United States Census Data (1790 -2020 ): The 8th Census - 1860

Analytic introduction discusses the following: Population of the United States, slavery, Indian slavery, manumission of slaves, fugitive slaves, area and density of population, populalation at the military ages, sex, immigration, dwellings, nativities of the population, internal migration, marriages, births, mortality, population of foreign countries, the deaf and dumb, deaf and dumb and blind, the blind, and the insane.
Statistical tables for each State and Territory include:
Population by age, sex, and color according to counties;
Population by color and condition (free, colored, and slave) by counties;
Population by color and sex of cities and towns and other subdivisions;
Free population, native and foreign, by counties;
Nativities of the free population;
Occupations.
A final section recapitulates these data and in addition to the subjects already mentioned includes tables on the nativity of the free population in several large cities (Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Cincinnati, Chicago, St. Louis, and New Orleans), and data on the deaf and dumb, the blind, and the insane by age and nativity. Also: Appendix—"Deaf and dumb. Authors and books," and "The blind. Persons in America and Europe who have devoted special attention to the interests of the blind."

Mortality statistics include deaths in the year ending June 1, 1860 by States and districts according to age, sex, month, and disease. Extensive analytic commentary with text tables also included. Miscellaneous statistics include: Banks and insurance, value of real and personal estate, public press, railroads, canal and river improvements, manumission of slaves and fugitive slaves, changes of area, number of families and free population, churches, education (number of institutions and school attendance), libraries, taxes, pauperism and crime and wages, persons living over 100 years, average rate of mortality, and fisheries.
Districts include the following States/Territories:
District I - Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York
District II - Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Nebraska
District III - New Jersey, Pennsylvania
District IV - Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas
District V - Delaware, Maryland, District of Columbia, Virginia, North Carolina
District VI - Kentucky, Tennessee, Missouri
District VII - South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama
District VIII - Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, Texas
District IX - Oregon, California, Territories of: Dakota, New Mexico, Utah, Washington

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.