1940 United States census

Main contributor: Miles Meyer

The 1940 U.S. Census was released for public access in 2012. This census included information about 132,164,569 residents of the United States, including the armed forces serving overseas, born on or before April 1, 1940.

This census is very data-rich. It includes information on names, ages, locations, households, relations, gender, race, education, places of birth, and other facts unique to the 1940 U.S. Census including residence in 1935, detailed income and occupation, and supplemental questions for 2 people on each page. The supplemental questions include additional information on birth place of parents, veteran status, and marital status of women (previous marriages, age at first marriage, number of children born). This census will have information on many of our living or recently deceased relatives.

Header Information

Location of residence	Other information
1. Town	A. Enumerator
2. Township	B. Date Enumerated
3. County	C. Sheet Number
4. State
5. Wards & Blocks
6. Unincorporated Place
7. Institution
8. Supervisor's District
9. Enumeration DIstrict

The Header Information provides the basic information to find the location of your ancestor. This gives you the town, township, county, and state as well as the enumeration district. You can find detailed enumeration district maps at the Steve Morse website. The Institution line (line 7) may indicate a variety of locations including jails, hospitals, asylums, convents, etc.

Column Information

The columns of the 1940 U.S. Census provide detailed information about the residents of the United States.

Location

Columns 1 and 2 provide details of the location. This includes the street name (column 1) as well as the house number (column 2). This information can be used to identify specific houses where your family lived which can be mapped on sites such as Google Maps. You can also look up these residences on real estate sites to get current information about them. Occasionally, a street address may not be included. This usually occurs in rural areas or small communities.

Household Data

Columns 3-6 provide household data. This includes the number of the household in order of visitation (column 3), whether the home is owned (O) or rented (R) (column 4), the value of the home or monthly rental (column 5), and whether or not it is a farm (column 6). One thing to keep in mind when looking at the value of the home in column 5 is that this only considers the value of the home occupied by the owner. That means that if part of the home is rented out, that portion of the value is not included. For example, a duplex occupied by the owner with the second half rented out would only be valued at half the value of the home.

Name

Column 7 provides the name of each person whose usual place of residence on April 1, 1940 was that household. This also includes people who are temporarily absent who would be marked with “Ab” after their name. Children under the age of 1 year old may be listed as “Infant” if they haven’t yet been given a name. This section also indicates who answered the questions with a circled X after their name.

Relation

Column 8 provides the relationship information. This includes information such as the head of household, wife, son, daughter, father, mother, father-in-law, mother-in-law, niece, nephew, etc. It can also provide information on nonrelatives in the household such as lodgers, servants, hired hands, etc. There are also about 185,000 instances where a person is listed as Partner in the 1940 census. The use of Partner to indicate a relationship in this census is defined as “If two or more persons who are not related by blood or marriage share a common dwelling unit as partners, write head for one and partner for the other or others.” There is a Code column which provides relationship information (column A). The codes are as follows:

Code	Relationship	Code	Relationship
0	Head	6	Lodger
1	Wife (of Head)	7	Servant
2	Child (son/daughter)	8	Servant’s wife, son, daughter
3	Parent	9	Any other person (hotel/institution)
4	Grandchild	Y	Head of hotel/institution
5	Other relative	X	Hired hand

Personal Description

Columns 9-12 include personal information. There are four columns: Sex (column 9), Color or Race (column 10), Age at Last Birthday (column 11), and Marital Status (column 12).

The Sex column will indicate (M)ale or (F)emale.

The Color/Race column (column 10) uses the following descriptions:

W	White
Neg	Negro
In	Indian/Native American
Chi	Chinese
Jp	Japanese
Fil	Filipino
Hin	Hindu
Kor	Korean

Mexicans were considered White unless they were of Indian or other nonwhite race. All other races would be spelled out in full.

The Age at Last Birthday (column 11) only includes persons born before April 1, 1940. Children born on or after April 1, 1939 are indicated by fractions. For example, a child born in June 1939 would be listed as 9/12 while one born in February 1940 would be listed as 1/12.

