U.S. Census Questions by Year, 1790–1950
Every federal census at a glance: the official census day and the most useful questions asked each year.
Ages and other answers are as of the official census day, even if the enumerator visited weeks later. For every column of each census from 1850 on, see our free census extraction forms.
| Year | Census day | What's most useful |
|---|---|---|
| 1790 | August 2 | Head of household only; counts of free white males 16 and over and under 16, free white females, other free persons and enslaved people. Some states' schedules are lost. |
| 1800 | August 4 | Head of household only; free white males and females in five age groups. |
| 1810 | August 6 | Same as 1800. Many states' schedules are lost. |
| 1820 | August 7 | Adds foreigners not naturalized and people in agriculture, commerce and manufacturing. |
| 1830 | June 1 | Head of household only; narrower age groups (five-year groups for children). |
| 1840 | June 1 | Adds a list of Revolutionary War pensioners by name and age. |
| 1850 | June 1 | The first census to name every free person, with age, sex, color, occupation, birthplace and real estate value. Separate slave schedules list enslaved people by age and sex, unnamed. Mortality schedules begin. |
| 1860 | June 1 | Adds personal property value. Slave and mortality schedules continue. |
| 1870 | June 1 | First census to name formerly enslaved people; asks if each parent was foreign-born. |
| 1880 | June 1 | Adds each person's relationship to the head and both parents' birthplaces. Last census with mortality schedules (plus 1885 in some states). |
| 1890 | June 2 | Almost entirely destroyed after a 1921 fire. Fragments survive, plus part of a special schedule of Union veterans and widows. |
| 1900 | June 1 | Month and year of birth, years married, children born and living, year of immigration, naturalization. |
| 1910 | April 15 | Years of present marriage, language spoken, Union or Confederate veteran. |
| 1920 | January 1 | Year of naturalization; mother tongue of each person and parent. |
| 1930 | April 1 | Home value or rent, radio, age at first marriage, veteran status. |
| 1940 | April 1 | Where each person lived on April 1, 1935; highest grade completed; income. Supplementary questions for two people per page. |
| 1950 | April 1 | Released in 2022. Sample-line questions on residence a year earlier, parents' birthplaces, schooling, income and veteran status. |