1980 United States census Last updated March 06, 2025 20th United States national census
Twentieth census of the United States U.S. Census Bureau seal
1980 U.S. census logo
Country United States Total population 226,545,805 ( 11.4%) Most populous state California 23,667,902 Least populous state Alaska 401,851
The 1980 United States census , conducted by the Census Bureau , determined the resident population of the United States to be 226,545,805, an increase of 11.4% over the 203,184,772 persons enumerated during the 1970 census . [ 1] It was the first census in which a state— California — recorded a population of 20 million people, as well as the first in which all states recorded populations of over 400,000. This was the first census to count Hispanic and Latino Americans as an ethnicity.
Census questions The 1980 census collected the following information from all respondents: [ 2]
Address Name Household relationship Gender Race Age Marital status Whether of Spanish/Hispanic origin or descent It was the first census not to ask for the name of the "head of household." [ 3]
Approximately 16 percent of households received a "long form" of the 1980 census, which contained over 100 questions. Full documentation on the 1980 census, including census forms and a procedural history, is available from the Integrated Public Use Microdata Series .
State population rankings A map showing the population change of each U.S. state by percentage. Rank State Population as of 1980 census Population as of 1970 census Change Percent change 1 California 23,667,902 19,953,134 3,714,768 18.6% 2 New York 17,558,072 18,236,967 –678,895 –3.7% 3 Texas 14,229,191 11,196,730 3,032,461 27.1% 4 Pennsylvania 11,863,895 11,793,909 69,986 0.6% 5 Illinois 11,426,518 11,113,976 312,542 2.8% 6 Ohio 10,797,630 10,652,017 145,613 1.4% 7 Florida 9,746,324 6,789,443 2,956,881 43.6% 8 Michigan 9,262,078 8,875,083 386,995 4.4% 9 New Jersey 7,364,823 7,168,164 196,659 2.7% 10 North Carolina 5,881,766 5,082,059 799,707 15.7% 11 Massachusetts 5,737,037 5,689,170 47,867 0.8% 12 Indiana 5,490,224 5,193,669 296,555 5.7% 13 Georgia 5,463,105 4,589,575 873,530 19.0% 14 Virginia 5,346,818 4,668,494 678,324 15.0% 15 Missouri 4,916,686 4,676,501 240,185 8.3% 16 Wisconsin 4,705,767 4,417,731 288,036 6.5% 17 Tennessee 4,591,120 3,923,687 667,443 17.0% 18 Maryland 4,216,975 3,922,399 294,576 7.5% 19 Louisiana 4,205,900 3,641,306 564,594 15.5% 20 Washington 4,132,156 3,409,169 722,987 21.2% 21 Minnesota 4,075,970 3,804,971 270,999 7.1% 22 Alabama 3,893,888 3,444,165 449,723 13.1% 23 Kentucky 3,660,777 3,218,706 442,071 13.7% 24 South Carolina 3,121,820 2,590,516 531,304 20.5% 25 Connecticut 3,107,576 3,031,709 75,867 2.5% 26 Oklahoma 3,025,290 2,559,229 466,061 18.2% 27 Iowa 2,913,808 2,824,376 89,432 3.2% 28 Colorado 2,889,964 2,207,259 682,705 30.9% 29 Arizona 2,718,215 1,745,944 972,271 55.7% 30 Oregon 2,633,105 2,091,533 541,572 25.9% 31 Mississippi 2,520,638 2,216,192 304,446 13.7% 32 Kansas 2,363,679 2,246,578 117,101 5.2% 33 Arkansas 2,286,435 1,923,295 363,140 18.9% 34 West Virginia 1,949,644 1,744,237 205,407 11.8% 35 Nebraska 1,569,825 1,483,493 86,332 5.8% 36 Utah 1,461,037 1,059,273 401,764 37.9% 37 New Mexico 1,302,894 1,017,055 285,839 28.1% 38 Maine 1,124,660 992,048 132,612 13.4% 39 Hawaii 964,691 769,913 194,778 25.3% 40 Rhode Island 947,154 946,725 429 0.0% 41 Idaho 943,935 712,567 231,368 32.5% 42 New Hampshire 920,610 737,681 182,929 24.8% 43 Nevada 800,493 488,738 311,755 63.8% 44 Montana 786,690 694,409 92,281 13.3% 45 South Dakota 690,768 665,507 25,261 3.8% 46 North Dakota 652,717 617,761 34,956 5.7% — District of Columbia 638,333 756,510 –118,177 –15.6% 47 Delaware 594,338 548,104 46,234 8.4% 48 Vermont 511,456 444,330 67,126 15.1% 49 Wyoming 469,557 332,416 137,141 41.3% 50 Alaska 401,851 300,382 101,469 33.8%
Between the 1980 census and the 1990 census, the United States population increased by approximately 22,164,837 or 9.8%.
