1920 United States census explained

Fourteenth census of the United States
Country:	United States
Region Type:	state
Date:	January 5, 1920
Population:	106,021,537
Percent Change:	15.0%
Most Populous:	New York 10,385,227
Least Populous:	Nevada 77,407
Previous Census:	1910 United States census
Previous Year:	1910
Next Census:	1930 United States census
Next Year:	1930

The 1920 United States census, conducted by the Census Bureau during one month from January 5, 1920, determined the resident population of the United States to be 106,021,537, an increase of 15.0 percent over the 92,228,496 persons enumerated during the 1910 census.

Despite the constitutional requirement that House seats be reapportioned to the states respective of their population every ten years according to the census, members of Congress failed to agree on a reapportionment plan following this census, and the distribution of seats from the 1910 census remained in effect until 1933. In 1929, Congress passed the Reapportionment Act of 1929 which provided for a permanent method of reapportionment and fixed the number of representatives at 435.

This was the first census in which the United States recorded a population of more than 100 million. It was also the first census in which a stateNew Yorkrecorded a population of more than ten million.

This census also marked a significant population shift from rural to urban. According to the Census Bureau, "Beginning in 1910, the minimum population threshold to be categorized as an urban place was set at 2,500. "Urban" was defined as including all territory, persons, and housing units within an incorporated area that met the population threshold. The 1920 census marked the first time in which over 50 percent of the U.S. population was defined as "urban."^[1]

Census questions

The 1920 census collected the following information:^[2]

Age
Single
If foreign born, year of immigration to the U.S., whether naturalized and, if so, year of naturalization
School attendance
Literacy
State of residence
If foreign-born, the mother tongue
Ability to speak English
Occupation, industry, and class of worker
Whether home owned or rented, and, if owned, whether free or mortgaged

Full documentation for the 1920 census, including census forms and enumerator instructions, is available from the Integrated Public Use Microdata Series.

State rankings

Rank	Population as of 1920 census	Population as of 1910 census	Change	Percent change
1	10,385,227	9,113,614	1,271,613	14.0%
2	8,720,017	7,665,111	1,054,906	13.8%
3	6,485,280	5,638,591	846,689	15.0%
4	5,759,394	4,767,121	992,273	20.8%
5	4,663,228	3,896,542	766,686	19.7%
6	3,852,356	3,366,416	485,940	14.4%
7	3,668,412	2,810,173	858,239	30.5%
8	3,426,861	2,377,549	1,049,312	44.1%
9	3,404,055	3,293,335	110,720	3.4%
10	3,155,900	2,537,167	618,733	24.4%
11	2,930,390	2,700,876	229,514	8.5%
12	2,895,832	2,609,121	286,711	11.0%
13	2,632,067	2,333,860	298,207	12.8%
14	2,559,123	2,206,287	352,836	16.0%
15	2,416,630	2,289,905	126,725	5.5%
16	2,404,021	2,224,771	179,250	8.1%
17	2,387,125	2,075,708	311,417	15.0%
18	2,348,174	2,138,093	210,081	9.8%
19	2,337,885	2,184,789	153,096	7.0%
20	2,309,187	2,061,612	247,575	12.0%
21	2,028,283	1,657,155	371,128	22.4%
22	1,798,509	1,656,388	142,121	8.6%
23	1,790,618	1,797,114	-6,496	-0.4%
24	1,769,257	1,690,949	78,308	4.6%
25	1,752,204	1,574,449	177,755	11.3%
26	1,683,724	1,515,400	168,324	11.1%
27	1,463,701	1,221,119	242,582	19.9%
28	1,449,661	1,295,346	154,315	11.9%
29	1,380,631	1,114,756	265,875	23.9%
30	1,356,621	1,141,990	214,631	18.8%
31	1,296,372	1,192,214	104,158	8.7%
32	968,470	752,619	215,851	28.7%
33	939,629	799,024	140,605	17.6%
34	783,389	672,765	110,624	16.4%
35	768,014	742,371	25,643	3.5%
36	646,872	577,056	69,816	12.1%
37	636,547	583,888	52,659	9.0%
38	604,397	542,610	61,787	11.4%
39	548,889	376,053	172,836	46.0%
40	449,396	373,351	76,045	20.4%
41	443,083	430,572	12,511	2.9%
-	437,571	331,069	106,502	32.2%
42	431,866	325,594	106,272	32.6%
43	360,350	327,301	33,049	10.1%
44	352,428	355,956	-3,528	-1.0%
45	334,162	204,354	129,808	63.5%
-	255,881	191,874	64,007	33.4%
46	223,003	202,322	20,681	10.2%
47	194,402	145,965	48,437	33.2%
48	77,407	81,875	-4,468	-5.5%
-	55,036	64,356	-9,320	14.5%

