1950 Census

The 1950 Census is here — Friday, April 1, 2022 marked the release of 1950 Census Schedules.

The 1950 Census of the United States has been released for public inspection as of Friday, April 1, 2022. Canvassed by enumerators over the period of several weeks, the fixed 1950 census date of April 1st was used, seeking a snapshot of the population, housing, farms, and other data deemed to be important by legislators at that time. This important data collection effort was the seventeenth enumeration of the population, and also included other schedules which contain valuable details about our ancestors.

Upon tabulation, we learned that the U.S. population grew over 14% to approximately 150.7 million living in 48 states and territories. This growth, as a percentage, represented a nearly two-fold increase compared with the modest 7% growth when comparing the 1940 and 1930 figures. Similar to how the Great Depression and Dust Bowl migration of the 1930s impacted the population counts for 1940, there were many things occurring in the country and the world which would ultimately impact the counts for the 1950 census.

Lead Up to the 1950 Census
While often overlooked by most family historians, it is important to understand what was taking place throughout the decade leading up to a census year to provide clues regarding what may have motivated your ancestors to move about from one place to another. For the 1950 census, this could and likely did include those seeking employment and economic opportunity for growing families, support for the war effort, post-war expansion, the very early beginnings of the baby-boomer era, and a host of other social and economic trends. Jumping ahead to look at all the things which came after the 1950 census was conducted will be useful for your 1960s research, but will diminish your understanding of the period you are actually researching and your ancestors overall circumstances at that precise time in American history.

More details will be posted in the coming weeks and months, so you will be able to enhance your understanding as you prepare for your own inspection of the 1950 census population schedules with details for your family.

We are preparing for the launch of this exciting collection of historic records, knowing the U.S. Federal 1950 Census will provide breakthroughs for millions of researchers. Stay tuned as we will be updating this site frequently in the coming weeks.

Four U.S. Presidents to debut in the 1950 Census
Will your name and details appear in the 1950 census when released?
If your date of birth precedes April 1, 1950, then you'll be in good company come April 2022 as four United States Presidents will, for the first time, appear in 1950 population schedules released by the National Archives and Records Administration. Former Presidents William J. Clinton (born 19 August 1946 at Hope, Hempstead County, Arkansas), George W. Bush (born 6 July 1946 at New Haven, New Haven County, Connecticut), Donald J. Trump (born 14 June 1946 at Queens, Queens County, New York), and current President of the United States Joseph R. Biden, Jr. (born 20 November 1942 at Scranton, Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania).

Since all will appear as young boys, one can easily conduct a search of existing 1940 census records for the parents (or soon to be parents) if you'd like to learn more about this fun aspect of census research. Enjoy more on presidents in census records at our companion website.