United States Census Data (1790 -2020 ): The 6th Census - 1840

including final reports and compendium.

This publication contains the following data from the 1840 census:
population counts and characteristics, and
economic data pertaining to mines, agriculture, horticulture, forest products, fisheries, commerce, and manufactures.
The economic data include aggregate value, quantity produced, capital invested, and number of persons employed, among other data.
Population counts by age grouping are provided for the following categories of persons:
free white males,
free white females,
free colored males, and
free colored females.
Counts of male slaves and female slaves are sometimes provided by age grouping. Characteristic data pertain only to free persons. The population data include information on employment by industry.

A census of pensioners for revolutionary or military services; with their names, ages, and places of residence, as returned by the marshals of the several judicial districts, under the act for taking the Sixth Census. Published by authority of an act of Congress, under the direction of the Secretary of State.
The document includes 32 states/territories.

The National Historical Geographic Information System (NHGIS), produced by the Minnesota Population Center at the University of Minnesota provides free access to historical Census information. Note: this resource requires user registration, but registration is free and immediate.

Census records can provide the building blocks of your research. The first Federal Population Census was taken in 1790, and has been taken every ten years since. Because of a 72-year restriction on access to the Census, the most recent year available is 1940. The 1950 Census will be released in 2022.

The National Archives has the census schedules on microfilm available from 1790 to 1940, and most have now been digitized by our digitization partners. Family researchers generally find it most helpful to begin with the most current census and work backwards as a strategy for locating people in earlier generations.