New York was the most populous state in the union in the year 1900. It had the largest white population, for both native born and foreign born persons, and together these groups made up over 7.1 million of New York's 7.2 million inhabitants at this time. The United States' industrial centers to the north and northeast were one of the most important economic draws during this period, and states in these regions had the largest foreign born white populations. Ethnic minorities Immigration into the agricultural southern states was much lower than the north, and these states had the largest Black populations due to the legacy of slavery - this balance would begin to shift in the following decades as a large share of the Black population migrated to urban centers to the north during the Great Migration. The Japanese and Chinese populations at this time were more concentrated in the West, as these states were the most common point of entry for Asians into the country. The states with the largest Native American populations were to the west and southwest, due to the legacy of forced displacement - this included the Indian Territory, an unorganized and independent territory assigned to the Native American population in the early 1800s, although this was incorporated into Oklahoma when it was admitted into the union in 1907. Additionally, non-taxpaying Native Americans were historically omitted from the U.S. Census, as they usually lived in separate communities and could not vote or hold office - more of an effort was made to count all Native Americans from 1890 onward, although there are likely inaccuracies in the figures given here. Changing distribution Internal migration in the 20th century greatly changed population distribution across the country, with California and Florida now ranking among the three most populous states in the U.S. today, while they were outside the top 20 in 1900. The growth of Western states' populations was largely due to the wave of internal migration during the Great Depression, where unemployment in the east saw many emigrate to "newer" states in search of opportunity, as well as significant immigration from Latin America (especially Mexico) and Asia since the mid-1900s.

The total population in the United States was estimated at 341.2 million people in 2024, according to the latest census figures and projections from Trading Economics. This dataset provides - United States Population - actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news.

The United States had a population of 76.3 million people in 1900. Approximately 67 million of these were white, of whom the majority were native born, while most of the remaining nine million people were Black. At this time, the United States Census included persons of Hispanic origin along with its white population, however the Hispanic share of the population in 1900 was much lower than it is today.

In the past four centuries, the population of the Thirteen Colonies and United States of America has grown from a recorded 350 people around the Jamestown colony in Virginia in 1610, to an estimated 346 million in 2025. While the fertility rate has now dropped well below replacement level, and the population is on track to go into a natural decline in the 2040s, projected high net immigration rates mean the population will continue growing well into the next century, crossing the 400 million mark in the 2070s. Indigenous population Early population figures for the Thirteen Colonies and United States come with certain caveats. Official records excluded the indigenous population, and they generally remained excluded until the late 1800s. In 1500, in the first decade of European colonization of the Americas, the native population living within the modern U.S. borders was believed to be around 1.9 million people. The spread of Old World diseases, such as smallpox, measles, and influenza, to biologically defenseless populations in the New World then wreaked havoc across the continent, often wiping out large portions of the population in areas that had not yet made contact with Europeans. By the time of Jamestown's founding in 1607, it is believed the native population within current U.S. borders had dropped by almost 60 percent. As the U.S. expanded, indigenous populations were largely still excluded from population figures as they were driven westward, however taxpaying Natives were included in the census from 1870 to 1890, before all were included thereafter. It should be noted that estimates for indigenous populations in the Americas vary significantly by source and time period. Migration and expansion fuels population growth The arrival of European settlers and African slaves was the key driver of population growth in North America in the 17th century. Settlers from Britain were the dominant group in the Thirteen Colonies, before settlers from elsewhere in Europe, particularly Germany and Ireland, made a large impact in the mid-19th century. By the end of the 19th century, improvements in transport technology and increasing economic opportunities saw migration to the United States increase further, particularly from southern and Eastern Europe, and in the first decade of the 1900s the number of migrants to the U.S. exceeded one million people in some years. It is also estimated that almost 400,000 African slaves were transported directly across the Atlantic to mainland North America between 1500 and 1866 (although the importation of slaves was abolished in 1808). Blacks made up a much larger share of the population before slavery's abolition. Twentieth and twenty-first century The U.S. population has grown steadily since 1900, reaching one hundred million in the 1910s, two hundred million in the 1960s, and three hundred million in 2007. Since WWII, the U.S. has established itself as the world's foremost superpower, with the world's largest economy, and most powerful military. This growth in prosperity has been accompanied by increases in living standards, particularly through medical advances, infrastructure improvements, clean water accessibility. These have all contributed to higher infant and child survival rates, as well as an increase in life expectancy (doubling from roughly 40 to 80 years in the past 150 years), which have also played a large part in population growth. As fertility rates decline and increases in life expectancy slows, migration remains the largest factor in population growth. Since the 1960s, Latin America has now become the most common origin for migrants in the U.S., while immigration rates from Asia have also increased significantly. It remains to be seen how immigration restrictions of the current administration affect long-term population projections for the United States.

