1940's Census Records

The 1940 U.S. Federal Census:

• Census Day was 1 April 1940.
• The sixteenth census included the states of Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming; the District of Columbia; and the territories of Alaska, American Samoa, the Canal Zone, Guam, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
• The questionnaire provided space to tally the following information:
  • Location
    - Street, avenue, road, etc
    - House number(in cities or towns)
  • Household data
    - Number of household in order of visitation
    Home owned (O) or rented (R)
    -- Value of home, if owned, or monthly rental, if rented
    - does this household live on a farm (yes or no)
  • Name of each person whose usual place of residence on April 1, 1940, was in this household
  • Relationship of this person to the head of the household, as wife, daughter, father, mother-in-law, grandson, lodger, lodger's wife, servant, hired hand, etc.
  • Personal description
    - sex male (M), female (F)
    - color or race
    - age at last birthday
    - marital status single (S), married (M), widowed (W), divorced (D)
  • Education
    - attended school or college any time since March 1. 1940 (yes or no)
    - highest grade of school completed
  • Place of birth
  • Citizenship of the foreign born
  • What place did this person live on April 1, 1935
    City, town, or village having 2,500 or more inhabitants. Enter "R" for all other places
    - county
    - state (or territory or foreign country)
• Supplemental questions asked to persons on lines 14 and 29
  • Name
  • Place of birth of father and mother
    - father
    - mother
  • Language spoken in home in earliest childhood
  • Veteran; is this person a veteran of the United States military forces; or wife, widow, or under 18-year-old child of a veteran
    - if so, enter "yes"
    -if child, is veteran father dead? (yes or no)
    - war or military service
  • Social Security
    - Does this person have a Federal Social Security Number? (Yes or No)
    - Were deductions for Federal Old-Age Insurance or Railroad Retirement made from this person’s wages or salary in 1939? (Yes or No)
    - If so, were deductions made from (1) all, (2) one-half or more, (3) part, but less than half, of wages or salary?
  • What is this person's usual occupation
  • What is this person's usual industry
  • What class of worker is this person
  • Has this woman been married more than once? (Yes or No)
  • Age at first marriage
  • Number of children ever born (Do not include stillbirths)
• There are no substantial losses.

Other 1940's Census Records:

Other census records for the 1940 decade will be added as they are discovered.