The data presented here describe the population and economy of U.S. states and counties from 1790 to 1960. To begin using the data, click on a year from the list to the left. Where did the data come from?
 The original source of the each decade's data is the decennial census conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau.The electronic data collection presented here was compiled by theInter-university Consortium for Political andSocial Research (ICPSR) under a grant from the National Science Foundation.The data selection was carried out under guidelines developed by the American HistoricalAssociation and reflect an interest in political and economic analyses. What data are included?
The available data differ somewhat from decade to decade, according to what was collected inthe census and the items chosen for transcription to electronic form. For the early decades, most of theenumerated items are included. For later decades, only a portion of characteristics have been transcribed.No information is available below the county level, and only states areincluded (no information on western territories before statehood, or for the District of Columbia).
In addition to basic counts of population and housing units, all decades contain information on race, gender, and some measure of household size and composition. Beginning with 1840, some economiccharacteristics such as education and occupation are included. Later decades have many variables,including ancestry, literacy, and income variables. In a few cases, the census data were augmentedwith information from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the National Council of Churches of Christ. What can I do on this site?
This site allows you to browse the data files for each decade and choose from the lists of variables.You can produce lists of data by state or county that can be sorted, calculate proportions, or graphany of the variables. The site is not intended as a tool for downloading data for further research ormore involved manipulation. Those who require this level of analysis should download the original data from ICPSR. The codebook for this study can be viewedhere. Where can I find out more?
Information on the decennial census is available inMeasuring America: The Decennial Censuses from 1790 to 2000. This PDF document is fairly large andmay be difficult to download at slow modem speeds. Please emailcomments@census.gov if you have problems with this link. For questions on methodology, see:Methodology of this site. If you have questions concerning this resource, please emailgeostat@virginia.edu. This site is made available with the cooperation and consent of theInter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research(ICPSR). How do I cite this site?
University of Virginia Geospatial and Statistical Data Center. United States Historical Census DataBrowser. ONLINE. 1998. University of Virginia. Available: http://fisher.lib.virginia.edu/census/. [Date youaccessed source].
Last Modified: Friday, February 21, 2003 | 
