1950 United States census — Safekipedia Adventurer

The 1950 United States census, conducted by the Census Bureau, counted the number of people living in the United States at that time. It found that 151,325,798 people lived in the country. This was a growth of 14.5 percent from the 1940 census.

This census was special because it was the first time that more than one state had over 10 million people. It was also the first time that every state and territory had more than 100,000 people. All of the 100 biggest cities had populations bigger than 100,000.

On April 1, 2022, the National Archives and Records Administration made the full census records available to everyone. This happened because of a rule that says census records can be shared with the public after 72 years. This means the 1950 census is the most recent one that everyone can see freely.

Census questions

The 1950 census collected key details from everyone, such as their address, name, age, and birthplace. It also asked about their jobs and if they worked on a farm.

A few people received additional questions about their income and family background. For more information, visit the Integrated Public Use Microdata Series.

Data availability

Microdata from the 1950 census are available for anyone to use through the Integrated Public Use Microdata Series. You can get aggregate data for small areas and electronic maps from the National Historical Geographic Information System.

On April 1, 2022, 72 years after the census, the National Archives and Records Administration made copies of the census forms public. The census data can now be searched by name on many websites. Genealogy companies Ancestry and FamilySearch helped make an index of all the names using computers and people who helped.

A clerk creating punch cards containing data from the census.

State rankings

A map showing the population change of each US State by percentage.

The 1950 United States census showed big changes in where people lived in the country. It was the first time that more than one state had over 10 million people. Also, every state and territory had more than 100,000 people. All of the 100 biggest cities had more than 100,000 people too. These facts help us see how the United States was growing at that time.

Rank	State	Population as of 1950 census	Population as of 1940 census	Change	Percent change
1	New York	14,830,192	13,479,142	1,351,050	10.0%
2	California	10,586,223	6,907,387	3,678,836	53.3%
3	Pennsylvania	10,498,012	9,900,180	597,832	6.0%
4	Illinois	8,712,176	7,897,241	814,935	10.3%
5	Ohio	7,946,627	6,907,612	1,039,015	15.0%
6	Texas	7,711,194	6,414,824	1,296,370	20.2%
7	Michigan	6,371,766	5,256,106	1,115,660	21.2%
8	New Jersey	4,835,329	4,160,165	675,164	16.2%
9	Massachusetts	4,690,514	4,316,721	373,793	8.7%
10	North Carolina	4,061,929	3,571,623	490,306	13.7%
11	Missouri	3,954,653	3,784,664	169,989	4.5%
12	Indiana	3,934,224	3,427,796	506,428	14.8%
13	Georgia	3,444,578	3,123,723	320,855	10.3%
14	Wisconsin	3,434,575	3,137,587	296,988	9.5%
15	Virginia	3,318,680	2,677,773	640,907	23.9%
16	Tennessee	3,291,718	2,915,841	375,877	12.9%
17	Alabama	3,061,743	2,832,961	228,782	8.1%
18	Minnesota	2,982,483	2,792,300	190,183	6.8%
19	Kentucky	2,944,806	2,845,627	99,179	3.5%
20	Florida	2,771,305	1,897,414	873,891	46.1%
21	Louisiana	2,683,516	2,363,516	320,000	13.5%
22	Iowa	2,621,073	2,538,268	82,805	3.3%
23	Washington	2,378,963	1,736,191	642,772	37.0%
24	Maryland	2,343,001	1,821,244	521,757	28.6%
25	Oklahoma	2,233,351	2,336,434	−103,083	−4.4%
26	Mississippi	2,178,914	2,183,796	−4,882	−0.2%
27	South Carolina	2,117,027	1,899,804	217,223	11.4%
28	Connecticut	2,007,280	1,709,242	298,038	17.4%
29	West Virginia	2,005,552	1,901,974	103,578	5.4%
30	Arkansas	1,909,511	1,949,387	−39,876	−2.0%
31	Kansas	1,905,299	1,801,028	104,271	5.8%
32	Oregon	1,521,341	1,089,684	431,657	39.6%
33	Nebraska	1,325,510	1,315,834	9,676	0.7%
34	Colorado	1,325,089	1,123,296	201,793	18.0%
35	Maine	913,774	847,226	66,548	7.9%
—	District of Columbia	802,178	663,091	139,087	21.0%
36	Rhode Island	791,896	713,346	78,550	11.0%
37	Arizona	749,587	499,261	250,326	50.1%
38	Utah	688,862	550,310	138,552	25.2%
39	New Mexico	681,187	531,818	149,369	28.1%
40	South Dakota	652,740	642,961	9,779	1.5%
41	North Dakota	619,636	641,935	−22,299	−3.5%
42	Montana	591,024	559,456	31,568	5.6%
43	Idaho	588,637	524,873	63,764	12.1%
44	New Hampshire	533,242	491,524	41,718	8.5%
—	Hawaii	499,794	422,770	77,024	18.2%
45	Vermont	377,747	359,231	18,516	5.2%
46	Delaware	318,085	266,505	51,580	19.4%
47	Wyoming	290,529	250,742	39,787	15.9%
48	Nevada	160,083	110,247	49,836	45.2%
—	Alaska	128,643	72,524	56,119	77.4%
—	United States	151,325,798	132,164,569	19,161,229	14.5%

City rankings

The 1950 United States census counted everyone living in the country. It showed that the population had grown to over 151 million people. This was a big increase from the census ten years earlier in 1940. This census was special because it was the first time that more than one state had over 10 million people. Every state had more than 100,000 people. Also, all of the 100 biggest cities in the United States had more than 100,000 people living in them.

