Based on timeline, chances are you know someone that was listed on the 1950 Census for the United States of America. Whether that be you yourself, a parent, grandparent, or another close ancestor.

But are you aware you can easily search those family records?

In this blog article I will teach you about:

1. The 72 Year Rule
2. What questions / answers appeared on the documentation
3. Where the 1950 census records are available and how to get them
4. Step by step guide for Archives.gov
5. Reference video showing how to search for records

Read on to learn more!

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Why is there a 72 Year Rule on the Census?

So maybe you have wondered why it takes so long to see records released. Or if you will ever get to see a census that you know you are listed on.

Well this rule is the reason for the delay.

According to census.gov, “The U.S. government will not release personally identifiable information about an individual to any other individual or agency until 72 years after it was collected for the decennial census.”

To simplify this, due to privacy protection of name, address, etc. the census is not available to the public for the prolonged period of time.

What Questions and Answers appear in the 1950 Census Records?

• Name of Street, Avenue, or Road
• House or Apartment Number
• Serial number of dwelling units
• Is this house on a farm or ran?
• Is this house on a place of 3 or more acres?
• What is the name of the head of this household?
• What are the names of all other persons who live here?
• Relationship (to the person head of household)
• Race
• Gender
• How old was he/she on their last birthday?
• Married/ Widowed/ Divorced / Separated/ Never Married
• What state (or foreign country) was he/she born in?
• Is he/she naturalized?
• What was this person doing most of last week – working, keeping house, or something else?
• Did this person do any work at all last week? Not counting work around the house.
• Was this person looking for work?
• Even though he didn’t work last week, does he have a job or business?
• How many hours did he work last week?
• What kind of work was he doing?
• What kind of business or industry was he working on?
• Class of Worker

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Where is the 1950 Census available?

The digital version is available on multiple family genealogy research resource websites such as Ancestry.com, and MyHeritage.com but those are limited to free trails and paid subscription accounts. But! There is a different website full of helpful information without having to pay a fee.

How do you get access to the census records?

The United States census is available to research for Free, yes completely free (!) on the government archives website. Visit https://1950census.archives.gov/

For a step by step guide on how to use the website:

• Click Begin Search
• Enter the following information to the best of your ability:
  • location- City, County, State
  • First Name and/or Last Name
  • Enumeration District (if you know it) The enumeration district is the area the census taker could cover in on one time period.
  • Indian Reservation Schedule (An Indian Reservation is land reserved for tribes under agreement with the United States.)
• Enter Search / Magnify Glass Image
• You will then see a list of possible Population Schedule matches
• Some information will be indexed, like the names will be listed typed out
• There is also a visual interactive grid to zoom in and out on the census record
• You can download the file and suggest transcription edits
  • For downloading, I suggest the largest file size “Whole Image 3956 x 4717 px” This will be in higher quality to see/read the content.

To watch a video of how to navigate the website:

YouTube Video Link

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