1920 United States census facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Fourteenth census of the United States
U.S. Census Bureau seal
General information
Country	United States
Date taken	January 5, 1920
Total population	106,021,537
Percent change	15.0%
Most populous state	New York 10,385,227
Least populous state	Nevada 77,407

The 1920 United States census was like a big count of all the people living in the United States. The Census Bureau did this count over one month, starting on January 5, 1920. They found that 106,021,537 people lived in the U.S. This was a 15% increase from the 92,228,496 people counted in the 1910 census.

The Constitution says that the number of seats each state gets in the House of Representatives should be updated every ten years based on the census. However, after the 1920 census, members of Congress couldn't agree on how to change the seats. So, the way seats were divided from the 1910 census stayed the same until 1933. In 1929, a law called the Reapportionment Act of 1929 was passed. This law set a permanent way to divide the seats and fixed the total number of Representatives at 435.

This census was special for a few reasons. It was the first time the U.S. population was more than 100 million people. Also, it was the first time a single state, New York, had more than ten million people living in it.

The 1920 census also showed a big change: more people were moving from farms and small towns to cities. The Census Bureau said that a place was "urban" (a city or town) if it had at least 2,500 people. For the first time ever, more than half of all Americans were living in "urban" areas.

What the Census Asked

The 1920 census collected different kinds of information about people. This helps the government understand the population better. Here are some of the questions they asked:

You can find all the original forms and instructions for the 1920 census from the Integrated Public Use Microdata Series.

State Populations

This table shows how many people lived in each U.S. state in 1920, compared to 1910. You can see how much each state's population changed.

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

U.S. Territories

The census also counted people in areas that were U.S. territories, not states. Here's a look at some of them:

Finding Old Census Records

The original papers from the 1920 census were copied onto special film (microfilm) in the 1940s. After that, the original papers were destroyed. You can find these microfilmed census records at the National Archives and Records Administration. Many websites also have digital copies of these records and ways to search them.

You can also find detailed information from the 1920 census for research through the Integrated Public Use Microdata Series. If you're looking for information about specific small areas, you can download it from the National Historical Geographic Information System.

See also

In Spanish: Censo de los Estados Unidos de 1920 para niños