The Marital Status column (column 12) will usually be designated as Married (M), Single (S), Widowed (Wd), or Divorced (D). Occasionally there is a status of M7 recorded. M7 means that the person is married but not living with his or her spouse

Education

Columns 13 and 14 include education information. Column 13 indicates whether the person attended school or college at any time since March 1, 1940. This is a Yes/No response. Column 14 asks about the highest grade of school completed. The following codes were used for education:

No Schooling	0
Elementary School, grades 1-8	1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
High School, years 1-4	H1, H2, H3, H4
College, 1st - 4th year	C1, C2, C3, C4
College, 5th year or more	C5

The average education level in the United States in 1940 was a little over 8th grade with urban populations having slightly higher education than rural populations.

Column B includes a code for education which is different from the code used in column 14. The code for column B is:

No Schooling	Field is left blank
Elementary School, grades 1-8	1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
High School, years 1-4	9, 10, 20, 30
College, 1st - 4th year	40, 50, 60, 70
College, 5th year or more	80
Unknown and >6 years old	90

Place of Birth

Column 15 indicates the place of birth for the individual. If the person was born in the United States, this column will indicate which state, territory or possession they were born in. Those born in Washington, D.C. may be listed as D.C. If they were foreign born, this column will indicate the country as it was known on January 1, 1937. It will also distinguish between Canada-French and Canada-English as well as Irish Free State and Northern Ireland. In some cases you may be able to find individuals listed as born “At sea”.

Column C of the Place of Birth section includes a code that indicates place of birth. These codes should match the location listed in Column 15. The codes are as follows:

Code	Country	Code	Country	Code	Country
00	England	33	Japan	71	Delaware
01	Scotland	3Y	India	72	Maryland
02	Wales	3X	Other Asia	73	District of Columbia
03	Northern Ireland	34	Canada-French	74	Virginia
04	Irish Free State	35	Canada-English	75	West Virginia
05	Norway	36	Newfoundland	76	North Carolina
06	Sweden	37	Mexico	77	South Carolina
07	Denmark	38	Cuba	78	Georgia
08	Netherlands	39	Other West Indies	79	Florida
09	Belgium	Y0	Central America	80	Kentucky
0X	Luxemburg	Y1	South America	81	Tennessee
0Y	Iceland	Y2	Africa	82	Alabama
10	Switzerland	Y3	Australia	83	Mississippi
11	France	Y4	Azores	84	Arkansas
12	Germany	Y5	Other Atlantic Islands	85	Louisiana
13	Poland	Y6	Pacific Islands	86	Oklahoma
14	Checkoslovakia	Y8	Unknown Foreign Born	87	Texas
15	Austria	Y9	Foreign citizen born at sea	88	Montana
16	Hungary	50	Maine	89	Idaho
17	Yugoslavia	51	New Hampshire	90	Wyoming
18	Russia (USSR)	52	Vermont	91	Colorado
19	Lithuania	53	Massachusetts	92	New Mexico
1X	Latvia	54	Rhode Island	93	Arizona
1Y	Danzig	55	Connecticut	94	Utah
20	Estonia	56	New York	95	Nevada
21	Finland	57	New Jersey	96	Washington
22	Rumania	58	Pennsylvania	97	Oregon
23	Bulgaria	59	Ohio	98	California
24	Greece	60	Indiana	99	US born, state unknown
25	Albania	61	Illinois	X0	American citizen orn abroad
26	Italy	62	Michigan	X1	Alaska
27	Spain	63	Wisconsin	X2	Hawaii
28	Portugal	64	Minnesota	X3	Puerto Rico
29	Palestine	65	Iowa	X4	Philippine Islands
2X	Other Europe	66	Missouri	X5	Virgin Islands
2Y	Turkey (Europe)	67	North Dakota	X6	Panama Canal Zone
30	Syria	68	South Dakota	X7	Guam
31	Turkey (Asia)	69	Nebraska	X8	American Samoa
32	China	70	Kansas	X9	American citizen born at sea

Citizenship

Column 16 provides information on citizenship of foreign born individuals. There are four classes of citizenship included in this column.

