U.S. Federal Census Indexes FAQ

A census is an official count of the people living in a country, state, district, or city. It also collects facts like their age, sex, birthplace, and property. Since 1790, the U.S. government has taken a census every 10 years. Early censuses mainly counted how many people lived in each area. Over time, more questions were asked to learn more about the population. By 1920, census workers (enumerators) asked 29 questions about each head of household and almost as many questions about everyone else in the household. Few other records reveal as much information about people and families as the U.S. census does.

Census indexes are transcribed lists of names and other basic details from census records, which makes it easier to find people and access original census records. They usually include names, locations, and references to where you can view the full record and original image. Instead of reading through every census page, you can use the index to locate the person you're searching for quickly. Most genealogists start with census indexes because they save time and often lead to more information.

The U.S. Federal Census Index contains basic details from census records like names, locations (state and county and often township), census year, type, and page number where you can find the person in the census record. The index is only a starting point. To get more information and verify the details in the index, check the full census record image. If you can’t find someone in the index, check the census records for that area just in case they were missed or were mistranscribed.

Here’s what common census index fields mean:

• Year: The year in which the census was taken, or, for "early" census records (see below), it’s the year of the substitute record.
• Last Name, First Name: The person’s name, sometimes including middle name, titles, or initials. If the name was unclear to the indexer, it may have one or more asterisks. Always check the record image to verify the index information.
• Township/Other Info: This tells you more about where the person lived, like township, district, or ward (often abbreviated as "Twp.," "Dist.," "Div.," "E.D.," and "W."). It may also include extra information for older census years. For example, the 1790 Federal Censuses may share statistical information about the other household members.
• Record Type: The type of record being indexed, like federal census, voter lists, probate records, resident's lists, tax lists, state censuses, and non-population schedules (i.e., veterans schedules, slave schedules).
• Database: A description of the year, state, and record from which the index material was created.
• ID#: A unique identification number for each index entry. This can be used to report any errors.

U.S. Federal Census Indexes are one of the largest and most important resources for finding ancestors. They cover a specific time period and a wide geographic area, making them useful when you don’t know where someone lived. You can sometimes find a person with just a name. The indexes also help track a family’s movements from place to place over time. They’re a quick way to find where your ancestors lived and when. These indexes can also reveal new places to search for relatives. You might discover you’ve been looking in the wrong county or state and that there are other areas where more family members could be found.

Federal census records are one of the best sources for details about people and families and are often a great starting point for genealogical research. They help you place people in specific places at specific times. If you can't find other family, vital, or religious records, census records can still provide valuable insights about a person’s life.

A census record can provide details like the age, sex, race, occupation, and birthplace of each person in a household. It may also show if household members went to school, could read and write, or got married within the year. You might also learn other details, like the names of enslavers, where a person’s parents were born, and when someone immigrated to the U.S. or became a citizen.

There are several reasons you might not find people in census records. Some people didn’t trust the government and refused to answer questions, or they gave incorrect information. Others were missed by the census takers (enumerators), or mistakes were made when recording the data. Even though census records provide a lot of information, they have limitations, such as missing, mistranscribed, or incorrect details.

If there’s no federal census for the years you're searching, try looking at colonial, territorial, state, and other censuses to fill in the gaps. You can also check the census records for the years before or after the one you’re looking for—they might have the information you need.

An index entry is just a reference to the detailed information found in census records. To get more information, check the actual census record images. 
If the image isn’t available on Ancestry, you can find microfilmed copies of census records (from 1790 to 1950) at the National Archives in Washington, D.C., LDS Family History Libraries, and large libraries. Some state and local agencies may have census record images for their area.

You can search by first name only (especially helpful for uncommon names), last name only, or use wildcards or Soundex (to catch different spellings).

You can search all 50 states at once or narrow your search to a specific state, county, or township.

For more help, check out Ancestry® Search Tips.
 

We work hard to make the census data as accurate as possible, but some mistakes happen. Errors can come from the original census takers (enumerators), spelling mistakes, wrong information, or or indexing mistakes.

If you find an error in the census index, you can submit a correction.
 

Census records aren’t perfect. You might find misspelled names, missing people, wrong information, or mistakes about places and dates. Even when people answered honestly, census takers sometimes misunderstood them, especially when spelling wasn’t consistent. If you spot an error in the census index, you can submit a correction.

Be flexible when you search. Try different spellings, use wildcards or soundex searches, and look for other ways a name might have been recorded. For help, check out Ancestry® Search Tips.
 

To protect the privacy of living people, the U.S. government keeps census records private for 72 years after they’re taken. This means records after 1950 aren’t available to the public yet.

However, you can request an official transcript of census records from 1920 to 2020 from the U.S. Census Bureau for a fee using Form BC-600. Only the person named, their authorized representative, or their heirs (if the person is deceased) can request it.