Census Records | National Archives

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 ... Top Skiptomaincontent MainmenuResearchOurRecords Veterans'ServiceRecords EducatorResources VisitUs America'sFoundingDocuments Genealogy Mainpage Census CensusMainPage AboutCensusRecords SearchCensusRecordsOnline 1790CensusFAQs 1930CensusFAQs 1940Census 1850-1940CensusClues 1790-1840CensusClues NonpopulationCensus 1935BusinessCensus IndianCensusRolls PresidentsintheUSCensusRecords CensusLinksbyYear Resources SoundexCodingSystem BlankCensusformsandcharts OrderCensusCopiesOnline UsingCensusMicrofilm CensusRecords Censusrecordscanprovidethebuildingblocksofyourresearch. ThefirstFederalPopulationCensuswastakenin1790,andhasbeentakeneverytenyearssince. Becauseofa72-yearrestrictiononaccesstotheCensus,themostrecentyearavailableis1940. The1950Censuswillbereleasedin2022.   TheNationalArchiveshasthecensusschedulesonmicrofilmavailablefrom1790to1940,andmosthavenowbeendigitizedbyourdigitizationpartners. Familyresearchersgenerallyfinditmosthelpfultobeginwiththemostcurrentcensusandworkbackwardsasastrategyforlocating peopleinearliergenerations. Whatdoyouwanttodotoday? SearchCensusesbyYearandAncestor'sName LearnaboutCensusRecords OrderCopiesofCensusRecords AskaQuestionat HistoryHub'sCensusCommunity VisitaNARAResearchRoom   HireanIndependentResearcher   WhatarepeopleaskingonHistoryHub?   FindanswerstoyourcensusquestionsonHistoryHub   Top