Product benefits
•	Search every U.S. Federal Census from 1790 through 1930—more than 550 million names.
•	Access original census images along with exclusive, every-name indexes for the years 1860, 1870, 1880 and 1930.
•	Find family facts like age, year and place of birth, year of marriage, residence, occupation, value of personal estate and more.
•	Trace up to six generations of your American heritage with more than 140 years of documented history.

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•	The US Census represents one of the most consistent forms of record keeping for the entire United States.
•	Your more likely to find ancestors in the census than in other historical records.
•	With 12 million images, Ancestry.com’s collection is the largest on the Web.
•	View or print actual images of the original, handwritten census from your computer.
•	Enjoy the thrill of finding interesting facts about your ancestors. You might learn if your relatives owned their homes or if they were born in another country.

Learn More About the Census

Why do we have the 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 was the first nation in the world to make the census a mandatory constitutional requirement. Since 1790, one census has been completed every ten years.
	The census continues today, though surveys are now mailed instead of delivered on horseback. And while the questions have changed, the census remains a valuable research tool for family historians.

Why search the census online?
	Ancestry.com offers the Web’s most complete collection of US 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 spanning 1790 through 1930. You can search all of our census records at once to find specific information about your ancestors – in seconds.

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