1850 United States census

The 1850 United States census was the seventh time the United States counted its people. It showed that 23,191,876 people lived in the United States at that time. This was 35.9 percent more than the 17,069,453 people counted in the 1840 census. Among those counted were 3,204,313 enslaved people.

The official day for the census was June 1, 1850, but people kept filling out the forms for the rest of the year.

This census was special because it tried to learn about everyone in each home, not just the person in charge. For the first time, slaves were listed by their gender and guessed age on special forms, and they were grouped by their owners’ names. Before 1850, the census only noted the head of the household and general details about others, like “three children under five.” It was also the first time the census asked where free people were born.

The results from the 1850 census were used by Hinton Rowan Helper in his book The Impending Crisis of the South in 1857, which spoke out against slavery.

This census was also important because the United States had more people than the United Kingdom (a year later) for the first time since it became independent 65 years earlier.

Census questions

The 1850 census asked people for simple details such as their name, age, and gender. It also noted the color of each person (white, black, or mulatto) and if they had any special needs like being deaf, blind, or having other difficulties.

The census recorded the value of real estate owned by free people, jobs of men over 15, and where they were born. It also checked if someone got married, went to school, could read and write, or needed help because they were poor.

Full documentation for the 1850 census is available from the Integrated Public Use Microdata Series.

Economy

The 1850 United States census collected important information about the country's economy. It showed growth in farming, making things, trading with other countries, and building roads and railways. The census also looked at schools and how much land the country had grown to include.

The census found that farming produced about 1.3 billion dollars worth of goods, and making things produced over one billion dollars. The United States traded a lot with the United Kingdom, with both imports and exports worth around 145 million dollars each. There were also many new railways, canals, and telegraph lines being built, showing how the country was growing and connecting. The census helped show how strong and growing the United States was becoming during this time.

Data availability

Microdata from the 1850 United States census can be freely accessed through the Integrated Public Use Microdata Series. You can also download aggregate data for smaller areas, along with matching maps, from the National Historical Geographic Information System.

State rankings

Rank	State	Population
01	New York	3,097,394
02	Pennsylvania	2,311,786
03	Ohio	1,980,329
04	Virginia	1,421,661
05	Tennessee	1,002,717
06	Massachusetts	994,514
07	Indiana	988,416
08	Kentucky	982,405
09	Georgia	906,185
10	North Carolina	869,039
11	Illinois	851,470
12	Alabama	771,623
13	Missouri	682,044
14	South Carolina	668,507
15	Mississippi	606,526
16	Maine	583,169
17	Maryland	583,034
18	Louisiana	517,762
19	New Jersey	489,555
20	Michigan	397,654
21	Connecticut	370,792
22	New Hampshire	317,976
23	Vermont	314,120
24	Wisconsin	305,391
X	West Virginia	302,313
25	Texas	212,592
26	Arkansas	209,897
27	Iowa	192,214
28	Rhode Island	147,545
29	California	92,597
30	Delaware	91,532
31	Florida	87,445
X	New Mexico	61,547
X	District of Columbia	51,687
X	Oregon	12,093
X	Utah	11,380
X	Minnesota	6,077
X	Washington	1,201

