Bethel Census Area is a census area in the U.S. state of Alaska. As of the 2020 census, the population is 18,666, up from 17,013 in 2010. It is part of the unorganized borough and therefore has no borough seat. Its largest community is the city of Bethel, which is also the largest city in the unorganized borough.
Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the census area has an area of , of which is land and (10.8%) is water. Its territory includes the large Nunivak Island in the Bering Sea.
Its land area is comparable to that of Kentucky, which has an area of slightly under forty thousand square miles.
Adjacent boroughs and census areas
- Kusilvak Census Area, Alaska - northwest
- Yukon–Koyukuk Census Area, Alaska - north
- Matanuska-Susitna Borough, Alaska - east
- Kenai Peninsula Borough, Alaska - southeast
- Lake and Peninsula Borough, Alaska - south
- Dillingham Census Area, Alaska - south
National protected areas
- Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge (part of the Bering Sea unit)
- Bering Sea Wilderness
- Lake Clark National Park and Preserve (part)
- Lake Clark Wilderness (part)
- Togiak National Wildlife Refuge (part)
- Togiak Wilderness (part)
- Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge (part)
- Nunivak Wilderness