Product benefits

• Search every U.S. Federal Census from 1790 through 1930 – more than 450 million names.
• Find family facts like age, residence, occupation and more.
• Trace up to six generations of your American heritage with more than 140 years of available history.

Need more help deciding?

Why 270,000 people have already subscribed to the Census Collection:

• The U.S. Census is among the best available resources for both beginners and seasoned genealogists.
• With 12 million images, Ancestry.com’s collection is the largest on the Web.
• You’re more likely to find ancestors in the census than in other historical record collections.
• View or print actual images of the census from your computer.
• Enjoy the thrill of finding interesting facts about your grandparents and even great-grandparents.
• You might learn if your relatives owned their home or if they were born in another country.
• The best way to grow your family tree.

Learn More About the Census

Why do we have U.S. Census?

The United States Congress requisitioned the first official census in 1790. To ensure that each state was assigned a fair number of congressional representatives, an accurate breakdown of the population was needed. Congress hired federal marshals to visit every American household and obtain the necessary information.

The original census was completed in 1792 and consisted of only six simple questions including head of household, race and gender. See all of those questions on our sample census form.

Above: An example of an actual census image. You can view more than 12 million such digital images on Ancestry.com.

How has the census changed?

The United States is the first nation in the world to make the census a mandatory constitutional requirement.

One census is completed every ten years, though surveys are now mailed instead of delivered on horseback. And while the questions have changed, the census remains a valuable research tool for historians, sociologists and economists.

Why search the census online?

Ancestry.com offers the Web’s most complete collection of U.S. Census records. To put such a wealth of family information at your fingertips, Ancestry scanned and entered names from more than 12 million original images, including the recently released 1930 census.

Search all of our census records at once to find specific information about your ancestors – in seconds.

Curious about what is on a census form?