Na	Naturalized	Person has become an American citizen
Pa	First Papers	Person has declared intention to become an American citizen and has taken out first papers
Al	Alien	Person has not become a citizen or taken out first papers
Am Cit	American Citizen born abroad	Person is an American citizen but was foreign born or born at sea

Prior to September 22, 1922, a foreign-born woman became a naturalized American citizen when her husband was naturalized, or if she married an American citizen. After that date, she was required to file her own papers for naturalization if she wasn’t an American citizen.

Residence, April 1, 1935

Columns 17-20 provide information on the place a person lived on April 1, 1935. Column 17 is the city, town or village (2,600 or more inhabitants). If there were less than 2,600 inhabitants the location was marked as “R” for rural. Column 18 is the county where the person lived and column 19 is the state, territory, or foreign country. If the person lived in the same house in 1935 as they did in 1940 it will state “Same house” in column 17. A person living in the same city or town is marked as “Same place”. Column 20 indicates if the person lived on a farm in 1935.

In addition to these four columns there is a statistical code in column D. This column provides additional information which indicates the population of the location they lived in 1935. The codes used are:

Blank	Same house
--	Child under age 5
X0X0	Same place
X0V1	Same county, rural, non-farm
X0V2	Same county, rural, farm
X0V3	Same county, rural, farm residence unknown
X0V4	Same county, urban, population 2,500-10,000
X0V5	Same county, urban, population 10,000-25,000
X0V6	Same county, urban, population 25,000-100,000
X0V7	Same county, urban, population >100,000
X0V8	Same county, foreign country or outlying possession
X0V9	Same county, no additional information
XX09	Unknown

Persons 14 Years Old and Over - Employment Status

Columns 21-33 provide employment information for everyone 14 years and older as of the week of March 24-30, 1940. Columns 21 to 25 were designed to classify people into two large groups: 1) workers in the labor force, and 2) persons not in the labor force. The labor force is further subdivided into those who 1) were employed in private work or nonemergency government work, 2) were assigned to public emergency project work such as WPA, NYA, CCC, and local relief work, 3) were seeking work, and 4) had jobs but they were temporarily absent during March 24-30. These were important questions for the time since the country had just gone through the Great Depression.

Column 21 asks if the person was at work for pay or profit in private or nonemergency government work (Yes or No). The response to this question may also be “Inst” which indicates that the person was an inmate of an institution.

If the answer to column 21 was “No”, Column 22 asks if the person was assigned to public emergency work such as WPA, NYA, CCC, etc.. This is another Yes or No question.

If the answer to column 21 and 22 were both “No”, then they were asked if they were seeking work (column 23), and if they were not seeking work did they have a job or business (column 24)

If the answers to columns 21-24 were “No” then they were asked if they were engaged in housework (H), school (S), were unable to work (U), or other (O or Ot) in column 25. Those that were unable to work were usually due to chronic illness, permanent disability, or old age. “Other” was generally used to indicate those who were retired or chose not to work.

Column E of this section includes codes for employment which include:

1	At work for pay or profit in private or non-emergency government work
2	At work or assigned to work on public emergency project
3	Seeking work
4	Had a job, business, etc.
5	Engaged in home housework
6	In school
7	Unable to work
8	Other reason person was not working
9	Institutional inmate

If the answer to column 21 was “Yes” they were asked the question from column 26. That question asked for the number of hours worked during the week of March 24-30, 1940. This question has an interesting origin. While the US was in the midst of the Great Depression, the government sought to decrease unemployment by reducing the number of hours in a work week which resulted in more people being hired. The 40-hour work week was enshrined into practice in 1940.

If they were seeking work or assigned to public emergency work and answered “Yes” to columns 22 or 23 then they were asked the question in column 27 about the duration of their unemployment in weeks up to March 30, 1940.

