Pennsylvania Census

United States U.S. Census Pennsylvania Census

Tips

If at first you don't find a name, try again under another spelling.
Photocopy each ancestor's census. Identify where you found it.
Look for an ancestor in every census during her or his lifetime.
On the family group record show each person's census listings.
Study others in the same household, neighbors, and anyone with the similar names nearby on the census in community context.

For a list of the exact date of each federal census, click here.

Online Pennsylvania indexes and images

Template:Census Online Pennsylvania

Federal population schedules

Microfilm images

Indexes: fiche, film, or book

For a list of microform and book indexes for the population schedules of Pennsylvania, click here

Federal non-population schedules

Online indexes and images

Online Federal Non-Population Schedules for Pennsylvania
		Free				Free at Some Libraries (usually with library card)		Pay
Year	Type	Record Search	Census Bureau	Google Book	PA Historical & Museum Commission	Ancestry FHL	Ancestry Library	Ancestry Home
1927	Agricultural	-	-	-	Link	-	-	-
1890	Veterans	-	-	-	-	Link	Link	Link
1880	Agricultural	-	-	-	Link	-	-	-
1880	Mortality	-	-	-	-	Link	Link	Link
1870	Mortality	-	-	-	-	Link	Link	Link
1860	Mortality	-	-	-	-	Link	Link	Link
1850	Agricultural	-	-	-	Link	-	-	-
1850	Mortality	Link	-	-	-	Link	Link	Link
1840	Pensioners	-	BookLink	BookLink	-	Link	Link	Link

Microfilm images

United States. Census Office. 11th Census, 1890. Schedules Enumerating Union Veterans and Widows of Union Veterans of the Civil War. (Family History Library films 338160-277, Pennsylvania is on films 338237-50.)

Indexes: fiche, film, or book

For a list of microform and book indexes for the non-population schedules of Pennsylvania, click here.

State and colonial censuses

1857 Chester County only: a list of taxable inhabitants by Township.^[1]^[2]
1671 Philadelphia and Delaware counties in Pennsylvania; New Castle County, Delaware, and Burlington County, New Jersey.^[3]

Existing and lost censuses

For a list of available and missing Pennsylvania censuses, click here.

Why use a census?

A well-indexed census is one of the easiest ways to locate where an ancestor's family lived and when they lived there. You can also use censuses to follow the changes in a family over time, and identify neighbors. These and other clues provided by censuses are important because they help find additional kinds of records about the family.

More about censuses

Click here for additional details about how to use censuses, such as:

Sources and footnotes

↑ Ann S. Lainhart, State Census Records (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing, 1992), no Pennsylvania listing.
↑ Henry J. Dubester, State Censuses: An Annotated Bibliography of Censuses of Population Taken After the Year 1790 by States and Territories of the United States (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1948), 54.
↑ Peter Stebbins Craig, 1671 Census of the Delaware (Philadelphia, Pa.: Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania, 1999)[FHL Book 974 X2c 1671].

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[1] Ann S. Lainhart, State Census Records (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing, 1992), no Pennsylvania listing.

[2] Henry J. Dubester, State Censuses: An Annotated Bibliography of Censuses of Population Taken After the Year 1790 by States and Territories of the United States (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1948), 54.

[3] Peter Stebbins Craig, 1671 Census of the Delaware (Philadelphia, Pa.: Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania, 1999)[FHL Book 974 X2c 1671].

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