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Decennial Population and Housing Censuses Guide

1950 Census Reports


NCSU Libraries Guide to Census Data Resources - Provides links to online and other electronic data sources.
US Census Bureau 1950 Documents as PDFs

Questionnaire, instructions, and table headers
* Questionnaire description and Instructions to Enumerators - from Measuring America (Sept. 2002)
* Illustrative example of population schedule - from 1950 Population Census, v. 2, pt. 1 (C3.950/7-5:v.2,pt.1)
* Enumerator's Reference Manual - from 1950 Population Census, v. 2, pt. 1 (C3.950/7-5:v.2,pt.1)

Census of Population: 1950, 2 vols. in 55, plus 64 bulletins
U.S. Documents C3.950/7-5:
* GEOGRAPHIES:   Nation, Divisions, States, Territories, Counties, Townships or other Minor Civil Divisions; Urban/Rural; Incorporated Places, Cities 5000+, Metropolitan Districts, Tracts
* CONTENTS:   Vol. 1. Number of Inhabitants, has 33 tables in the United States summary section
* Most of vol. 1 contains data by state and territory in 9 tables:
  -   Population, 1790-1950, urban/rural
  -   Population, 1950, groups of places by size
  -   Population, 1900-1950, groups of places by size
  -   Population, 1790-1950, cities 10,000+
  -   Area and Population, 1930-1950, for counties, urban/rural
  -   Population, 1930-1950, for minor civil divisions of counties
  -   Population, 1940-1950, for incorporated places and unincorporated places 1,000+
  -   Population, 1950, for wards of cities 5,000+
  -   Population, 1950, for urbanized areas

Vol. 2. Characteristics of the Population, in 54 vols.
* Part 1 is a United States summary
* Table Finding Guide - U.S. summary
* Parts 2-54 contain data for each state and territory
* Table Finding Guide - States
* Each state/territory part contains 94 tables with data for
  -   State
  -   Urban/Rural, Standard Metropolitan Areas, Urban Places, Places 1,000-2,000
  -   Counties, Rural nonfarm, Rural farm
  -   Cities 50,000-100,000; 100,000-250,000; and 250,000+
* Topics of the tables are grouped by:
  -   Number of Inhabitants
  -   General Characteristics
  -   Detailed Characteristics

[Vol. 3.] Census Tract Statistics
* No bound compilation was published
* Available in 64 paper bulletins for major cities
* Not held by the NCSU Libraries

[Vol. 4.] Special Reports (series P-E)
U.S. Documents C3.950/7-6:
* No bound compilation was published
* Available in 20 paper bulletins on miscellaneous topics

Census of Housing: 1950, 5 vols. in 15, plus 213 bulletins
U.S. Documents C3.950/8-5:
* CONTENTS:   Vol. 1. General Characteristics, in 7 parts
  -   Presents data for the U.S., for individual states, and territories
* Table Finding Guide - States
* Topics are grouped in this order:
  -   Number of dwelling units
  -   Occupancy characteristics
  -   Structural characteristics
  -   Condition and plumbing facilities
  -   Equipment and fuels
  -   Financial characteristics

Vol. 2. Nonfarm Housing Characteristics, in 5 parts
* Pt. 1 has U.S. and Division statistics
* Pts. 2-5 have Standard Metropolitan Areas and Cities data
* Ten tables are given for the various geographies:
  -   Value of owner-occupied units
  -   Contract monthly rent
  -   Gross monthly rent
  -   Condition and plumbing facilities
  -   Number of rooms
  -   Type of structure
  -   1949 income of head of household
  -   Sex and age of head of household
  -   Value-income ratio, or gross rent-income ratio
  -   Type of household

Vol. 3. Farm Housing Characterisics
* A volume with data for Rural-Farm occupied dwelling units
* Data for States and Economic subregions of states (often multi-county)
* Has four tables per geographic unit:
  -   Number of rooms
  -   Condition and plumbing facilities
  -   Number of rooms in nonwhite dwellings
  -   Condition and plumbing facilities in nonwhite dwellings

Vol. 4. Residential Financing, in 2 parts
* Pt. 1 has data for United States, regions, and territory inside and outside SMAs
* Pt. 2 has less extensive data for 25 large SMAs

[Vol. 5.] Block Statistics, in 213 paper-covered bulletins
* Not held by the NCSU Libraries

From the 1870 Census forward, the number of published volumes grew each decade.   A comprehensive list of all these volumes is beyond the scope of this guide that focuses on the volumes addressing population and housing topics.

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