What Was the Population of the U.S. Throughout Its History?

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The population of the United States has continued to increase since independence. A census has been conducted at the beginning of each decade since 1790. The numbers are acquired in a variety of ways including door-to-door polling, but the Census Bureau never has counted every individual. In addition to general population information, the Census Bureau also collects other data ranging from ethnicity to income to housing.

U.S. population growth is attributable to a positive difference between immigration and emigration (net international migration) and to the birth rate exceeding the death rate (natural increase). Over half of recent increases are due to natural increase.

The Census Bureau also provides projections for the future, but these are highly speculative. We have shown their 'middle estimates' extending to 2100.

year	population
2100	570,954,000
2090	533,605,000
2080	497,830,000
2070	463,639,000
2060	432,011,000
2050	403,687,000
2040	377,350,000
2030	351,071,000
2020	324,928,000
2010	299,862,000
2000	281,422,000
1990	248,710,000
1980	226,542,000
1970	203,302,000
1960	179,323,000
1950	151,325,000
1940	132,164,000
1930	123,203,000
1920	106,022,000
1910	92,228,000
1900	76,212,000
1890	62,980,000
1880	50,189,000
1870	38,558,000
1860	31,443,000
1850	23,192,000
1840	17,069,000
1830	12,866,000
1820	9,638,000
1810	7,240,000
1800	5,308,000
1790	3,929,000

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Link to Sources

US Population Clock
US Census Bureau