In various science fiction universes, such as Niven's Known Space and Bjorn-Erik Townsend's Proxima Shared Universe, the term "Belter" is used to refer to inhabitants of the Asteroid Belt. Belters often exemplify a pioneer spirit, preferring the haphazardness of their tumbling environs to the stability of a planet-bound life.

One extremely atypical strain of Belters are Pat Murphy's norbits, from There and Back Again. Modeled on Tolkien's hobbits, they are fond of home and comfort to a degree quite alien to most authors' conceptions of a Belter culture.