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Decennial Population and Housing Censuses Guide

1930 Census Reports


NCSU Libraries Guide to Census Data Resources - Provides links to online and other electronic data sources.
US Census Bureau 1930 Documents as PDFs

Questionnaire, instructions, and table headers
* Questionnaire description and Instructions to Enumerators - from Measuring America (Sept. 2002)
* Form of Schedule for Enumeration of Population - from 1930 Population Census, vol. 2, pt. 8 (C3.37/5:P81/v.2)
* Instructions to Enumerators - from 1930 Population Census, vol. 2, pt. 8 (C3.37/5:P81/v.2)

Fifteenth Census of the United States: 1930, Population, 6 vols. in 7
U.S. Documents C3.37/5:P81/v.1-6
* GEOGRAPHIES:   Nation, Divisions, States, Territories, Counties, Townships or other Minor Civil Divisions; Urban/Rural; Cities and other Incorporated Places
* CONTENTS:   Vol. 1, Number and Distribution of Inhabitants, has 16 tables in the U.S. summary section.
* Most of vol. 1 contains data by state in 6 tables:
  -   Population, 1790-1930, for state
  -   Population, 1790-1930, for principal cities
  -   Area and Population, 1890-1930, for counties
  -   Population, 1910-1930, for minor civil divisions of counties
  -   Population, 1920-1930, for incorporated places
  -   Population, 1930, for wards of cities 5,000+

Vol. 2, General Report - Statistics by Subject, contains 14 chapters on:
  -   Urban and Rural Population, Metropolitan Districes, and Center of Population
  -   Color or Race, Nativity, and Parentage
  -   Sex Distribution
  -   State of Birth of the Native Population
  -   Country of Birth of the Foreign Born
  -   Country of Origin of the Foreign Born
  -   Mother Tongue of the Foreign-born White Population
  -   Citizenship of the Foreign Born
  -   Year of Immigration of the Foreign Born
  -   Age Distribution
  -   Marital Condition
  -   School Attendance
  -   Illiteracy
  -   Inability to Speak English

Vol. 3, Reports by States, Showing the Composition and Characteristics of the Population for Counties, Cities, and Townships or Other Minor Civil Divisions. 2 vols.
* Contains 31 summary and detailed United States tables
* 25 tables with State data
* 13 tables with data for Cities 100,000+
* 23 tables for each State, including data on:
  -   Population, 1890-1930, urban/rural
  -   Population, 1910-1930, by color, nativity, and sex
  -   Population, 1920-1930, for military age males
  -   School attendance, 1920-1930
  -   Illiteracy, 1920-1930
  -   Marital condition, 1920-1930
  -   Foreign white stock, 1920-1930
  -   Persons 10+ gainfully occupied, 1930
  -   Population, 1930, for counties and cities 10,000+ by age, color, nativity, and sex
  -   Composition of population, 1930, for counties, farm/non- farm, cities 10,000+ and incorporated places 2500-10,000
  -   Population, 1910-1930, of Indians, Chinese, and Japanese; and Mexicans, 1930
  -   Population, 1930, by sex, color, age, etc., for minor civil divisions, incorporated places, 1000-2,500, and cities, 50,000+, by wards

Vol. 4, Occupations, by States
* contains 57 United States summary tables on:
  -   Sex and Occupation of Gainful Workers
  -   Color and Nativity of Gainful Workers
  -   Age of Gainful Workers
  -   Marital Condition of Gainfully Occupied Women
  -   Children in Gainful Occupation
  -   Statistics for Cities of 25,000 to 100,000
* 25 tables for individual states on the same six topics.

Vol. 5, General Report on Occupations, contains 7 chapters on:
  -   Enumeration and Classification of Occupations
  -   Sex and Occupation of Gainful Workers
  -   Color and Nativity of Gainful Workers
  -   Age of Gainful Workers
  -   Marital Condition of Gainfully Occupied Women
  -   Children in Gainful Occupation
  -   Gainful Workers by Industry and Occupation

Vol. 6, Families: Reports by States, giving statistics for Families, Dwellings and Homes, by Counties, for Urban and Rural Areas, and for Urban Places of 2,500 or More
* Contains summary and detailed tables for the United States, Divisions and States, and Principal Cities
* Has, for each State, 24 tables including:
  -   Families by color and nativity of head
  -   Tenure of farm and nonfarm homes
  -   Families by tenure, by size, and median size
  -   Nonfarm homes by value, and median value
  -   Families classified by number of children, by gainful workers, and by lodgers
  -   Quasi-family groups by type
  -   Families having radio sets
  -   Classification of families
          -   by county
          -   cities 10,000 to 100,000
          -   incorporated places 2,500 to 10,000
          -   wards of cities 100,000+

Fifteenth Census of the United States: 1930, Outlying Territories and Possessions
U.S. Documents C3.37/5:T27
* Reports data for Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and Panama Canal
* Contents, in 43 tables per territory:
  -   Number and Distribution of Inhabitants
  -   Composition and Characteristics of the Population
  -   Occupations
  -   Unemployment
  -   Agriculture

Fifteenth Census of the United States: 1930, Unemployment, in 2 vols.
U.S. Documents C3.37/5:Un2/v.1-2
* Vol. 1 has 45 United States summary tables, and 13 tables per state
  -   Reports Unemployed persons in up to 7 classes
* Vol. 2, General Report, contains 5 chapters:
  -   Unemployment by occupation
  -   Unemployment by period of idleness
  -   Unemployment by marital condition
  -   Part-time employment
  -   Special census of unemployment, Jan. 1931

Abstract of the Fifteenth Census of the United States
U.S. Documents C3.37/7:1930
* Summarizes data on:
  -   Population
  -   Occupations
  -   Families
  -   Unemployment
  -   Agriculture
  -   Irrigation and Drainage
  -   Manufactures
  -   Mines & Quarries
  -   Retail Distribution
  -   Wholesale Distribution
  -   Construction
  -   Hotels
  -   Outlying Territories and Possessions

From the 1870 Census forward, the number of published volumes grew each decade.   A comprehensive list of all these volumes is beyond the scope of this guide that focuses on the volumes addressing population and housing topics.

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