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Nineteenth census of the United States
← 1960 April 1, 1970 1980 →
U.S. Census Bureau seal
1970 U.S. census logo
General information
Country	United States
Results
Total population	203,392,031 ( 13.4%)
Most populous state	California 19,953,134
Least populous state	Alaska 302,173

The 1970 United States census, conducted by the Census Bureau, determined the resident population of the United States to be 203,392,031, an increase of 13.4 percent over the 179,323,175 persons enumerated during the 1960 census.

This was the first census since 1820 in which New York was not the most populous state—California overtook it in population in January 1963. This was also the first census in which all states recorded a population of over 300,000, and the first in which a city in the geographic South—Houston—recorded a population of over 1 million.

Data availability

Microdata from the 1970 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. These data were originally created and disseminated by DUALabs. Personally identifiable information will be available in 2042.

State rankings

Rank	State	Population as of 1970 census	Population as of 1960 census	Change	Percent change
1	California	19,953,134	15,717,204	4,235,930	27.0%
2	New York	18,236,967	16,782,304	1,454,663	8.7%
3	Pennsylvania	11,793,909	11,319,366	474,543	4.2%
4	Texas	11,196,730	9,579,677	1,617,053	16.9%
5	Illinois	11,113,976	10,081,158	1,032,818	10.2%
6	Ohio	10,652,017	9,706,397	945,620	9.7%
7	Michigan	8,875,083	7,823,194	1,051,889	13.4%
8	New Jersey	7,168,164	6,066,782	1,101,382	18.2%
9	Florida	6,789,443	4,951,560	1,837,883	37.1%
10	Massachusetts	5,689,170	5,148,578	540,592	10.5%
11	Indiana	5,193,669	4,662,498	531,171	11.4%
12	North Carolina	5,082,059	4,556,155	525,904	11.5%
13	Missouri	4,676,501	4,319,813	356,688	8.3%
14	Virginia	4,648,494	3,966,949	681,545	17.2%
15	Georgia	4,589,575	3,943,116	646,459	16.4%
16	Wisconsin	4,417,731	3,951,777	465,954	11.8%
17	Tennessee	3,923,687	3,567,089	356,598	10.0%
18	Maryland	3,922,399	3,100,689	821,710	26.5%
19	Minnesota	3,804,971	3,413,864	391,107	11.5%
20	Louisiana	3,641,306	3,257,022	384,284	11.8%
21	Alabama	3,444,165	3,266,740	177,425	5.4%
22	Washington	3,409,169	2,853,214	555,955	19.5%
23	Kentucky	3,218,706	3,038,156	180,550	5.9%
24	Connecticut	3,031,709	2,535,234	496,475	19.6%
25	Iowa	2,824,376	2,757,537	66,839	2.4%
26	South Carolina	2,590,516	2,382,594	207,922	8.7%
27	Oklahoma	2,559,229	2,328,284	230,945	9.9%
28	Kansas	2,246,578	2,178,611	67,967	3.1%
29	Mississippi	2,216,912	2,178,141	38,771	1.8%
30	Colorado	2,207,259	1,753,947	453,312	25.8%
31	Oregon	2,091,533	1,768,687	322,846	18.3%
32	Arkansas	1,923,295	1,786,272	137,023	7.7%
33	Arizona	1,745,944	1,302,161	443,783	34.1%
34	West Virginia	1,744,237	1,860,421	-116,184	-6.2%
35	Nebraska	1,483,493	1,411,330	72,163	5.1%
36	Utah	1,059,273	890,627	168,646	18.9%
37	New Mexico	1,017,055	951,023	66,032	6.9%
38	Maine	992,048	969,265	22,783	2.4%
39	Rhode Island	946,725	859,488	87,237	10.1%
40	Hawaii	769,913	632,772	137,141	21.7%
–	District of Columbia	756,510	763,956	-7,446	-1.0%
41	New Hampshire	737,681	606,921	130,760	21.5%
42	Idaho	712,567	667,191	45,376	6.8%
43	Montana	694,409	674,767	19,642	2.9%
44	South Dakota	665,507	680,514	-15,007	-2.2%
45	North Dakota	617,761	632,446	-14,685	-2.3%
46	Delaware	548,104	446,292	101,812	22.8%
47	Nevada	488,738	285,278	203,460	71.3%
48	Vermont	444,330	389,881	54,449	14.0%
49	Wyoming	332,416	330,066	2,350	0.7%
50	Alaska	300,382	226,167	74,215	32.8%

City rankings

Locations of 50 most populous cities

Conclusions

California took over as the most populous state; New York had previously been ranked number one. While the entire country increased to more than 204 million persons, four states lost population, with West Virginia leading the list, down roughly 7 percent from 1960.

Notes

1. "The "72-Year Rule" – History". U.S. Census Bureau. Archived from the original on October 4, 2015. Retrieved October 26, 2013.
2. Gibson, Campbell (June 1998), Population of the 100 Largest Cities and Other Urban Places in the United States: 1790 to 1990, U.S. Census Bureau, archived from the original on September 2, 2017
3. "Regions and Divisions". U.S. Census Bureau. Archived from the original on December 3, 2016. Retrieved September 9, 2014.
4. http://www.upi.com/Audio/Year_in_Review/Events-of-1970/Apollo-13/12303235577467-2/#title "1970 Year in Review, UPI.com". Accessed April 8, 2009. Archived May 4, 2009.

External links

• Historic US Census data
• 1971 U.S Census Report, with estimated 1970 Census results
• 1970 Census of Population

• 1970 in the United States
• United States census
• 1970 censuses