The 1940 Census has arrived!

Download a blank copy of the 1940 census to see what information was asked by enumerators

Download Front - Obverse (PDF)
Download Back - Reverse (PDF)

Uncle Sam Calling

Listen to a radio program produced to promote and educate people about the 1940 census.

Did You Know?

Back in 1870, it took 7 years to compile statistics from the facts taken by census takers

Herman Hollerith invented a 'unit tabulator.' This machine was fed cards containing census information at the rate of 400 a minute and from these, 12 separate bits of statistical information could be extracted.

Eugene M. La Boiteaux, Census Bureau inventor, turned out a smaller, more compact machine, which extracted 58 statistics from 150 cards per minute.

With the aid of this newer machine, statistical information from the 1940 census was expected to be compiled in 2 1/2 years. The secret of the machine lay in the cards. The written information taken by census takers was brought in and the data translated into code numbers which were punched on the card, and the legible data was locked up in vaults away from prying eyes. Cards were fed into the machine, sensitive steel fingers felt out the punches, set up electrical impulses, and in no time at all, the card set down on the large sheet just what statistic from each individual goes in what place!

Source: Library of Congress

72 Years in Waiting...

The 1940 census was released on April 2, 2012 and it's one of the most anticipated events in recent times for family historians

CENSUS RESOURCES

The digital images are be accessible free of charge at NARA facilities nationwide through NARA public access computers as well as on personal computers via the internet.

To learn more about the 1940 Census visit:

The National Archives - 1940 Census Records

1940 Census Research

1940 Census on Ancestry.com

HOW DO I FIND MY FAMILY IN 1940?

The census images will take some time to get indexed for searching on your favorite genealogy sites like Ancestry.com, so if you'd like to find your research targets faster than skimming through thousands of images, here are some tips:

What was their address in or near 1940? The address of your family determines what Enumeration District (ED) they were in. There are many places you may find the address if you don't have one:

City directories or phone books from the period. Try your local library. For Hudson County we suggest contacting the New Jersey Room of the Jersey City Free Public Library for its collection of city directories. Ancestry.com also has an extensive collection of city directories from Hudson County.
The World War II "Old Man's Draft" Registration in 1942 usually has the address of the registrant. If you had an older man living with the family who was eligible for this draft, you may be in luck. Ancestry.com is one of the places that has this database.
The 1930 Census. People may have moved in the 10 years between 1930 and 1940, but if you have no other address, their 1930 address may be your best bet. The SteveMorse.org website has a way to convert a 1930 ED to a 1940 ED. The National Archives 1940 census website also has a converter

If you have an address:

You may want to use Google Maps to find the cross streets around the street where your family lived (especially in urban areas). Knowing the streets around your block will help narrow the number of EDs you need to search by hand.
Use the finding tool on the National Archives website to locate the ED for your address.
After you locate your ED and search for it, the NARA website will provide an overview description of the ED as shown in the sample search result below. Clicking 'Census Schedules' will take you to the page where you can view the images of the census (by clicking the thumbnail image). If you are having trouble, you can double-check that you are in the right ED by viewing a map of the streets in 1940 with the EDs overlaid on it.

Visit the page "Obtaining EDs for the 1910-1940 Census in One Step" by Stephen P. Morse to learn more.