The United States census of 1940, conducted by the Census Bureau, determined the resident population of the United States to be 132,164,569, an increase of 7.6 percent over the 1930 population of 122,775,046 people. The census date of record was April 1, 1940.
A number of new questions were asked including where people were five years before, highest educational grade achieved, and information about wages. This census introduced sampling techniques; one in 20 people were asked additional questions on the census form. Other innovations included a field test of the census in 1939. This was the first census in which every state (48) had a population greater than 100,000.
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The 1940 Census - Introduction
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1940 Census
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The 1940 Census - Census of Population
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AF-334: A Closer Look at the 1940 US Census | Ancestral Findings Podcast
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The 1940 Census - Census of Housing
Transcription
Narrator: The United States of America, youngest by far of the world’s great nations, stands today the envy of the civilized world. Its more than 130 million free people; its 33 million homes; its seven million farms; its vast panorama of other resources; industry and commerce; machines and structures beyond the dreams even of our own fathers; and, above all the material blessings, government by consent of the governed; educators sensitive to a democracy’s constant need for more education; citizens free to speak out and able to analyze their own problems: all these make up the United States of America of 1940, a nation of vast human and physical resources. Official scorekeeper of American development for 150 years has been the busy but unspectacular United States Census. Created by Article One of the U.S. Constitution, its population figures since 1790 have determined the number of delegates from each state in the House of Representatives. Fifteen times – through wars, booms, and panics – the census has presented a steadily broadening picture of the nation in its ten-year inventory. Congress has repeatedly extended the scope of census questions to meet the growing complexity of American life. In April 1940, 120,000 census takers are radiating in a carefully planned pattern across America to complete in a single month the greatest inventory of the world’s greatest democracy. Official census questions must be answered, but the census taker is sworn to strict confidence with heavy penalties for violation of his oath. Rushed to Washington by registered mail, the reports are transformed into a series of holes punched in coded cards. Thus these vast files become confidences between the citizen and the Census Bureau, specifically protected by law. Thousands of operators will sort and tabulate the millions of cards almost entirely with machines, mechanical marvels of accuracy and speed. And so will be written the official record of the 1940 America with careful measurement of its gains, its losses, and all its changes during the ten difficult years since the census of 1930. Unbiased facts to measure markets for business and the farmer, the plans of school and health officials, the needs of local governments; facts to guide the lawmakers; facts from which a free people can count its gains and chart its future, for, you cannot know your country unless your country knows you.
Census questions
The 1940 census collected the following information:[1]
- address
- home owned or rented
- if owned, value
- if rented, monthly rent
- whether on a farm
- name
- relationship to head of household
- sex
- race
- age
- marital status
- school attendance
- educational attainment
- birthplace
- if foreign born, citizenship
- location of residence five years ago and whether on a farm
- employment status
- if at work, whether in private or non-emergency government work, or in public emergency work (WPA, CCC, NYA, etc.)
- if in private or non-emergency government work, hours worked in week
- if seeking work or on public emergency work, duration of unemployment
- occupation, industry and class of worker
- weeks worked last year
- wage and salary income last year
In addition, a sample of individuals were asked additional questions covering age at first marriage, fertility, and other topics. Full documentation on the 1940 census, including census forms and a procedural history, is available from the Integrated Public Use Microdata Series.
Data availability
Following completion of the census, the original enumeration sheets were microfilmed; after which the original sheets were destroyed.[2]
As required by Title 13 of the U.S. Code, access to personally identifiable information from census records was restricted for 72 years.[3] Non-personally identifiable information Microdata from the 1940 census is freely available through the Integrated Public Use Microdata Series. Also, aggregate data for small areas, together with electronic boundary files, can be downloaded from the National Historical Geographic Information System.
