The Tenth Decennial Census (1880) was taken under an Act of Congress (March 1879, amended 1880) that reformed census-taking by appointing professional supervisors and enumerators (including, for the first time, female enumerators) and by mandating confidentiality of returns. Census Day was June 1, 1880, and enumeration was carried out in June 1880 (urban areas with 10,000+ people were limited to the first two weeks). The resulting population count was 50,189,209 (a 30.2% increase since 1870). The 1880 Census included all 38 states and numerous territories (Alaska, Arizona, Dakota, Idaho, Indian Territory, Montana, New Mexico, Utah, Washington, Wyoming), plus special schedules (Mortality, Agriculture, Industry, Social Statistics) for additional data.
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1880 United States Federal Census details1880 United States Federal Census details
| Census Detail | 1880 Census (10th) |
|---|---|
| Census Day (Date) | June 1, 1880 (enumeration during June 1880; big cities first two weeks) |
| Population (total) | 50,189,209 (see breakdown by state, age, etc., in published reports) |
| States/Territories | 38 states + territories (see list on page) |
| Superintendent | Francis A. Walker (1880–87) |
| Schedules authorized | Pop. (Schedule 1), Mortality (2), Agriculture (3), Social Statistics (4), Manufactures (5) |
| New data collected | Relationship to household head (new); birthplace of each parent (new); street & house number in cities (new); month of birth (if born since June 1, 1879); marital events (married in census year). |
| Other questions | Name, age, sex, and race (with expanded categories: White, Black, Mulatto, Chinese, Indian); marital status (single, married, widowed, divorced); occupation & months unemployed; health/disability (illness, blindness, deafness, idiocy, insanity, etc.); education (school attendance, literacy); birthplace of person and each parent. |
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Historical ContextHistorical Context
The 1880 Census reflects the post-Reconstruction United States. Under the new 1879 law, census-taking was professionalized: marshals and assistants were replaced by dedicated supervisors and enumerators. For the first time, enumerators were provided detailed maps of their districts, helping ensure full coverage of streets and households. The Census Office also emphasized privacy: enumerators took an oath and were forbidden to disclose information. Notably, women were permitted to serve as enumerators for the first time. This census also coincided with rapid population growth (32.5% in the prior decade) and expanding U.S. boundaries – Alaska was included as “unorganized territory,” and territories like Idaho and Wyoming were enumerated.
Five schedules were authorized by the 1880 Census Act: the Population (Schedule 1) – collecting information on every person in each household – and four non-population schedules. The Mortality schedule (Schedule 2) followed the 1870 model and added questions on marital status, parents’ birthplaces, length of residence in the U.S., and place of contagion if death was due to disease. The Agriculture schedule (3) greatly expanded questions on crops, farm tenure and labor, fertilizer, etc.. The Manufactures schedule (5) added new inquiries on labor force and machinery. The Social Statistics schedule (4) was not filled by enumerators but collected by special agents from institutional records (colleges, churches, businesses, etc.). (The Act also permitted some states to take mid-decade censuses in 1885, though their returns were not published federally.)
Population Schedule QuestionsPopulation Schedule Questions
The main population schedule in 1880 was largely similar to 1870’s form but with important enhancements. Enumerators listed every person living in a household as of June 1, 1880 (including children born since the prior census). Key data recorded were: name; relationship to head of household (new in 1880); sex; race/color (with categories White, Black, Mulatto, Chinese, Indian); age (and if under 1 year, specify months); marital status (single, married, widowed, divorced) and whether married in the census year; occupation and number of months unemployed during the year; health indicators: temporary sickness/disability on the day of enumeration and marks for blind, deaf, idiotic, insane, or disabled; education: school attendance and inability to read/write; and place of birth of each person and of the father and mother. Enumerators used a slash “/” to mark affirmative answers in literacy and health columns.
The new relationship column (col.8) was a landmark addition. For the first time, the census explicitly identified how each person was related to the head of the household. This made it far easier to distinguish wives, children, boarders, servants, etc. Likewise, columns 24–26 now recorded the birthplaces of the individual and both parents, giving researchers immediate clues to an ancestor’s ethnic and immigrant origins. Census column 1–2, added in 1880 for city use, recorded street name and house number, so urban addresses are often given in this census (a boon for locating residences). Other changes included explicitly noting the month of birth if born during the census year (col.7) and recording marriages that took place between June 1879 and May 1880 (col.12). (By law, any child born after June 1, 1880 was excluded from this census; similarly, those who died after June 1 but before enumeration were still listed.)
Instructions to Enumerators and Data QualityInstructions to Enumerators and Data Quality
Enumerators were given detailed instructions and sworn to confidentiality. They were required to personally visit every dwelling and capture all persons present – this included boarders, lodgers, and workers living in lofts or above stores. In fact, the census office even instructed enumerators to work with city police in large cities to find men living in lodging houses. When an entire household was absent, enumerators were told to obtain information “as nearly as may be practicable” from the nearest neighbors, which sometimes introduced errors in age or spelling if a family had moved.