Columns 28-30 address the occupation, industry and class of worker. A person who was previously employed but was unemployed at the time of the census would have entered his last occupation and industry. For a person who had multiple jobs, they would list the job where they spent the most time. If they did not have previous work experience they would enter “New worker” in column 28.

Column 30, the class of worker, is coded as one of the following:

PW	Wage or salaried worker in private work
GW	Wage or salaried worker in government work
E	Employer
OA	Person who works on their own account
NP	Unpaid family worker other than housework or incidental chores

Column F contains codes for the occupation, industry, and class of worker. More details about this code can be found in the Bureau of the Census Occupation and Industry Classifications and Instructions for Using the Occupation Index. Steve Morse has provided an easy way to decipher occupation codes on his website.

Column 31 asks about the number of weeks worked in 1939. This calculation assumes a 40 hour work week. So, if a person worked part time (20 hours per week) for 52 weeks, he would enter 26 weeks in this column.

Columns 32 and 33 are about income earned in 1939. Column 32 reports the amount of money, wages or salary earned during 1939, including tips and commissions. Money earned by businessmen, farmers, and professional persons derived from business profits, sales of crops, or fees is not counted in this column. If wages are more than $5,000 they would be entered as “5,000+”.

Column 33 asks if the person received more than $50 from any of the following sources: roomers or boarders; business profits; fees; rents; interest; dividends; unemployment compensation; direct cash relief; old age assistance; pensions; annuities; royalties; regular assistance from family or others; “in kind” income such as food, lodging, supplies; charity; or food or commodities consumed from the person’s farm or business. This does not include money received for items such as lump sum insurance payments; inheritance; proceeds from sale of lands, buildings, or securities; or travel expense reimbursements.

Column 34 enumerates the Farm Schedule. Farm schedules were an accounting of the lands and production of farms across the country. The actual 1940 Farm Schedules are not available.

Additional Information

At the bottom of each page is a check box which would be checked to indicate if the household was continued on the next page.

Supplemental Questions

Supplemental questions were asked for two individuals on each census page. These individuals were on lines 14, 29, 55 and 68.

Column 35 repeats the name of the individual found on lines 14, 29, 55, or 68 of that page.

Columns 36 and 37 provide the place of birth for the father and mother of the individual. The location follows the same rules as previously discussed for column 15 above.

The next column is column G. This column uses the same codes as previously discussed for column C.

Column 38 is the mother tongue (language spoken in the household in earliest childhood). For foreign born individuals, this would be the native tongue of their birth. In many cases, US born individuals may have spoken another language in their homes and American Indians would also have their own tribal language which may be listed in this column. Notice in the above case, the parents were born in Ohio but the native tongue is listed as German. This provides a clue as to the origin of the family that would not have been noticed based on the places of birth.

Column H is a code to designate the mother tongue specified in column 38. If the language was English, this column is left blank.

Columns 39-41 and column I are used to track Veteran Status. The overarching question is “Is this person a veteran of the United States military forces; or the wife, widow, or under-18-year-old child of a veteran?” Column 39 is a Yes/No response to that question. If the person is a child (under 18), column 40 asks if the father is dead. Column 41 asks about military service. The following codes are used in response to column 41:

W	World War (World War I since this is before US involvement in WWII)
S	Spanish-American War, Philippines Insurrection, or Boxer Rebellion
SW	Both the Spanish American War and WWI
R	Regular enlistment during peacetime (Army, Navy, Marine Corps)
Ot	Any other war or expedition

This is helpful because now you can put a timeframe and possibly a geographic location on the military service.

The US was involved in WWI from August 1917 to November 1918
The Spanish-American War was from April 1898 to July 1898
The Philippines Insurrection was from February 1899 to June 1902
US involvement in the Boxer Rebellion occurred during 1900

Columns 42-44 refer to Social Security. Social Security was signed into law in 1935 as a way to provide some economic security to people during the Great Depression. Column 42 asks if the person had a Federal Social Security Number. This was a Yes/No question.