Rank	City	State	Population	Region (2016)
01	New York	New York	7,891,957	Northeast
02	Chicago	Illinois	3,620,962	Midwest
03	Philadelphia	Pennsylvania	2,071,605	Northeast
04	Los Angeles	California	1,970,358	West
05	Detroit	Michigan	1,849,568	Midwest
06	Baltimore	Maryland	949,708	South
07	Cleveland	Ohio	914,808	Midwest
08	St. Louis	Missouri	856,796	Midwest
09	Washington	District of Columbia	802,178	South
10	Boston	Massachusetts	801,444	Northeast
11	San Francisco	California	775,357	West
12	Pittsburgh	Pennsylvania	676,806	Northeast
13	Milwaukee	Wisconsin	637,392	Midwest
14	Houston	Texas	596,163	South
15	Buffalo	New York	580,132	Northeast
16	New Orleans	Louisiana	570,445	South
17	Minneapolis	Minnesota	521,718	Midwest
18	Cincinnati	Ohio	503,998	Midwest
19	Seattle	Washington	467,591	West
20	Kansas City	Missouri	456,622	Midwest
21	Newark	New Jersey	438,776	Northeast
22	Dallas	Texas	434,462	South
23	Indianapolis	Indiana	427,173	Midwest
24	Denver	Colorado	415,786	West
25	San Antonio	Texas	408,442	South
26	Memphis	Tennessee	396,000	South
27	Oakland	California	384,575	West
28	Columbus	Ohio	375,901	Midwest
29	Portland	Oregon	373,628	West
30	Louisville	Kentucky	369,129	South
31	San Diego	California	334,387	West
32	Rochester	New York	332,488	Northeast
33	Atlanta	Georgia	331,314	South
34	Birmingham	Alabama	326,037	South
35	Saint Paul	Minnesota	311,349	Midwest
36	Toledo	Ohio	303,616	Midwest
37	Jersey City	New Jersey	299,017	Northeast
38	Fort Worth	Texas	278,778	South
39	Akron	Ohio	274,605	Midwest
40	Omaha	Nebraska	251,117	Midwest
41	Long Beach	California	250,767	West
42	Miami	Florida	249,276	South
43	Providence	Rhode Island	248,674	Northeast
44	Dayton	Ohio	243,872	Midwest
45	Oklahoma City	Oklahoma	243,504	South
46	Richmond	Virginia	230,310	South
47	Syracuse	New York	220,583	Northeast
48	Norfolk	Virginia	213,513	South
49	Jacksonville	Florida	204,517	South
50	Worcester	Massachusetts	203,486	Northeast
51	Tulsa	Oklahoma	182,740	South
52	Salt Lake City	Utah	182,121	West
53	Des Moines	Iowa	177,965	Midwest
54	Hartford	Connecticut	177,397	Northeast
55	Grand Rapids	Michigan	176,515	Midwest
56	Nashville	Tennessee	174,307	South
57	Youngstown	Ohio	168,330	Midwest
58	Wichita	Kansas	168,279	Midwest
59	New Haven	Connecticut	164,443	Northeast
60	Flint	Michigan	163,143	Midwest
61	Springfield	Massachusetts	162,399	Northeast
62	Spokane	Washington	161,721	West
63	Bridgeport	Connecticut	158,709	Northeast
64	Yonkers	New York	152,798	Northeast
65	Tacoma	Washington	143,673	West
66	Paterson	New Jersey	139,336	Northeast
67	Sacramento	California	137,572	West
68	Arlington	Virginia	135,449	South
69	Albany	New York	134,995	Northeast
70	Charlotte	North Carolina	134,042	South
71	Gary	Indiana	133,911	Midwest
72	Fort Wayne	Indiana	133,607	Midwest
73	Austin	Texas	132,459	South
74	Chattanooga	Tennessee	131,041	South
75	Erie	Pennsylvania	130,803	Northeast
76	El Paso	Texas	130,485	South
77	Kansas City	Kansas	129,553	Midwest
78	Mobile	Alabama	129,009	South
79	Evansville	Indiana	128,636	Midwest
80	Trenton	New Jersey	128,009	Northeast
81	Shreveport	Louisiana	127,206	South
82	Baton Rouge	Louisiana	125,629	South
83	Scranton	Pennsylvania	125,536	Northeast
84	Knoxville	Tennessee	124,769	South
85	Tampa	Florida	124,681	South
86	Camden	New Jersey	124,555	Northeast
87	Cambridge	Massachusetts	120,740	Northeast
88	Savannah	Georgia	119,638	South
89	Canton	Ohio	116,912	Midwest
90	South Bend	Indiana	115,911	Midwest
91	Berkeley	California	113,805	West
92	Elizabeth	New Jersey	112,817	Northeast
93	Fall River	Massachusetts	111,963	Northeast
94	Peoria	Illinois	111,856	Midwest
95	Wilmington	Delaware	110,356	South
96	Reading	Pennsylvania	109,320	Northeast
97	New Bedford	Massachusetts	109,189	Northeast
98	Corpus Christi	Texas	108,287	South
99	Phoenix	Arizona	106,818	West
100	Allentown	Pennsylvania	106,756	Northeast

Locations of 50 most populous cities

The 1950 United States census listed the 50 biggest cities in the country. Major cities like New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, and Los Angeles were among the largest. Other important cities were Detroit, Baltimore, Cleveland, and St. Louis. A map shows these cities and many others, showing the urban areas of the United States in 1950.

Country	United States
Total population	151,325,798
Most populous state	New York
Least populous state	Nevada