Search the 1850 census slave schedules
Key facts
- The count for the 1850 census began on June 1, 1850 and lasted five months.
- 23,191,876 people were counted. This included 3,204,313 people who were enslaved.
- The census included 31 states and the territories of Minnesota, New Mexico, Oregon, and Utah.
- There were five new states in the 1850 census: Florida, Iowa, Wisconsin, Texas, and California.
- This census was the first to record most people's names, ages, occupations, places of birth, and value of real estate holdings. These facts were not recorded for enslaved people. Slave schedules (a separate census) recorded the sexes, ages, and "colors" of enslaved people, but did not record their names.
Information listed on the census
For enslaved people (in the Slave Schedules)
- Sex
- Age
- Color
- Enslaver's name
For the population schedules
- Name of each person in the household
- Age
- Sex
- Color
- Birthplace
- Marital status within the previous year
- Deaf, dumb, blind, or insane
- Occupation
- Whether they'd attended school in the previous year
- Ability to read and write
- Value of home
- City, village, town, or borough
- County