City rankings

Rank	City	State	Population	Region (2016)
01	New York	New York	515,547	Northeast
02	Baltimore	Maryland	169,054	South
03	Boston	Massachusetts	136,881	Northeast
04	Philadelphia	Pennsylvania	121,376	Northeast
05	New Orleans	Louisiana	116,375	South
06	Cincinnati	Ohio	115,435	Midwest
07	Brooklyn	New York	96,838	Northeast
08	St. Louis	Missouri	77,860	Midwest
09	Spring Garden	Pennsylvania	58,894	Northeast
10	Albany	New York	50,763	Northeast
11	Northern Liberties	Pennsylvania	47,223	Northeast
12	Kensington	Pennsylvania	46,774	Northeast
13	Pittsburgh	Pennsylvania	46,601	Northeast
14	Louisville	Kentucky	43,194	South
15	Charleston	South Carolina	42,985	South
16	Buffalo	New York	42,261	Northeast
17	Providence	Rhode Island	41,513	Northeast
18	Washington	District of Columbia	40,001	South
19	Newark	New Jersey	38,894	Northeast
20	Southwark	Pennsylvania	38,799	Northeast
21	Rochester	New York	36,403	Northeast
22	Lowell	Massachusetts	33,383	Northeast
23	Williamsburgh	New York	30,780	Northeast
24	Chicago	Illinois	29,963	Midwest
25	Troy	New York	28,785	Northeast
26	Richmond	Virginia	27,570	South
27	Moyamensing	Pennsylvania	26,979	Northeast
28	Syracuse	New York	22,271	Northeast
29	Allegheny	Pennsylvania	21,262	Northeast
30	Detroit	Michigan	21,019	Midwest
31	Portland	Maine	20,815	Northeast
32	Mobile	Alabama	20,515	South
33	New Haven	Connecticut	20,345	Northeast
34	Salem	Massachusetts	20,264	Northeast
35	Milwaukee	Wisconsin	20,061	Midwest
36	Roxbury	Massachusetts	18,364	Northeast
37	Columbus	Ohio	17,882	Midwest
38	Utica	New York	17,565	Northeast
39	Charlestown	Massachusetts	17,216	Northeast
40	Worcester	Massachusetts	17,049	Northeast
41	Cleveland	Ohio	17,034	Midwest
42	New Bedford	Massachusetts	16,443	Northeast
43	Reading	Pennsylvania	15,743	Northeast
44	Savannah	Georgia	15,312	South
45	Cambridge	Massachusetts	15,215	Northeast
46	Bangor	Maine	14,432	Northeast
47	Norfolk	Virginia	14,326	South
48	Lynn	Massachusetts	14,257	Northeast
49	Lafayette	Louisiana	14,190	South
50	Petersburg	Virginia	14,010	South
51	Wilmington	Delaware	13,979	South
52	Poughkeepsie	New York	13,944	Northeast
53	Manchester	New Hampshire	13,932	Northeast
54	Hartford	Connecticut	13,555	Northeast
55	Lancaster	Pennsylvania	12,369	Northeast
56	Lockport	New York	12,323	Northeast
57	Oswego	New York	12,205	Northeast
58	Springfield	Massachusetts	11,766	Northeast
59	Fall River	Massachusetts	11,524	Northeast
60	Smithfield	Rhode Island	11,500	Northeast
61	Wheeling	Virginia	11,435	South
62	Newburgh	New York	11,415	Northeast
63	Paterson	New Jersey	11,334	Northeast
64	Dayton	Ohio	10,977	Midwest
65	Taunton	Massachusetts	10,441	Northeast
66	Norwich	Connecticut	10,265	Northeast
67	Kingston	New York	10,232	Northeast
68	Nashville	Tennessee	10,165	South
69	New Brunswick	New Jersey	10,019	Northeast
70	Portsmouth	New Hampshire	9,738	Northeast
71	Newburyport	Massachusetts	9,572	Northeast
72	Newport	Rhode Island	9,563	Northeast
73	Auburn	New York	9,548	Northeast
74	Camden	New Jersey	9,479	Northeast
75	Augusta	Georgia	9,448	South
76	Covington	Kentucky	9,408	South
77	Fishkill	New York	9,240	Northeast
78	New London	Connecticut	8,991	Northeast
79	Penn	Pennsylvania	8,939	Northeast
80	Schenectady	New York	8,921	Northeast
81	Memphis	Tennessee	8,841	South
82	Hempstead	New York	8,811	Northeast
83	Alexandria	Virginia	8,734	South
83	Chenango	New York	8,734	Northeast
85	Montgomery	Alabama	8,728	South
86	Portsmouth	Virginia	8,626	South
87	Brookhaven	New York	8,595	Northeast
88	Concord	New Hampshire	8,576	Northeast
89	Seneca	New York	8,505	Northeast
90	Nantucket	Massachusetts	8,452	Northeast
91	Georgetown	District of Columbia	8,366	South
92	Chicopee	Massachusetts	8,291	Northeast
93	Lawrence	Massachusetts	8,282	Northeast
94	Augusta	Maine	8,225	Northeast
95	Dover	New Hampshire	8,196	Northeast
96	New Albany	Indiana	8,181	Midwest
97	Elmira	New York	8,166	Northeast
98	Lexington	Kentucky	8,159	South
99	Danvers	Massachusetts	8,109	Northeast
100	Indianapolis	Indiana	8,091	Midwest

Controversy

In 1851, the leaders of Utah Territory had a problem with their census. One leader, Broughton Harris, refused to approve the census because another leader, Brigham Young, had done it without him. Harris thought there were mistakes and kept the money meant for the census. This helped Harris decide to leave his job and join others who also left Utah at that time. This made things worse between Utah and the federal government, and it led to a conflict called the Utah War.

Some local leaders in Utah were worried that having enslaved people might stop them from becoming a state, because some members of Congress did not want slavery to spread to western areas. The 1850 census for Utah said there were only 26 enslaved people, and noted they were all moving to California, not counting any who stayed in Utah. Some historians believe there were about 100 Black people in Utah by 1850, and two-thirds of them were enslaved.