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Twelfth census of the United States
← 1890 June 1, 1900 1910 →
Seal of the Department of the Interior
Population schedule from the 1900 census
General information
Country	United States
Authority	Census Office
Results
Total population	76,212,168 ( 21.01%)
Most populous state	New York 7,268,894
Least populous state	Nevada 42,335

The 1900 United States census, conducted by the Census Office on June 1, 1900, determined the resident population of the United States to be 76,212,168, an increase of 21.01% from the 62,979,766 persons enumerated during the 1890 census. It was the last census to be conducted before the founding of the permanent United States Census Bureau.

The census saw the nation's largest city, New York City, more than double in size due to the consolidation with Brooklyn, becoming in the process the first U.S. city to record a population growth of over three million.

Oversight of the statistics was by Frederick Howard Wines and Walter F. Willcox.

Census questions

The 1900 census collected the following information:

• address
• name
• relationship to head of family
• sex
• race (listed as "Color or race" on the census)
• age, month and year born
• marital status and, if married, number of years married
• for women, number of children born and number now living
• place of birth of person, and their parents
• if foreign born, year of immigration and whether naturalized
• occupation
• months not employed
• school
• ability to speak English
• whether on a farm
• home owned or rented, and, if owned, whether mortgaged

Full documentation for the 1900 census, including census forms and enumerator instructions, is available from the Integrated Public Use Microdata Series.

Statistician Frederick Ludwig Hoffman criticized the conduct of the census.

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 1900 census are freely available through IPUMS. Aggregate data for small areas, together with electronic boundary files, can be downloaded from the National Historical Geographic Information System.

State rankings

Rank	State	Population as of 1900 census	Population as of 1890 census	Change	Percent change
1	New York	7,268,894	6,003,174	1,265,720	21.1%
2	Pennsylvania	6,302,115	5,258,113	1,044,002	19.9%
3	Illinois	4,821,550	3,826,352	995,198	26.0%
4	Ohio	4,157,545	3,672,329	485,216	13.2%
5	Missouri	3,106,665	2,679,185	427,480	16.0%
6	Texas	3,048,710	2,235,527	813,183	36.4%
7	Massachusetts	2,805,346	2,238,947	566,399	25.3%
8	Indiana	2,516,462	2,192,404	324,058	14.8%
9	Michigan	2,420,982	2,093,890	327,092	15.6%
10	Iowa	2,231,853	1,912,297	319,556	16.7%
11	Georgia	2,216,331	1,837,353	378,978	20.6%
12	Kentucky	2,147,174	1,858,635	288,539	15.5%
13	Wisconsin	2,069,042	1,693,330	375,712	22.2%
14	Tennessee	2,020,616	1,767,518	253,098	14.3%
15	North Carolina	1,893,810	1,617,949	275,861	17.0%
16	New Jersey	1,883,669	1,444,933	438,736	30.4%
17	Virginia	1,854,184	1,655,980	198,204	12.0%
18	Alabama	1,828,697	1,513,401	315,296	20.8%
19	Minnesota	1,751,394	1,310,283	441,111	33.7%
20	Mississippi	1,551,270	1,289,600	261,670	20.3%
21	California	1,485,053	1,213,398	271,655	22.4%
22	Kansas	1,470,495	1,428,108	42,387	3.0%
23	Louisiana	1,381,625	1,118,588	263,037	23.5%
24	South Carolina	1,340,316	1,151,149	189,167	16.4%
25	Arkansas	1,311,564	1,128,211	183,353	16.3%
26	Maryland	1,188,044	1,042,390	145,654	14.0%
27	Nebraska	1,066,300	1,062,656	3,644	0.3%
28	West Virginia	958,800	762,794	196,006	25.7%
29	Connecticut	908,420	746,258	162,162	21.7%
–	Oklahoma	790,391	258,657	531,734	205.6%
30	Maine	694,466	661,086	33,380	5.0%
31	Colorado	539,700	413,249	126,451	30.6%
32	Florida	528,542	391,422	137,120	35.0%
33	Washington	518,103	357,232	160,871	45.0%
34	Rhode Island	428,556	345,506	83,050	24.0%
35	Oregon	413,536	317,704	95,832	30.2%
36	New Hampshire	411,588	376,530	35,058	9.3%
37	South Dakota	401,570	348,600	52,970	15.2%
38	Vermont	343,641	332,422	11,219	3.4%
39	North Dakota	319,146	190,983	128,163	67.1%
–	District of Columbia	278,718	230,392	48,326	21.0%
40	Utah	276,749	210,779	65,970	31.3%
41	Montana	243,329	142,924	100,405	70.3%
–	New Mexico	195,310	160,282	35,028	21.9%
42	Delaware	184,735	168,493	16,242	9.6%
43	Idaho	161,772	88,548	73,224	82.7%
–	Hawaii	154,001	89,990	64,011	71.1%
–	Arizona	122,931	88,243	34,688	39.3%
44	Wyoming	92,531	62,555	29,976	47.9%
–	Alaska	63,592	32,052	31,540	98.4%
45	Nevada	42,335	47,355	-5,020	-10.6%
	United States	76,212,168	62,979,766	13,232,402	21.0%

City rankings

Locations of 50 most populous cities

References

1. "1900 Overview", History, US Census Bureau
2. Mitchell, Wesley C. (1900). "Preparations for the Twelfth Census". Journal of Political Economy. 8 (3): 378–384. doi:10.1086/250680. ISSN 0022-3808.
3. "Library Bibliography Bulletin 88, New York State Census Records, 1790–1925". New York State Library. October 1981. p. 45 (p. 51 of PDF). Archived from the original on January 30, 2009. Retrieved December 15, 2008.
4. Hoffman, Frederick L. (1902). "The Vital Statistics of the Census of 1900 [Part 1]". Publications of the American Statistical Association. 8 (60): 127–168. doi:10.2307/2276440. ISSN 1522-5437.
5. Hoffman, Frederick L. (1902). "The Vital Statistics of the Census of 1900 [Part 2]". Publications of the American Statistical Association. 8 (60): 168–202. doi:10.2307/2276441. ISSN 1522-5437.
6. Algonquin Area Public Library District. "Census Secrets" (PDF). Retrieved May 17, 2012.
7. States and territories census.gov
8. Including Indian Territory, which was yet to be combined with Oklahoma Territory to form the state of Oklahoma.
9. Population of the 100 Largest Cities and Other Urban Places in the United States: 1790 to 1990, U.S. Census Bureau, 1998
10. "Regions and Divisions". U.S. Census Bureau. Archived from the original on December 3, 2016. Retrieved September 9, 2016.

External links

• 1901 U.S. Census Report (contains 1900 census results)
• Historic US Census data
• https://web.archive.org/web/20200717185528/https://www.census.gov/population/www/censusdata/PopulationofStatesandCountiesoftheUnitedStates1790-1990.pdf

• 1900 in the United States
• United States census
• 1900 censuses