United States Population: All Ages data was reported at 325,719.000 Person th in 2017. This records an increase from the previous number of 323,406.000 Person th for 2016. United States Population: All Ages data is updated yearly, averaging 176,356.000 Person th from Jun 1900 (Median) to 2017, with 118 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 325,719.000 Person th in 2017 and a record low of 76,094.000 Person th in 1900. United States Population: All Ages data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by US Census Bureau. The data is categorized under Global Database’s United States – Table US.G002: Population by Age. Series Remarks Population data for the years 1900 to 1949 exclude the population residing in Alaska and Hawaii. Population data for the years 1940 to 1979 cover the resident population plus Armed Forces overseas. Population data for all other years cover only the resident population.

Key information about United States population

• The United States population reached 341.2 million people in Dec 2024, compared with the previously reported figure of 338.4 million people in Dec 2023
• The data reached an all-time high of 341.2 million people in Dec 2024 and a record low of 76.1 million people in Dec 1900

CEIC extends history for annual Population. The Bureau of Economic Analysis provides year-end Population. Population prior to 1947 excludes residents of Alaska and Hawaii. Population prior to 1947 is a Mid-year estimate sourced from the U.S. Census Bureau.


Further information about United States population data

• In the latest reports, United States Unemployment Rate dropped to 4.1 % in Dec 2024
• Monthly earnings of the United States population was 4,896.7 USD in Dec 2024
• United States Labour Force Participation Rate dropped to 62.2 % in Dec 2024

In the United States in the year 1900, approximately 88 percent of the population was White, while most of the remainder was Black. The Native American population stood at roughly 270,000 people in 1900, which was equal to just 0.35 percent of the total population - the indigenous population of North America was estimated to have been around 3-4 million people at the point of European contact in the early-16th century, however a mixture of disease, conflict, and displacement saw their numbers fall to a fraction of this level four centuries later.

This study was conducted under the auspices of the Center for Studies in Demography and Ecology at the University of Washington. It is a nationally representative sample of the population of the United States in 1900, drawn from the manuscript returns of individuals enumerated in the 1900 United States Census. Household variables include region, state and county of household, size of household, and type and ownership of dwelling. Individual variables for each household member include relationship to head of household, race, sex, age, marital status, number of children, and birthplace. Immigration variables include parents' birthplace, year of immigration and number of years in the United States. Occupation variables include occupation, coded by both the 1900 and 1950 systems, and number of months unemployed. Education variables include number of months in school, whether respondents could read or write a language, and whether they spoke English. (Source: downloaded from ICPSR 7/13/10)

Please Note: This dataset is part of the historical CISER Data Archive Collection and is also available at ICPSR at https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR07825.v1. We highly recommend using the ICPSR version as they may make this dataset available in multiple data formats in the future.

Chart and table of population level and growth rate for the state of California from 1900 to 2024.

This data collection contains population estimates for various time periods spanning from 1900 to 1979. The data for 1900-1929 represent the resident population of the United States by single year of age (0 to 75+), race (white, nonwhite), and sex. Data for these years exclude the Armed Forces and the population residing in Alaska and Hawaii. Age 75 includes all ages from 75 up. The files for 1930-1939 represent the resident population of the United States by single year of age (0 to 75+), race (white, nonwhite), and sex. Data for these years exclude the Armed Forces and the population residing in Alaska and Hawaii. Age 75 includes all ages from 75 up. The files for 1940-1949 represent the resident population plus Armed Forces overseas of the United States by single year of age (0 to 85+), race (white, nonwhite), and sex. Data for these years exclude the the population residing in Alaska and Hawaii. Age 85 includes all ages from 85 up. The files for 1950-1959 represent the resident population plus Armed Forces overseas of the United States by single year of age (0 to 85+), race (white, nonwhite), and sex. Data for these years include the the population residing in Alaska and Hawaii. Age 85 includes all ages from 85 up. The files for 1960-1979 represent the resident population plus Armed Forces overseas of the United States by single year of age (0 to 85+), race (white, black, and other), and sex. Data for these years include the the population residing in Alaska and Hawaii. Age 85 includes all ages from 85 up.

