1960 United States census

The 1960 United States census, carried out by the Census Bureau, counted the number of people living in the United States at that time. It found that 179,323,175 people lived in the country. This was a growth of 19 percent compared to the 1950 census.

This census was important because it helped decide how many votes each state would have in the next two presidential elections, in (/wiki/1964_United_States_presidential_election) and (/wiki/1968_United_States_presidential_election).

It was also a special moment because every state had more than 200,000 people for the first time ever. During this time, New York was still the state with the most people living there. Some cities, like Detroit, saw big changes.

Census questions

The 1960 census asked people for basic information such as their address, name, and age. About a quarter of the households also got a longer form with more questions. You can learn more about the 1960 census and the forms used from the Integrated Public Use Microdata Series.

Data availability

You can freely see data from the 1960 census through the Integrated Public Use Microdata Series. You can also download aggregate data for smaller places and electronic boundary files from the National Historical Geographic Information System. Personal information from the census will become available in 2032.

State rankings

Rank	State	Population as of 1960 census	Population as of 1950 census	Change	Percent change
1	New York	16,782,304	14,830,192	1,952,112	13.2%
2	California	15,717,204	10,586,223	5,130,981	48.5%
3	Pennsylvania	11,319,366	10,498,012	821,354	7.8%
4	Illinois	10,081,158	8,712,176	1,368,982	15.7%
5	Ohio	9,706,397	7,946,627	1,759,770	22.1%
6	Texas	9,579,677	7,711,194	1,868,483	24.2%
7	Michigan	7,823,194	6,371,766	1,451,428	22.8%
8	New Jersey	6,066,782	4,835,329	1,231,453	25.5%
9	Massachusetts	5,148,578	4,690,514	458,064	9.8%
10	Florida	4,951,560	2,771,305	2,180,255	78.7%
11	Indiana	4,662,498	3,934,224	728,274	18.5%
12	North Carolina	4,556,155	4,061,929	494,226	12.2%
13	Missouri	4,319,813	3,954,653	365,160	9.2%
14	Virginia	3,966,949	3,318,680	648,269	19.5%
15	Wisconsin	3,951,777	3,434,575	517,202	15.1%
16	Georgia	3,943,116	3,444,578	498,538	14.5%
17	Tennessee	3,567,089	3,291,718	275,371	8.4%
18	Minnesota	3,413,864	2,982,483	431,381	14.5%
19	Alabama	3,266,740	3,061,743	204,997	6.7%
20	Louisiana	3,257,022	2,683,516	573,506	21.4%
21	Maryland	3,100,689	2,343,001	757,688	32.3%
22	Kentucky	3,038,156	2,944,806	93,350	3.2%
23	Washington	2,853,214	2,378,963	474,251	19.9%
24	Iowa	2,757,537	2,621,073	136,464	5.2%
25	Connecticut	2,535,234	2,007,280	527,954	26.3%
26	South Carolina	2,382,594	2,117,027	265,567	12.5%
27	Oklahoma	2,328,284	2,233,351	94,933	4.3%
28	Kansas	2,178,611	1,905,299	273,312	14.3%
29	Mississippi	2,178,141	2,178,914	−773	−0.0%
30	West Virginia	1,860,421	2,005,552	−145,131	−7.2%
31	Arkansas	1,786,272	1,909,511	−123,239	−6.5%
32	Oregon	1,768,687	1,521,341	247,346	16.3%
33	Colorado	1,753,947	1,325,089	428,858	32.4%
34	Nebraska	1,411,330	1,325,510	85,820	6.5%
35	Arizona	1,302,161	749,587	552,574	73.7%
36	Maine	969,265	913,774	55,491	6.1%
37	New Mexico	951,023	681,187	269,836	39.6%
38	Utah	890,627	688,862	201,765	29.3%
39	Rhode Island	859,488	791,896	67,592	8.5%
—	District of Columbia	763,956	802,178	−38,222	−4.8%
40	South Dakota	680,514	652,740	27,774	4.3%
41	Montana	674,767	591,024	83,743	14.2%
42	Idaho	667,191	588,637	78,554	13.3%
43	Hawaii	632,772	499,794	132,978	26.6%
44	North Dakota	632,446	619,636	12,810	2.1%
45	New Hampshire	606,921	533,242	73,679	13.8%
46	Delaware	446,292	318,085	128,207	40.3%
47	Vermont	389,881	377,747	12,134	3.2%
48	Wyoming	330,066	290,529	39,537	13.6%
49	Nevada	285,278	160,083	125,195	78.2%
50	Alaska	226,167	128,643	97,524	75.8%
—	United States	179,323,175	151,325,798	27,997,377	18.5%

City rankings

Locations of 50 most populous cities

Location of 50 largest cities by population in the United States in 1960

• New York
  New York

• Chicago
  Chicago

• Los Angeles
  Los Angeles

• Philadelphia
  Philadelphia

• Detroit
  Detroit

• Baltimore
  Baltimore

• Houston
  Houston

• Cleveland
  Cleveland

• Washington
  Washington

• St. Louis
  St. Louis

• Milwaukee
  Milwaukee

• San Francisco
  San Francisco

• Boston
  Boston

• Dallas
  Dallas

• New Orleans
  New Orleans

• Pittsburgh
  Pittsburgh

• San Antonio
  San Antonio

• San Diego
  San Diego

• Seattle
  Seattle

• Buffalo
  Buffalo

• Cincinnati
  Cincinnati

• Memphis
  Memphis

• Denver
  Denver

• Atlanta
  Atlanta

• Minneapolis
  Minneapolis

• Indianapolis
  Indianapolis

• Kansas City
  Kansas City

• Columbus
  Columbus

• San Juan
  San Juan

• Phoenix
  Phoenix

• Newark
  Newark

• Louisville
  Louisville

• Portland
  Portland

• Oakland
  Oakland

• Fort Worth
  Fort Worth

• Long Beach
  Long Beach

• Birmingham
  Birmingham

• Oklahoma City
  Oklahoma City

• Rochester
  Rochester

• Toledo
  Toledo

• Saint Paul
  Saint Paul

• Norfolk
  Norfolk

• Omaha
  Omaha

• Honolulu
  Honolulu

• Miami
  Miami

• Akron
  Akron

• El Paso
  El Paso

• Jersey City
  Jersey City

• Tampa
  Tampa

• Dayton
  Dayton