Today, Belle Glade maintains its agricultural and "small town" roots. The current population represents many diverse ethnic backgrounds and is just under 18,000 residents.
Belle Glade has five elementary schools, 1 middle school, 1 high school, and a private school as well as a campus of Palm Beach State College.
Belle Glade has a local theater, the Dolly Hand Cultural Arts Center, that has been providing the community with quality arts and entertainment since 1982 and a local museum, the Lawrence E. Will Museum of the Glades, with a collection of artifacts from the Seminoles, early pioneer settlements, agricultural tools and innovations, the early hurricanes of the 20th century, and local history records through the 1960s.
Belle Glade is not short on stars, little tidbits such as author Nora Zeale Hurston being a resident of the Glade while writing her novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God and the abundance of NFL talent that has come out of the “Muck City,” including, Kelvin Benjamin, Jessie Hester, Santonio Holmes, Ray McDonald, Fred Taylor, Deonte Thompson, keep this rural lake town unique, diverse, and so inviting.