US Census 1930
Explore the 1930 United States census and find out more about your ancestors.
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Explore the 1930 United States census and find out more about your ancestors.
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1930 US Census Quick Facts
- 1930 US Census Date:
April 1, 1930
(All reported data is “as of” this official date chosen by the census agency)
- 1930 Census Duration:
1 month
- 1930 US Census Population:
122,775,046
- President During 1930 Census:
Herbert Hoover
48 States participated in the 1930 census. Participating territories: Alaska, Hawaii, American Samoa, the Canal Zone, Guam, Puerto Rico and Virgin Islands.
1930 Census Data: 15th United States Census
- It took $40,156,000, approximately 87,756 enumerators and 35,700 published reports to complete the 1930 census.
- The US population increased by 13.7 percent from the 1920 census to the 1930 census.
Information requested for the 1930 US Census
Census Data:
- Street name
- House number
- Name
- Relationship to head of family
- Is the person's home owned or rented?
- If the home is owned, is it owned free or mortgaged?
- Does this person live on a farm NOW?
- Did this person live on a farm A YEAR AGO?
- Sex, Color or Race, Age
- Is the person single, married, divorced, or widowed?
- Has the person attended school at any time since Sept. 1, 1929?
- Can the person read and write?
- Person's place of birth
- Person's father's place of birth
- Person's mother's place of birth
- Year of immigration into the United States
- Is the person naturalized or an alien?
- Is the person able to speak English?
- Trade, profession, or particular kind of work done?
- Industry or business in which at work
- Is person an Employee (E), wage or salary worker (W), or own account (O)?
- Whether the person is actually at work?
- Record line number for unemployed
- Whether the person is a veteran of the U.S. military or naval forces mobilized for any war or expedition?
- If yes, which war or expedition
- Number of farm schedule
Census of Unemployment
Enumerators were instructed to fill out the following questionnaire for all gainful workers unemployed on the workday before the census date.
- Date of enumeration
- Sheet number of person's corresponding population schedule entry
- Line number of person's corresponding population schedule entry
- Name
- Does this person usually work at a gainful occupation?
- Does this person usually have a job of any kind?
- If this person has a job...
- How many weeks since he has worked at that job?
- Why was he not at work yesterday (or the last regular workday)?
- How many days did he work last week?
- How many days does he work in a full-time week?
- If this person has no job of any kind...
- Is he able to work?
- Is he looking for a job?
- For how many weeks has he been without a job?
- Reason for being out of a job
Questionnaire for Indian Population
- Sheet number of person's corresponding population schedule entry
- Line number of person's corresponding population schedule entry
- Name, Sex, Age
- Is the person of full American Indian or mixed lineage?
- Tribe
- Person's Post Office address
- Agency where the person is enrolled
No major loss of records from for the 1930 US census.
Famous figures of 1930: Walt Disney
Born in Illinois in 1901, Walter Elias Disney built an entertainment empire with his brother Roy that birthed unforgettable animated characters, adventure theme parks and one of the most recognized motion picture companies in the world. Disney is first and foremost remembered as an animator crafting his signature character Mickey Mouse for the first time in 1929, and won a total of eight Academy Awards for the first full-length animated film ever, Snow White, in 1937.
Disney spent $17 million to open the Disneyland theme park in 1955, attracting people from around the world to enjoy rides and meet Disney characters. Disney died in 1966 leaving Roy to open the Florida Walt Disney World theme park in 1971.
Walt Disney in the 1930 US Census while living in Los Angeles.
Historical Events Surrounding 1930 US Census
- March 1, 1936: The Hoover Dam is completed two years ahead of schedule
- In 1930, Richard Drew invents “Scotch Brand Cellulose Tape” known today as Scotch Tape
- Superman is introduced in comics in June of 1938
- March 3, 1931: Herbert Hoover signs an act officially declaring The Star Spangled Banner as the US national anthem
- In 1933, the 21st amendment to the constitution is ratified ending the prohibition of alcohol
- Adolf Hitler becomes Chancellor of Germany in 1933
- May 27, 1937: The Golden Gate Bridge opens in San Francisco, California
- October 30, 1938: The radio broadcast “The War of the Worlds,” a realistic sounding descriptions of Martians attacking the United States, causing widespread panic
Searching the US Census records
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Please note that the terms used in historical records reflect attitudes and language at the time and may now be considered derogatory or offensive.
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Researchers may use the Race field to find those individuals identified in the transcripts as ‘black’, ‘negro’, or ‘mulatto’. Note that we have standardised the spelling of ‘mulatto’, which is spelt in various different ways in the original records. The original records contain all three of the foregoing terms and, while the distinction between black and mulatto is generally adhered to, sometimes the terms are used interchangeably – the same man may be described as mulatto and black/negro in different records.
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Not all black or mulatto individuals are described as such – sometimes the records (or the transcripts) are silent in this respect. Therefore, if you find a man by searching, without a name, for the search term “mulatto”, for instance, you would then want to repeat your search under his name, removing the search term “mulatto”, to fetch all possible references to him.