US Census Questions and Your Family Tree

Use the Questions to Aid in Your Genealogy Quest

What were the US Census Questions? You need that answer for many reasons in your family history search. Here's where you will find them. Read them in your browser, or download and print an Acrobat copy of them. It's all here.

Everyone knows there is important and interesting information on the census records. But beyond names and ages do you know exactly what the census enumerators asked on any given census? Most of us don't.

If you are reading the census records on microfilm and the machine you are using is not equipped with a printer, how do you save that information to take with you.

Most of us transcribe it. In other words, we write it all down on paper we can take home with us.

If you are going to transcribe the records, it is easiest to do if you have forms to fill in rather than having to write everything, including the actual questions, down.

Where do you get those forms? You can buy them, download them from the Internet, or make them yourself. If you choose the latter, you need to know what the questions were.

So, What Were Those Questions?

If you want to save the United States census questions to your computer so you can read it or print it later, you will need to download the Acrobat file containing the question list.

Here for help getting or using the Adobe Acrobat Reader

To open the Question List in your browser, just click on the appropriate link in the table below for the census year you wish to see. It will open the list in your browser - either a new page or a new tab. To get back to this page from there, simply use the "back" or "<" button on your browser, close the page, or close the tab.

United States Census Questions

1790	1800	1810	1820	1830	1840
1850	1860	1870	1880	1890	1900
1910	1920	1930	1940	1950	-

Remember also that when you are out looking for census records and transcribing them onto your forms from the microfilm that it is very important to also list the source for each page you transcribe.

You may wish to return to that record again, and it is frustrating when you have to do the whole searching thing again.

Also, sourcing informs others reading your research that you did not make this all up!

Be Ready with the Questions