On April 2, 2012[4]—72 years after the census was taken—microfilmed images of the 1940 census enumeration sheets were released to the public by the National Archives and Records Administration.[5][6] The records are indexed only by enumeration district upon initial release; several organizations are compiling indices, in some cases through crowdsourcing.[7]
State rankings
| Rank | State | Population as of 1940 census[8] |
Population as of 1930 census |
Change | Percent change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  New York
|
13,479,142 | 12,588,066 | 891,076 
|
7.1% |
| 2 |  Pennsylvania
|
9,900,180 | 9,631,350 | 268,830
|
2.8% |
| 3 |  Illinois
|
7,897,241 | 7,630,654 | 266,587
|
3.5% |
| 4 |  Ohio
|
6,907,612 | 6,646,697 | 260,915
|
3.9% |
| 5 |  California
|
6,907,387 | 5,677,251 | 1,230,136
|
21.7% |
| 6 |  Texas
|
6,414,824 | 5,824,715 | 590,109
|
10.1% |
| 7 |  Michigan
|
5,256,106 | 4,842,325 | 413,781
|
8.5% |
| 8 |  Massachusetts
|
4,316,721 | 4,249,614 | 67,107
|
1.6% |
| 9 |  New Jersey
|
4,160,165 | 4,041,334 | 118,831
|
2.9% |
| 10 |  Missouri
|
3,784,664 | 3,629,367 | 155,297
|
4.3% |
| 11 |  North Carolina
|
3,571,623 | 3,170,276 | 401,347
|
12.7% |
| 12 |  Indiana
|
3,427,796 | 3,238,503 | 189,293
|
5.8% |
| 13 |  Wisconsin
|
3,137,587 | 2,939,006 | 198,581
|
6.8% |
| 14 |  Georgia
|
3,123,723 | 2,908,506 | 215,217
|
7.4% |
| 15 |  Tennessee
|
2,915,841 | 2,616,556 | 299,285
|
11.4% |
| 16 |  Kentucky
|
2,845,627 | 2,614,589 | 231,038
|
8.8% |
| 17 |  Alabama
|
2,832,961 | 2,646,248 | 186,713
|
7.1% |
| 18 |  Minnesota
|
2,792,300 | 2,563,953 | 228,347
|
8.9% |
| 19 |  Virginia
|
2,677,773 | 2,421,851 | 255,922
|
10.6% |
| 20 |  Iowa
|
2,538,268 | 2,470,939 | 67,329
|
2.7% |
| 21 |  Louisiana
|
2,363,516 | 2,101,593 | 261,923
|
12.5% |
| 22 |  Oklahoma
|
2,336,434 | 2,396,040 | −59,606 
|
−2.5% |
| 23 |  Mississippi
|
2,183,796 | 2,009,821 | 173,975
|
8.7% |
| 24 |  Arkansas
|
1,949,387 | 1,854,482 | 94,905
|
5.1% |
| 25 |  West Virginia
|
1,901,974 | 1,729,205 | 172,769
|
10.0% |
| 26 |  South Carolina
|
1,899,804 | 1,738,765 | 161,039
|
9.3% |
| 27 |  Florida
|
1,897,414 | 1,468,211 | 429,203
|
29.2% |
| 28 |  Maryland
|
1,821,244 | 1,631,526 | 189,718
|
11.6% |
| 29 |  Kansas
|
1,801,028 | 1,880,999 | −79,971
|
−4.3% |
| 30 |  Washington
|
1,736,191 | 1,563,396 | 172,795
|
11.1% |
| 31 |  Connecticut
|
1,709,242 | 1,606,903 | 102,339
|
6.4% |
| 32 |  Nebraska
|
1,315,834 | 1,377,963 | −62,129
|
−4.5% |
| 33 |  Colorado
|
1,123,296 | 1,035,791 | 87,505
|
8.4% |
| 34 |  Oregon
|
1,089,684 | 953,786 | 135,898
|
14.2% |
| 35 |  Maine
|
847,226 | 797,423 | 49,803
|
6.2% |
| 36 |  Rhode Island
|
713,346 | 687,497 | 25,849
|
3.8% |
| — |  District of Columbia
|
663,091 | 486,869 | 176,222
|
36.2% |
| 37 |  South Dakota
|
642,961 | 692,849 | −49,888
|
−7.2% |
| 38 |  North Dakota
|
641,935 | 680,845 | −38,910
|
−5.7% |
| 39 |  Montana
|
559,456 | 537,606 | 21,850
|
4.1% |
| 40 |  Utah
|
550,310 | 507,847 | 42,463
|
8.4% |
| 41 |  New Mexico
|
531,818 | 423,317 | 108,501
|
25.6% |
| 42 |  Idaho
|
524,873 | 445,032 | 79,841
|
17.9% |
| 43 |  Arizona
|
499,261 | 435,573 | 63,688
|
14.6% |
| 44 |  New Hampshire
|
491,524 | 465,293 | 26,231
|
5.6% |
| — |  Hawaii
|
