The

was . There were 14,437 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 91.9%

, 2.2%

, 0.2% Native American, 3.1% Asian, 0.1%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

, 0.7% from other races, and 1.8% from two or more races.

or Latino of any race were 3.6% of the population. There were 13,681 households, of which 33.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.7% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 8.4% had a female householder with no husband present, 3.3% had a male householder with no wife present, and 32.6% were non-families. 28.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.42 and the average family size was 2.97. The median age in the city was 40.7 years. 25.5% of residents were under the age of 18; 5.9% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 24.6% were from 25 to 44; 29.2% were from 45 to 64; and 14.8% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 48.6% male and 51.4% female. Colors= id:lightgrey value:gray(0.9) id:darkgrey value:gray(0.8) id:sfondo value:rgb(1,1,1) id:barra value:rgb(0.55,0.0,0.0) id:darkblue value:rgb(0.0,0.0,0.8) ImageSize = width:600 height:300 PlotArea = left:50 bottom:50 top:30 right:30 DateFormat = x.y Period = from:0 till:40000 TimeAxis = orientation:vertical AlignBars = late ScaleMajor = gridcolor:darkgrey increment:10000 start:0 ScaleMinor = gridcolor:lightgrey increment:2500 start:0 BackgroundColors = canvas:sfondo BarData= bar:1910 text:1910 bar:1920 text:1920 bar:1930 text:1930 bar:1940 text:1940 bar:1950 text:1950 bar:1960 text:1960 bar:1970 text:1970 bar:1980 text:1980 bar:1990 text:1990 bar:2000 text:2000 bar:2010 text:2010 bar:2020 text:2020 bar:2022 text:2022 PlotData= color:barra width:25 align:left bar:1910 from:0 till:909 color:green bar:1920 from:0 till:2178 color:green bar:1930 from:0 till:2768 color:green bar:1940 from:0 till:3143 color:green bar:1950 from:0 till:5132 color:green bar:1960 from:0 till:11534 color:green bar:1970 from:0 till:22126 color:green bar:1980 from:0 till:27381 color:green bar:1990 from:0 till:28139 color:green bar:2000 from:0 till:31275 color:green bar:2010 from:0 till:33217 color:green bar:2020 from:0 till:39102 color:green bar:2022 from:0 till:39548 color:green PlotData= bar:1910 at:909 fontsize:S text:909 shift:(-14,5) bar:1920 at:2178 fontsize:S text:2,178 shift:(-14,5) bar:1930 at:2768 fontsize:S text:2,768 shift:(-14,5) bar:1940 at:3143 fontsize:S text:3,143 shift:(-14,5) bar:1950 at:5132 fontsize:S text:5,132 shift:(-14,5) bar:1960 at:11534 fontsize:S text:11,534 shift:(-14,5) bar:1970 at:22126 fontsize:S text:22,126 shift:(-14,5) bar:1980 at:27381 fontsize:S text:27,381 shift:(-14,5) bar:1990 at:28139 fontsize:S text:28,139 shift:(-14,5) bar:2000 at:31275 fontsize:S text:31,275 shift:(-14,5) bar:2010 at:33217 fontsize:S text:33,217 shift:(-14,5) bar:2020 at:39102 fontsize:S text:39,102 shift:(-14,5) bar:2022 at:39548 fontsize:M text:39,548 shift:(-14,5) TextData= fontsize:S pos:(20,20) text:Data from U.S. Census Bureau

Government

Bettendorf has a mayor and city council form of government with seven city council members. Two council members are elected at-large, while the other five are elected by each of the city's five wards. Bettendorf’s current mayor is Robert Gallagher. Council members are Frank Baden (at-large), Lisa Brown (at-large), Jerry Sechser (1st ward), Scott Naumann (2nd Ward), Gregory Jager (3rd Ward), Greg Adamson (4th ward), Nick Palczynski (5th ward).