Territories

United States Territories
width=100px;	Year of conquest or purchase	width=150px;	Territory	width=100px;	Population
1867	Alaska	64,356
1898	Hawaii	255,881
1898	Puerto Rico	1,299,809
1898	Guam	13,275
1898	Philippine Islands	10,314,310
1899	American Samoa
1903	Panama Canal Zone
1915	Haiti
1916	Santo Domingo	894,652
1916	US Virgin Islands

City rankings

Rank	Population	Region (2016)^[3]
01	5,620,048	Northeast
02	2,701,705	Midwest
03	1,823,779	Northeast
04	993,078	Midwest
05	796,841	Midwest
06	772,897	Midwest
07	748,060	Northeast
08	733,826	South
09	588,343	Northeast
10	576,673	West
11	506,775	Northeast
12	506,676	West
13	457,147	Midwest
14	437,571	South
15	414,524	Northeast
16	401,247	Midwest
17	387,219	South
18	380,582	Midwest
19	324,410	Midwest
20	315,312	West
21	314,194	Midwest
22	298,103	Northeast
23	295,750	Northeast
24	258,288	West
25	256,491	West
26	243,164	Midwest
27	237,595	Northeast
28	237,031	Midwest
29	234,891	South
30	234,698	Midwest
31	216,261	West
32	208,435	Midwest
33	200,616	South
34	191,601	Midwest
35	179,754	Northeast
36	178,806	South
37	171,717	Northeast
38	171,667	South
39	162,537	Northeast
40	162,351	South
41	161,379	South
42	158,976	South
43	152,559	Midwest
44	143,555	Northeast
45	138,276	South
46	138,036	Northeast
47	137,783	Northeast
48	137,634	Midwest
49	135,875	Northeast
50	132,358	Midwest
51	129,614	Northeast
52	126,468	Midwest
53	121,217	Northeast
54	120,485	Northeast
55	119,289	Northeast
56	118,342	South
57	118,110	West
58	116,309	Northeast
59	115,777	South
60	113,344	Northeast
61	112,759	Northeast
62	110,168	South
63	109,694	Northeast
64	107,784	Northeast
65	106,482	South
66	104,437	West
67	101,177	Midwest
68	100,176	Northeast
69	99,148	Northeast
70	98,917	Midwest
71	96,965	West
72	95,783	Northeast
73	94,270	Northeast
74	94,156	Northeast
75	93,372	Northeast
76	93,091	Northeast
77	91,715	Northeast
78	91,599	Midwest
79	91,558	South
80	91,295	South
81	88,723	Northeast
82	87,091	Midwest
83	86,549	Midwest
84	85,264	Midwest
85	83,252	South
86	78,384	Northeast
87	77,939	Midwest
88	77,818	South
89	77,560	South
90	76,754	Northeast
91	76,121	Midwest
92	75,917	Northeast
93	74,683	West
94	73,833	Northeast
95	73,502	Northeast
96	72,217	Midwest
97	72,075	South
98	71,996	Northeast
99	71,227	Midwest
100	70,983	Midwest

Locations of 50 most populous cities

Data availability

The original census enumeration sheets were microfilmed by the Census Bureau in the 1940s, after which the original sheets were destroyed.^[4] The microfilmed census is available in rolls from the National Archives and Records Administration. Several organizations also host images of the microfilmed census online, and digital indices.

Microdata from the 1920 census are freely available through the Integrated Public Use Microdata Series. Aggregate data for small areas, together with electronic boundary files, can be downloaded from the National Historical Geographic Information System.

External links

1921 U.S Census Report Contains 1920 census results
Historic US Census data
1920 Census
[census.gov/population/www/censusdata/PopulationofStatesandCountiesoftheUnitedStates1790-1990.pdf]
1920 census on archive.org

Notes and References

Web site: History: Urban and Rural . United States Census Bureau . June 16, 2020.
Web site: Library Bibliography Bulletin 88, New York State Census Records, 1790–1925 . 45 (p. 51 of PDF) . October 1981 . . December 15, 2008 . https://web.archive.org/web/20090130004637/http://purl.org/net/nysl/nysdocs/9643270 . January 30, 2009 . live .
Web site: Regions and Divisions . U.S. Census Bureau . September 9, 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20161203020637/http://www.census.gov/econ/census/help/geography/regions_and_divisions.html . December 3, 2016 . dead .
Web site: Census Secrets . Algonquin Area Public Library District . May 17, 2012 .