Some instructions notably affected who was counted. The law explicitly excluded “Indians not taxed” – that is, most Native Americans living on reservations under federal care. Only Indians living outside reservations (or off tribal rolls) were enumerated as part of the general population. (Simultaneously, the Superintendent was directed to make a separate count of “untaxed” Indians on reservations to gather data on their conditions.) As a result, many tribal members were undercounted in the main census.
Race classification was another sensitive issue. Enumerators received guidance that anyone with any noticeable African ancestry should not be counted as white. They were instructed to classify “mulatto” very broadly (including quadroons, octoroons, etc.). In practice, some census reports (e.g. for Washington Territory) collapsed “mulatto” into a single “colored” category, reflecting uneven implementation of the instructions. Other categories for Chinese, Japanese and “civilized Indians” were tabulated separately, an innovation of this era.
Enumerators were also careful to mark literacy and disability correctly. An affirmative slash (/) was placed if a person could not read or could not write, and similar slashes marked each disability. Enumerators were cautioned to be polite and efficient, and to use the head of household (or another trustworthy family member) as the source of information. The official guidance noted that almost all residents would willingly answer; in 1870 only a handful of households ever refused census inquiries. Enumerators did have the authority to reject answers they knew were false, though in practice most data problems arose from misunderstanding questions or incomplete knowledge by the respondent. (For example, the terms “idiotic” and “insane” were not defined for the enumerator, leaving these judgments to individual discretion.)
Challenges, Undercounts and InnovationsChallenges, Undercounts and Innovations
As with earlier censuses, certain populations remained hard to count. Reservation Indians were largely omitted, as noted. Transient and homeless individuals could slip through despite the instructions on lodging houses. The 1880 enumeration also coincided with rapid urban and immigrant growth, which posed challenges; indeed, the population of Chinese residents in some areas (e.g. the Pacific Northwest) grew dramatically (over 1,200% in Washington Territory), requiring special attention. Literacy and language barriers (for new immigrants and former slaves) could also lead to errors if the enumerator misunderstood an answer.
On the other hand, 1880 saw several innovations that improved data quality. The use of enumeration district maps (first implemented in 1880) helped ensure no streets or neighborhoods were missed. The introduction of detailed family relationships and urban addresses (see above) turned many ambiguous census entries into clear family groups. Statistical oversight was heightened: supervisors (150 appointed, one per district) oversaw about 28,000 enumeration districts, checking that no area was omitted or enumerated twice. Unlike 1870, the government now recognized privacy concerns, so these returns were kept confidential (a practice formally codified only later).
Records and Access for ResearchersRecords and Access for Researchers
Original 1880 schedules (Population and Nonpopulation) are held by the National Archives (Microfilm T9). These have been digitized and are widely available. Today FamilySearch offers free online access (with registration) to indexed images of the 1880 census, and MyHeritage.com provides searchable indexes and images by subscription. (The official 1880 Soundex surname index was later created only for families with young children, so researchers should use the full images if an ancestor isn’t found in the Soundex.) Mortality, Agriculture and other schedules are also accessible on these sites or via NARA. Indexed transcripts and images make searching by name, location or ED relatively easy; alternatively, one can browse by state/county, using the detailed enumeration district descriptions that survive for 1880.
Genealogical Use and TipsGenealogical Use and Tips
For family historians, the 1880 census is a goldmine. The Relationship to head column is its standout feature: unlike earlier censuses, you can immediately see who is spouse, child, parent, servant, boarder, etc. in each household, which greatly simplifies constructing family trees. Street names and house numbers (in cities) allow precise location of ancestors’ residences. The added columns for parents’ birthplaces often confirm an ancestor’s immigrant roots.
Other columns offer clues to life events: if a person’s birth is listed in column 7, you learn the month (1880 or 1879) they were born, guiding search for birth records. Column 12 notes if someone was married in the prior year (and the month), which can pinpoint marriage dates. Occupation and unemployment columns (13–14) can explain family circumstances (e.g. a farmer’s crop failure might show months of no work), and school attendance or illiteracy columns (21–23) indicate education levels of each family member. Health columns (15–20) may rarely note a temporary sickness or disability; for example, an entry might record that two children had “bilious fever” on the census date, a sobering personal detail.
In practice, a good strategy is to use the census to confirm household composition and residence, then chase vital records with that frame. The 1880 census provides full names, ages, occupations, and birthplaces for all household members, plus parents’ origins. Compare siblings and neighbors across censuses: because borders and boundaries changed, pay attention to enumerator-district numbers or descriptions. Finally, use the indexed collections on FamilySearch or Ancestry to locate a family, but always verify with the image. The rich detail in 1880 can connect generations and flesh out your ancestor’s story in ways earlier censuses could not.
See alsoSee also
Explore more about the 1880 United States CensusExplore more about the 1880 United States Census
- 1880 United States Federal Census record collection at MyHeritage
- 1880 Enumeration Form - IPUMS USA
- 1880 Census Records - National Archives and Records Administration
- 1880 Census Instructions to Enumerators - National Archives and Records Administration
- 1880 U.S. Federal Census - Cyndi's List
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