1920 United States census

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.

The 1920 Census was determined for 1 January 1920. The actual date of the enumeration appears on the heading of each page of the census schedule, but all responses were to reflect the individual's status as of 1 January, even if the status had changed between 1 January and the day of enumeration.

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.'"

Census questions The 1920 census collected the following information:

Age Marital status 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 State Population as of1920 census Population as of1910 census Change Percentchange 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 3,426,865 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 TerritoriesYear of conquest or purchaseTerritoryPopulation1867 Alaska 64,3561898 Hawaii 255,8811898 Puerto Rico 1,299,8091898 Guam 13,2751898 Philippine Islands 10,314,3101899 American Samoa 1903 Panama Canal Zone 1915 Haiti 1916 Santo Domingo 894,6521916 US Virgin Islands

City rankings Rank City State Population Region (2016) 01 New York New York 5,620,048 Northeast 02 Chicago Illinois 2,701,705 Midwest 03 Philadelphia Pennsylvania 1,823,779 Northeast 04 Detroit Michigan 993,078 Midwest 05 Cleveland Ohio 796,841 Midwest 06 St. Louis Missouri 772,897 Midwest 07 Boston Massachusetts 748,060 Northeast 08 Baltimore Maryland 733,826 South 09 Pittsburgh Pennsylvania 588,343 Northeast 10 Los Angeles California 576,673 West 11 Buffalo New York 506,775 Northeast 12 San Francisco California 506,676 West 13 Milwaukee Wisconsin 457,147 Midwest 14 Washington District of Columbia 437,571 South 15 Newark New Jersey 414,524 Northeast 16 Cincinnati Ohio 401,247 Midwest 17 New Orleans Louisiana 387,219 South 18 Minneapolis Minnesota 380,582 Midwest 19 Kansas City Missouri 324,410 Midwest 20 Seattle Washington 315,312 West 21 Indianapolis Indiana 314,194 Midwest 22 Jersey City New Jersey 298,103 Northeast 23 Rochester New York 295,750 Northeast 24 Portland Oregon 258,288 West 25 Denver Colorado 256,491 West 26 Toledo Ohio 243,164 Midwest 27 Providence Rhode Island 237,595 Northeast 28 Columbus Ohio 237,031 Midwest 29 Louisville Kentucky 234,891 South 30 Saint Paul Minnesota 234,698 Midwest 31 Oakland California 216,261 West 32 Akron Ohio 208,435 Midwest 33 Atlanta Georgia 200,616 South 34 Omaha Nebraska 191,601 Midwest 35 Worcester Massachusetts 179,754 Northeast 36 Birmingham Alabama 178,806 South 37 Syracuse New York 171,717 Northeast 38 Richmond Virginia 171,667 South 39 New Haven Connecticut 162,537 Northeast 40 Memphis Tennessee 162,351 South 41 San Antonio Texas 161,379 South 42 Dallas Texas 158,976 South 43 Dayton Ohio 152,559 Midwest 44 Bridgeport Connecticut 143,555 Northeast 45 Houston Texas 138,276 South 46 Hartford Connecticut 138,036 Northeast 47 Scranton Pennsylvania 137,783 Northeast 48 Grand Rapids Michigan 137,634 Midwest 49 Paterson New Jersey 135,875 Northeast 50 Youngstown Ohio 132,358 Midwest 51 Springfield Massachusetts 129,614 Northeast 52 Des Moines Iowa 126,468 Midwest 53 New Bedford Massachusetts 121,217 Northeast 54 Fall River Massachusetts 120,485 Northeast 55 Trenton New Jersey 119,289 Northeast 56 Nashville Tennessee 118,342 South 57 Salt Lake City Utah 118,110 West 58 Camden New Jersey 116,309 Northeast 59 Norfolk Virginia 115,777 South 60 Albany New York 113,344 Northeast 61 Lowell Massachusetts 112,759 Northeast 62 Wilmington Delaware 110,168 South 63 Cambridge Massachusetts 109,694 Northeast 64 Reading Pennsylvania 107,784 Northeast 65 Fort Worth Texas 106,482 South 66 Spokane Washington 104,437 West 67 Kansas City Kansas 101,177 Midwest 68 Yonkers New York 100,176 Northeast 69 Lynn Massachusetts 99,148 Northeast 70 Duluth Minnesota 98,917 Midwest 71 Tacoma Washington 96,965 West 72 Elizabeth New Jersey 95,783 Northeast 73 Lawrence Massachusetts 94,270 Northeast 74 Utica New York 94,156 Northeast 75 Erie Pennsylvania 93,372 Northeast 76 Somerville Massachusetts 93,091 Northeast 77 Waterbury Connecticut 91,715 Northeast 78 Flint Michigan 91,599 Midwest 79 Jacksonville Florida 91,558 South 80 Oklahoma City Oklahoma 91,295 South 81 Schenectady New York 88,723 Northeast 82 Canton Ohio 87,091 Midwest 83 Fort Wayne Indiana 86,549 Midwest 84 Evansville Indiana 85,264 Midwest 85 Savannah Georgia 83,252 South 86 Manchester New Hampshire 78,384 Northeast 87 St. Joseph Missouri 77,939 Midwest 88 Knoxville Tennessee 77,818 South 89 El Paso Texas 77,560 South 90 Bayonne New Jersey 76,754 Northeast 91 Peoria Illinois 76,121 Midwest 92 Harrisburg Pennsylvania 75,917 Northeast 93 San Diego California 74,683 West 94 Wilkes-Barre Pennsylvania 73,833 Northeast 95 Allentown Pennsylvania 73,502 Northeast 96 Wichita Kansas 72,217 Midwest 97 Tulsa Oklahoma 72,075 South 98 Troy New York 71,996 Northeast 99 Sioux City Iowa 71,227 Midwest 100 South Bend Indiana 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. 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.

Notes

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