| Nineteenth census of the United States | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ||||
 U.S. Census Bureau seal | ||||
 1970 U.S. census logo | ||||
| General information | ||||
| Country | United States | |||
| Results | ||||
| Total population | 203,392,031 ( 13.4%) | |||
| Most populous | California 19,953,134 | |||
| Least populous | Alaska 302,173 | |||
The1970 United States census, conducted by theCensus Bureau, determined the resident population of theUnited States to be 203,392,031, an increase of 13.4 percent over the 179,323,175 personsenumerated during the1960 census.
This was the first census since 1820 in whichNew York was not the most populous state—California overtook it in population in January 1963. This was also the first census in which all states recorded a population of over 300,000, and the first in which a city in the geographic South—Houston—recorded a population of over 1 million.
Accurate racial census data was required by both theCivil Rights Act of 1964 and theVoting Rights Act of 1965, and the 1970 Census changed to identify race on the basis of self-identification rather than by government census enumerators.[1] Virtually all of the key items from the 1960 census were retained.[2]
Microdata from the 1970 census are freely available through theIntegrated Public Use Microdata Series.Aggregate data for small areas, together with electronic boundary files, can be downloaded from theNational Historical Geographic Information System. These data were originally created and disseminated byDUALabs. Personally identifiable information will be available in 2042.[3]
| Rank | State | Population as of 1970 census | Population as of 1960 census | Change | Percent change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  California | 19,953,134 | 15,717,204 | 4,235,930 | 27.0% |
| 2 |  New York | 18,236,967 | 16,782,304 | 1,454,663 | 8.7% |
| 3 |  Pennsylvania | 11,793,909 | 11,319,366 | 474,543 | 4.2% |
| 4 |  Texas | 11,196,730 | 9,579,677 | 1,617,053 | 16.9% |
| 5 |  Illinois | 11,113,976 | 10,081,158 | 1,032,818 | 10.2% |
| 6 |  Ohio | 10,652,017 | 9,706,397 | 945,620 | 9.7% |
| 7 |  Michigan | 8,875,083 | 7,823,194 | 1,051,889 | 13.4% |
| 8 |  New Jersey | 7,168,164 | 6,066,782 | 1,101,382 | 18.2% |
| 9 |  Florida | 6,789,443 | 4,951,560 | 1,837,883 | 37.1% |
| 10 |  Massachusetts | 5,689,170 | 5,148,578 | 540,592 | 10.5% |
| 11 |  Indiana | 5,193,669 | 4,662,498 | 531,171 | 11.4% |
| 12 |  North Carolina | 5,082,059 | 4,556,155 | 525,904 | 11.5% |
| 13 |  Missouri | 4,676,501 | 4,319,813 | 356,688 | 8.3% |
| 14 |  Virginia | 4,648,494 | 3,966,949 | 681,545 | 17.2% |
| 15 |  Georgia | 4,589,575 | 3,943,116 | 646,459 | 16.4% |
| 16 |  Wisconsin | 4,417,731 | 3,951,777 | 465,954 | 11.8% |
| 17 |  Tennessee | 3,923,687 | 3,567,089 | 356,598 | 10.0% |
| 18 |  Maryland | 3,922,399 | 3,100,689 | 821,710 | 26.5% |
| 19 |  Minnesota | 3,804,971 | 3,413,864 | 391,107 | 11.5% |
| 20 |  Louisiana | 3,641,306 | 3,257,022 | 384,284 | 11.8% |
| 21 |  Alabama | 3,444,165 | 3,266,740 | 177,425 | 5.4% |
| 22 |  Washington | 3,409,169 | 2,853,214 | 555,955 | 19.5% |
| 23 |  Kentucky | 3,218,706 | 3,038,156 | 180,550 | 5.9% |
| 24 |  Connecticut | 3,031,709 | 2,535,234 | 496,475 | 19.6% |
| 25 |  Iowa | 2,824,376 | 2,757,537 | 66,839 | 2.4% |
| 26 |  South Carolina | 2,590,516 | 2,382,594 | 207,922 | 8.7% |
| 27 |  Oklahoma | 2,559,229 | 2,328,284 | 230,945 | 9.9% |
| 28 |  Kansas | 2,246,578 | 2,178,611 | 67,967 | 3.1% |
| 29 |  Mississippi | 2,216,912 | 2,178,141 | 38,771 | 1.8% |
| 30 |  Colorado | 2,207,259 | 1,753,947 | 453,312 | 25.8% |
| 31 |  Oregon | 2,091,533 | 1,768,687 | 322,846 | 18.3% |
| 32 |  Arkansas | 1,923,295 | 1,786,272 | 137,023 | 7.7% |
| 33 |  Arizona | 1,745,944 | 1,302,161 | 443,783 | 34.1% |
| 34 |  West Virginia | 1,744,237 | 1,860,421 | -116,184 | -6.2% |
| 35 |  Nebraska | 1,483,493 | 1,411,330 | 72,163 | 5.1% |
| 36 |  Utah | 1,059,273 | 890,627 | 168,646 | 18.9% |
| 37 |  New Mexico | 1,017,055 | 951,023 | 66,032 | 6.9% |
| 38 |  Maine | 992,048 | 969,265 | 22,783 | 2.4% |
| 39 |  Rhode Island | 946,725 | 859,488 | 87,237 | 10.1% |
| 40 |  Hawaii | 769,913 | 632,772 | 137,141 | 21.7% |
| – |  District of Columbia | 756,510 | 763,956 | -7,446 | -1.0% |
| 41 |  New Hampshire | 737,681 | 606,921 | 130,760 | 21.5% |
| 42 |  Idaho | 712,567 | 667,191 | 45,376 | 6.8% |
| 43 |  Montana | 694,409 | 674,767 | 19,642 | 2.9% |
| 44 |  South Dakota | 665,507 | 680,514 | -15,007 | -2.2% |
| 45 |  North Dakota | 617,761 | 632,446 | -14,685 | -2.3% |
| 46 |  Delaware | 548,104 | 446,292 | 101,812 | 22.8% |
| 47 |  Nevada | 488,738 | 285,278 | 203,460 | 71.3% |
| 48 |  Vermont | 444,330 | 389,881 | 54,449 | 14.0% |
| 49 |  Wyoming | 332,416 | 330,066 | 2,350 | 0.7% |
| 50 |  Alaska | 300,382 | 226,167 | 74,215 | 32.8% |
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California took over as the most populous state; New York had previously been ranked number one. While the entire country increased to more than 204 million persons, four states lost population, with West Virginia leading the list, down roughly 7 percent from 1960.[6]