422,770 | 368,300 | 54,470
|
14.8% |
| 45 |  Vermont
|
359,231 | 359,611 | −380
|
−0.1% |
| 46 |  Delaware
|
266,505 | 238,380 | 28,125
|
11.8% |
| 47 |  Wyoming
|
250,742 | 225,565 | 25,177
|
11.2% |
| 48 |  Nevada
|
110,247 | 91,058 | 19,189
|
21.1% |
| — |  Alaska
|
72,524 | 59,278 | 13,246
|
22.3% |
| — |  United States
|
132,165,129 | 123,202,660 | 8,962,469
|
7.3% |
City rankings
Use for Japanese American internment
During World War II, the Census Bureau responded to numerous information requests from US government agencies, including the US Army and the US Secret Service, to facilitate the internment of Japanese Americans. In his report of the operation, U.S. Army Lt. Gen. John L. DeWitt wrote that "The most important single source of information prior to the evacuation was the 1940 Census of Population."[11][12][13]
References
- ^ "Library Bibliography Bulletin 88, New York State Census Records, 1790–1925". New York State Library. October 1981. p. 45 (p. 51 of PDF). Retrieved December 15, 2008.
- ^ The Ancestry Insider (May 16, 2012). "1940 Census Update for 16 May 2012: Bad News". www.ancestryinsider.blogspot.com. Retrieved May 17, 2012.
- ^ "Historical Background". US Census Bureau. Archived from the original on June 12, 2009. Retrieved July 2, 2009.
- ^ "1940 Census". Archived from the original on January 3, 2007. Retrieved November 26, 2006.
- ^ Weinstein, Allen (April 2008). "Access to genealogy data at NARA grows" (PDF). NARA Staff Bulletin. Washington DC: National Archives and Records Administration. Retrieved July 2, 2009.
- ^ Weinstein, Allen (Summer 2008). "Finding Out Who You Are: First Stop, National Archives". Prologue magazine, vol. 40, no. 2. Washington DC: National Archives and Records Administration. Retrieved July 2, 2009.
- ^ Daley, Bill (March 27, 2012). "Unlocking a new door to the 1940s – 1940 census details to be released to public". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved March 20, 2012.
- ^ "1940 Census of Population: Volume 1. Number of Inhabitants".
- ^ Population of the 100 Largest Cities and Other Urban Places in the United States: 1790 to 1990, U.S. Census Bureau, 1998
- ^ "Regions and Divisions". U.S. Census Bureau. Archived from the original on December 3, 2016. Retrieved September 9, 2016.
- ^ Japanese evacuation from the West coast, 1942 : final report, by De Witt, J. L. (John Lesesne), b. 1880; United States. Army. Western Defense Command
- ^ Confirmed: The U.S. Census Bureau Gave Up Names of Japanese-Americans in WW II
- ^ Some Japanese-Americans Wrongfully Imprisoned During WWII Oppose Census Question
External links
- Official 1940 census website
- 1940 Census Records from the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration
- 1940 Federal Population Census Videos, training videos for enumerators at the U.S. National Archives
- Selected Historical Decennial Census Population and Housing Counts from the U.S. Census Bureau
- Snow, Michael S. (opinion) "Why the huge interest in the 1940 Census?" CNN. Monday April 9, 2012.
- 1941 U.S Census Report Contains 1940 census results
- 1940 Census Questions Hosted at CensusFinder.com.
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This page was last edited on 4 February 2023, at 14:22