Education

Bettendorf is home to two school districts, the Bettendorf Community School District and Pleasant Valley Community School District. The Bettendorf Community School District covers most areas of central, northern and western Bettendorf. Elementary students are assigned to one of five elementary schools; the district also operates a middle and Bettendorf High School. A seven-member board of education represents district residents. The Pleasant Valley Community School District encompasses areas of eastern Bettendorf, as well as the outlying communities of Pleasant Valley, Riverdale and LeClaire. Located inside the city limits are four of the district's six elementary schools. Both high schools are part of the Mississippi Athletic Conference for sports. The Bettendorf, Pleasant Valley, and North Scott school districts operate a consortium alternative high school, Edison Academy, in downtown Bettendorf. The Mississippi Bend Area Education Agency, one of nine such agencies in the state of Iowa, operates a Learning Center in the former Bettendorf High School building in central Bettendorf, offering professional development and continuing education services for educators, as well as driver education and home school testing services for students. Also located within the city limits are Rivermont Collegiate, a nonsectarian, independent, multicultural, college-preparatory school for preschool through 12th-grade students; Lourdes Catholic School, a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

school for preschool through 8th-grade students; and Morning Star Academy, a Christian school for preschool through 12th-grade students. Rivermont Collegiate operates in the former mansion of J.W. Bettendorf, namesake of the city. Scott Community College, part of the Eastern Iowa Community College District, is located in Riverdale with a Bettendorf address. Upper Iowa University operates its Quad Cities Center in Bettendorf.

Media

Sports

:See also * Mississippi Athletic Conference for high school sports.

Notable people

* Pat Angerer,

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the line ...

, drafted in the

2010 NFL draft The 2010 NFL draft was the 75th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. The 2010 NFL draft, draft took place over three days, at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, with the first ...

by the

Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. Since the 2008 India ...

* Chris Anthony,

arena football Arena football is a variety of gridiron football designed to be played indoors. The game is played on a smaller field than American or Canadian football, designed to fit in the same surface area as a standard North American ice hockey rink, an ...

player * Tavian Banks, (born 1974) NFL player,

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference, among others) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Fa ...

player of the year, first-team

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

n * Scott Beck, filmmaker, writer/producer of ''A Quiet Place'' * Joseph W. Bettendorf, (1864 – 1933) businessman. Co-founded Bettendorf Axle Company. With his brother William, namesake of Bettendorf, Iowa. Built Joseph Bettendorf House. * William P. Bettendorf, (1857 – 1910) industrialist and inventor. Co-founded Bettendorf Axle Company. With his brother Joseph, namesake of Bettendorf, Iowa. * Jack Fleck, (1921–2014) golfer who won the 1955 U.S. Open. * Bernard Goldstein, (1929–2009), Attorney and businessman. Founder of Isle of Capri Casinos. * Michael Grumley, (1942–1988) writer * Butch Harmon, (born 1945)

PGA Tour The PGA Tour (stylized as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also known as the PGA Tour, the PGA Tour Champion ...

golfer, golf coach. * Eduvie Ikoba, (born 1997) soccer player * Hazel Keener, actress * Mark Kerr, (born 1968) Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fighter and subject of the

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...

documentary entitled ''The Smashing Machine'', * Robbie Lawler, (born 1982) former

Ultimate Fighting Championship The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promoter (entertainment), promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority owned subsidiary of Endeavor ( ...

Welterweight Welterweight is a weight class in combat sports. Originally the term ''welterweight'' was used only in boxing, but other combat sports like muay Thai, taekwondo, and mixed martial arts also use it for their own weight division system to classify th ...

champion * Johnny Lujack, (1925–2023) 1947

Heisman Trophy The Heisman Memorial Trophy ( ; also known simply as the Heisman) is awarded annually since 1935 to the top player in college football. It is considered the most prestigious award in the sport and is presented by the Heisman Trophy Trust followin ...

. * Rory Markham, mixed martial artist *

Drew McFedries Michael Andrew "Drewbie" McFedries (born July 27, 1978) is an American retired mixed martial artist. McFedries formerly competed for the Ultimate Fighting Championship, UFC, Titan Fighting Championship, Titan FC and Shooto. Background McFedries ...

, mixed martial artist * Pat Miletich, mixed martial artist and trainer, first Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Welterweight Champion in 1998 * Eric Christian Olsen, (born 1977) actor, NCIS: Los Angeles, ''Dumb and Dumberer 2'' * Linnea Quigley (born 1958), Actress * Yung Skeeter, American DJ, producer, director,

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

, and recording artist * Robert Smallwood, writer * Tim Sylvia, (born 1976) former

Heavyweight Heavyweight is a weight class in combat sports and professional wrestling. Boxing Professional Male boxers who weigh over are considered heavyweights by 2 of the 4 major professional boxing organizations: the International Boxing Federation an ...

champion * Bryan Woods, filmmaker, writer/producer of ''A Quiet Place''

References

External links

City of Bettendorf
Official Website
''QCTimes''
– newspaper {{authority control Bettendorf Cities in Iowa Cities in Scott County, Iowa Cities in the Quad Cities Iowa populated places on the Mississippi River 1903 establishments in Iowa