This data set provides the annual population of counties and states calculated from decennial U.S. censuses conducted from 1890-1950 and the Census Bureau’s annual projections of state population growth. The primary sources are “Population of States and Counties of the United States: 1790-1990,” published by the U.S. Bureau of the Census (1966); “Census U.S. Decennial County Population Data, 1900-1990” published by the NBER (2007); “Historical Statistics of Hawaii,” published by University Press of Hawaii (1977); and “Annual Estimates of the Population for the U.S. and States,” published by the U.S. Bureau of the Census from 1890 to 1950. The digitized, transparent, and consistent nature of this data and provides numerous benefits, including ease of access and greater potential for analysis.

Analysis unit

Persons, households, and dwellings

UNITS IDENTIFIED: - Dwellings: yes - Vacant Units: no - Households: yes - Individuals: yes - Group quarters: yes

UNIT DESCRIPTIONS: - Dwellings: A place in which, at the time of the census, one or more persons regularly sleep. It may be a room in a factory, store or office building, a loft over a stable, a canal boat, tent, or a wigwam. A building like a tenement or apartment house, if it has only one front door, counts as only one dwelling house, no matter how many persons or families live in it. But one building with a partition wall through it and a front door for each of the two parts, counts as two dwelling houses. So in a block of houses there are as many dwelling-houses as front doors. - Households: A group of individuals who occupy jointly a dwelling place or part of a dwelling place. A person who boards in one place and lodges in another should be returned as a member of the family where he lodges. A domestic servant, unless she sleeps elsewhere, is to be returned as a member of the family in which she works. All the occupants and employees of a hotel, if they regularly sleep there, make up, for census purposes, a single family, because they occupy one dwelling place. The same is true of all officials and inmates of an institution who live in the institution building. But where officers or employees of an institution sleep in detached houses or separate dwelling places, they are separate families. - Group quarters: Yes

Universe

All persons living in the United States including temporarily absent residents and sailors at sea. Native Americans living on reservations or under tribal rule were enumerated using a separate schedule.

Kind of data

Population and Housing Census [hh/popcen]

Sampling procedure

MICRODATA SOURCE: Department of the Interior

SAMPLE SIZE (person records): 3852852.

SAMPLE DESIGN: 1-in-20 national random sample of the population. Alaska and Hawaii are not included in this dataset.

Mode of data collection

Face-to-face [f2f]

Research instrument

The census operation involved four schedules. Schedule 1 was used to enumerate households and collected information on individual characteristics. Other schedules were used to enumerate the Native American population, and record information on agriculture and livestock.

Chart and table of population level and growth rate for the state of Florida from 1900 to 2024.

Map containing historical census data from 1900 - 2000 throughout the western United States at the county level. Data includes total population, population density, and percent population change by decade for each county. Population data was obtained from the US Census Bureau and joined to 1:2,000,000 scale National Atlas counties shapefile.

Context

This file is a combination of individual excel sheets published by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. It contains annual population counts for all 50 states & D.C. from 1900-2017.

Content

The population counts in this sheet represent counts in millions.

Acknowledgements

Source: https://fred.stlouisfed.org/release?rid=118&t=state&ob=pv&od=desc

Chart and table of population level and growth rate for the state of Michigan from 1900 to 2024.

This dataset is a digital compilation of the "Population of States and Counties of the United States: 1790-1990" publication and the "Census U.S. Decennial County Population Data, 1900-1990" resource. It provides population data for U.S. states and counties from the years 1790 to 1950. In addition to the county and state population figures, the dataset also includes the total U.S. population and state population data, as presented in the "Population of States and Counties of the United States: 1790-1990" publication.

Chart and table of population level and growth rate for the state of Colorado from 1900 to 2024.

This data collection describes the social conditions of the older population of the United States at the turn of the century. Detailed information, extracted from the 1900 United States Census manuscript schedules, is provided on household composition and family structure for each sampled older person. Ecological characteristics of the county of residence, e.g., the percentage of the county's population that is foreign born, are provided for most sampled older persons. In addition, occupational and ethnic characteristics of family heads appearing on the same sampled census page as the older person (on census pages grouped by street location) are reported.

Graph and download economic data for Resident Population in the East North Central Census Division (CENCPOP) from 1900 to 2024 about East North Central Census Division, residents, population, and USA.