City population rankings Rank City State Population [ 5] Region (2016) [ 6] 01 New York New York 7,071,639 Northeast 02 Chicago Illinois 3,005,072 Midwest 03 Los Angeles California 2,966,850 West 04 Philadelphia Pennsylvania 1,688,210 Northeast 05 Houston Texas 1,595,138 South 06 Detroit Michigan 1,203,339 Midwest 07 Dallas Texas 904,078 South 08 San Diego California 875,538 West 09 Phoenix Arizona 789,704 West 10 Baltimore Maryland 786,775 South 11 San Antonio Texas 785,880 South 12 Indianapolis Indiana 700,807 Midwest 13 San Francisco California 678,974 West 14 Memphis Tennessee 646,356 South 15 Washington District of Columbia 638,333 South 16 Milwaukee Wisconsin 636,212 Midwest 17 San Jose California 629,442 West 18 Cleveland Ohio 573,822 Midwest 19 Columbus Ohio 564,871 Midwest 20 Boston Massachusetts 562,994 Northeast 21 New Orleans Louisiana 557,515 South 22 Jacksonville Florida 540,920 South 23 Seattle Washington 493,846 West 24 Denver Colorado 492,365 West 25 Nashville-Davidson Tennessee 455,651 South 26 St. Louis Missouri 453,085 Midwest 27 Kansas City Missouri 448,159 Midwest 28 El Paso Texas 425,259 South 29 Atlanta Georgia 425,022 South 30 Pittsburgh Pennsylvania 423,938 Northeast 31 Oklahoma City Oklahoma 403,213 South 32 Cincinnati Ohio 385,457 Midwest 33 Fort Worth Texas 385,164 South 34 Minneapolis Minnesota 370,951 Midwest 35 Portland Oregon 366,383 West 36 Honolulu Hawaii 365,048 West 37 Long Beach California 361,334 West 38 Tulsa Oklahoma 360,919 South 39 Buffalo New York 357,870 Northeast 40 Toledo Ohio 354,635 Midwest 41 Miami Florida 346,865 South 42 Austin Texas 345,496 South 43 Oakland California 339,337 West 44 Albuquerque New Mexico 331,767 West 45 Tucson Arizona 330,537 West 46 Newark New Jersey 329,248 Northeast 47 Charlotte North Carolina 314,447 South 48 Omaha Nebraska 314,255 Midwest 49 Louisville Kentucky 298,451 South 50 Birmingham Alabama 284,413 South 51 Wichita Kansas 279,272 Midwest 52 Sacramento California 275,741 West 53 Tampa Florida 271,523 South 54 Saint Paul Minnesota 270,230 Midwest 55 Norfolk Virginia 266,979 South 56 Virginia Beach Virginia 262,199 South 57 Rochester New York 241,741 Northeast 58 St. Petersburg Florida 238,647 South 59 Akron Ohio 237,177 Midwest 60 Corpus Christi Texas 231,999 South 61 Jersey City New Jersey 223,532 Northeast 62 Baton Rouge Louisiana 219,419 South 63 Anaheim California 219,311 West 64 Richmond Virginia 219,214 South 65 Fresno California 217,491 West 66 Colorado Springs Colorado 215,150 West 67 Shreveport Louisiana 205,820 South 68 Lexington-Fayette Kentucky 204,165 South 69 Santa Ana California 203,713 West 70 Dayton Ohio 203,371 Midwest 71 Jackson Mississippi 202,895 South 72 Mobile Alabama 200,452 South 73 Yonkers New York 195,351 Northeast 74 Des Moines Iowa 191,003 Midwest 75 Grand Rapids Michigan 181,843 Midwest 76 Montgomery Alabama 177,857 South 77 Knoxville Tennessee 175,030 South 78 Anchorage Alaska 174,431 West 79 Lubbock Texas 173,979 South 80 Fort Wayne Indiana 172,196 Midwest 81 Lincoln Nebraska 171,932 Midwest 82 Spokane Washington 171,300 West 83 Riverside California 170,876 West 84 Madison Wisconsin 170,616 Midwest 85 Huntington Beach California 170,505 West 86 Syracuse New York 170,105 Northeast 87 Chattanooga Tennessee 169,565 South 88 Columbus Georgia 169,441 South 89 Las Vegas Nevada 164,674 West 90 Metairie Louisiana 164,160 South 91 Salt Lake City Utah 163,033 West 92 Worcester Massachusetts 161,799 Northeast 93 Warren Michigan 161,134 Midwest 94 Kansas City Kansas 161,087 Midwest 95 Arlington Texas 160,113 South 96 Flint Michigan 159,611 Midwest 97 Aurora Colorado 158,588 West 98 Tacoma Washington 158,501 West 99 Little Rock Arkansas 158,461 South 100 Providence Rhode Island 156,804 Northeast
Locations of 50 most populous cities Location of 50 largest cities by population in the United States in 1980
References ↑ "Population and Area (Historical Censuses)" (PDF) . United States Census Bureau. Archived (PDF) from the original on June 24, 2008. Retrieved June 20, 2008 . ↑ "Library Bibliography Bulletin 88, New York State Census Records, 1790–1925" . New York State Library . October 1981. p. 46 (p. 52 of PDF). Retrieved December 15, 2008 . ↑ Frum, David (2000). How We Got Here: The '70s . New York: Basic Books. p. 246 . ISBN 0-465-04195-7 . ↑ "The "72-Year Rule" – History – U.S. Census Bureau" . www.census.gov . US Census Bureau, PIO Census History Staff. Retrieved October 26, 2015 . ↑ Population of the 100 Largest Cities and Other Urban Places in the United States: 1790 to 1990 , U.S. Census Bureau, 1998 ↑ "Regions and Divisions" . U.S. Census Bureau. Archived from the original on December 3, 2016. Retrieved September 9, 2016 . This page is based on this
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