Column 43 asks if deductions for Federal Old-Age Insurance or Railroad Retirement were made from the person in 1939. Deductions for Old-Age Insurance benefits were made by everyone 14-years and older on their first $3,000 in earnings unless they were employed in agriculture, railroads, charitable or other nonprofit organizations, sailors, or domestic service in homes. Railroad Retirement was deducted from the first $300 in earnings each month for all those employed in the railroad industry.

Column 44 asks if deductions were made from (1) all, (2) one-half or more, (3) less than one-half of wages or salary.

Here is an example of how the Social Security section would have been filled out. Notice that the top person has a Social Security Number (column 42), has paid into Old-Age Insurance or the Railroad Retirement fund (column 43), and deductions were made from all of their salary (column 44), indicating that they made less than $3,000 in 1939. That can be confirmed by checking his salary in column 32, which was $1,300. Note that “all” in column 44 was crossed out and replaced with a “1” in accordance with the instructions.

Columns 45-47 pertain to occupations. Usually these will correspond to what was filled out for columns 28-30 but there may occasionally be some differences.

Column J should have the same codes as column F.

Columns 48-50 are completed for all women who are or have been married. Column 48 asks if the woman has been married more than once. Column 49 asks their age at first marriage, and column 50 asks the number of children who have been born to this woman, excluding stillbirths. The example above indicates that this woman has not been married more than once, was married at age 19, and had 2 children. These statistics were included for all women in various censuses prior to the 1940 U.S. Census, but are only included for those who happen to be on the supplemental question line during this census.

The last part of this section (columns K-Z) are codes which include the following:

Column K	Own/Rent
Column L	Value of Home or Rent
Column M	Farm and Sex
Column N	Color and Nativity
Column O	Age
Column P	Marital status
Column Q	Highest School Grade (same as column B)
Column R	Citizenship
Column S	Work status as of March 24-30, 1940 (same as column E)
Column T	Hours worked as of March 24-30, 1940, or weeks unemployed
Column U	Occupation/Industry
Column V	Weeks worked in 1939
Column W	Wages in 1939
Column X	Supplemental income in 1939
Column Y	Relationship to head of household (same as column A)
Column Z	Blank

For the first person in the figure above, you can determine the following from these codes:

Column K	1 Rented home
Column L	3 Rent between $15-$19/month
Column M	2 Nonfarm, Female
Column N	blank Native, white, both parents native citizens
Column O	29 29 years old
Column P	2 Married
Column Q	30 12th grade
Column R	blank Born in the US
Column S	5 Engaged in home housework
Column T	blank --
Column U	blank --
Column V	0 Worked between 1 to 6 weeks in 1939
Column W	0 0 Earned no salary in 1939
Column X	0 Did not receive income of $50 or more in 1939
Column Y	1 Wife of Head of Household
Column Z	blank

For more information on decoding these columns, visit Steve Morse’s webpage.

As you can see, there is a wealth of information contained in the 1940 U.S. Census if you know how to read it.

Citing the 1940 U.S. Census

Here are examples of the citations for the 1940 U.S. Census:

Detailed citation

1940 U.S. census, _________ County, _______ [State], [Location], population schedule, enumeration district (ED) _____, page __ [(stamped)] or sheet __ [(handwritten)], dwelling __, family ___, line ____, [Name of Person]; digital image, [Source] Archives.gov (http://1940census.archives.gov: accessed ________ [Date]); citing NARA microfilm publication T627, roll _______.

Abbreviated citation

1940 U.S. census, [County], [State]. population schedule, page ____(stamped), dwelling ____, family ___, [Name of Person].

Search United States census records on MyHeritage

Explore more about the 1940 U.S. census

1940 United States Federal Census on MyHeritage

Census by Decades on The Family History Guide
1940 Census General Information on National Archives
1940 Census Instructions to Enumerators on U.S. Census Bureau
Enumeration Map Districts on Steve Morse
Deciphering Miscellaneous Codes Appended to the 1940 Census in One Step on Steve Morse
Procedural History of the 1940 Census of Population and Housing (1983)

Contributors

Main contributor: Miles Meyer

Additional contributor: Director of Education for The Family History Guide