The 1920 United States census, conducted by the

Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The U.S. Census Bureau is part of the U ...

during one month from January 5, 1920, determined the resident population of the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

to be 106,021,537, an increase of 15.0 percent over the 92,228,496 persons enumerated during the

1910 census The 1910 United States census, conducted by the Census Bureau on April 15, 1910, determined the resident population of the United States to be 92,228,496, an increase of 21 percent over the 76,212,168 persons enumerated during the 1900 census. ...

. The 1920 Census was determined for 1 January 1920. The actual date of the enumeration appears on the heading of each page of the census schedule, but all responses were to reflect the individual's status as of 1 January, even if the status had changed between 1 January and the day of enumeration. Despite the

constitutional A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these princ ...

requirement that

House A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air c ...

seats be reapportioned to the states respective of their population every ten years according to the census, members of Congress failed to agree on a reapportionment plan following this census, and the distribution of seats from the 1910 census remained in effect until 1933. In 1929, Congress passed the

Reapportionment Act of 1929 The Reapportionment Act of 1929 (ch. 28, , ), also known as the Permanent Apportionment Act of 1929, is a combined census and apportionment bill enacted on June 18, 1929, that establishes a permanent method for apportioning a constant 435 seats ...

which provided for a permanent method of reapportionment and fixed the number of representatives at 435. This was the first census in which the United States recorded a population of more than 100 million. It was also the first census in which a state

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

recorded a population of more than ten million. This census also marked a significant population shift from rural to urban. According to the Census Bureau, "Beginning in 1910, the minimum population threshold to be categorized as an urban place was set at 2,500. "Urban" was defined as including all territory, persons, and housing units within an incorporated area that met the population threshold. The 1920 census marked the first time in which over 50 percent of the U.S. population was defined as "urban."

Census questions

The 1920 census collected the following information: * Age * Marital status * If foreign born, year of immigration to the U.S., whether naturalized and, if so, year of naturalization * School attendance * Literacy * State of residence * If foreign-born, the mother tongue * Ability to speak English * Occupation, industry, and class of worker * Whether home owned or rented, and, if owned, whether free or mortgaged Full documentation for the 1920 census, including census forms and enumerator instructions, is available from the

Integrated Public Use Microdata Series IPUMS, originally the ''Integrated Public Use Microdata Series'', is the world's largest individual-level population database. IPUMS consists of microdata samples from United States ''(IPUMS-USA)'' and international ''(IPUMS-International)'' cens ...

State rankings

Territories

City rankings

Locations of 50 most populous cities

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 The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is an independent agency of the United States government within the executive branch, charged with the preservation and documentation of government and historical records. It is also task ...

. Several organizations also host images of the microfilmed census online, and digital indices. Microdata from the 1920 census are freely available through the

Aggregate data Aggregate data is high-level data which is acquired by combining individual-level data. For instance, the output of an industry is an aggregate of the firms’ individual outputs within that industry. Aggregate data are applied in statistics, d ...

for small areas, together with electronic boundary files, can be downloaded from the

National Historical Geographic Information System The National Historical Geographic Information System (NHGIS) is a historical GIS project to create and freely disseminate a database incorporating all available aggregate United States Census, census information for the United States between Uni ...

Notes

External links

1921 U.S Census Report
Contains 1920 census results
Historic US Census data

1920 Census
* ensus.gov/population/www/censusdata/PopulationofStatesandCountiesoftheUnitedStates1790-1990.pdf
1920 census on archive.org
{{Authority control United States Census, 1920 United States census