1980 United States census

The United States census of 1980, conducted by the Census Bureau, determined the resident population of the United States to be 226,545,805, an increase of 11.4 percent over the 203,184,772 persons enumerated during the 1970 census. 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.

Census questions

The 1980 census collected the following information from all respondents:

• Address
• Name
• Household relationship
• Sex
• 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.”

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.

Data availability

Microdata from the 1980 census are freely available through the Integrated Public Use Microdata Series. Aggregate data for small areas, together with electronic boundary files, can be downloaded from the National Historical Geographic Information System. Personally identifiable information will be available in 2052.

State rankings

Rank	State	Population as of 1970 census	Population as of 1980 census	Change	Percent change
1	California	19,953,134	23,667,902	3,714,768	18.6%
2	New York	18,236,967	17,558,072	–678,895	–3.7%
3	Texas	11,196,730	14,229,191	3,032,461	27.1%
4	Pennsylvania	11,793,909	11,863,895	69,986	0.6%
5	Illinois	11,113,976	11,426,518	312,542	2.8%
6	Ohio	10,652,017	10,797,630	145,613	1.4%
7	Florida	6,789,443	9,746,324	2,956,881	43.6%
8	Michigan	8,875,083	9,262,078	386,995	4.4%
9	New Jersey	7,168,164	7,364,823	196,659	2.7%
10	North Carolina	5,082,059	5,881,766	799,707	15.7%
11	Massachusetts	5,689,170	5,737,037	47,867	0.8%
12	Indiana	5,193,669	5,490,224	296,555	5.7%
13	Georgia	4,589,575	5,463,105	873,530	19.0%
14	Virginia	4,668,494	5,346,818	678,324	15.0%
15	Missouri	4,676,501	4,916,686	240,185	8.3%
16	Wisconsin	4,417,731	4,705,767	288,036	6.5%
17	Tennessee	3,923,687	4,591,120	667,443	17.0%
18	Maryland	3,922,399	4,216,975	294,576	7.5%
19	Louisiana	3,641,306	4,205,900	564,594	15.5%
20	Washington	3,409,169	4,132,156	722,987	21.2%
21	Minnesota	3,804,971	4,075,970	270,999	7.1%
22	Alabama	3,444,165	3,893,888	449,723	13.1%
23	Kentucky	3,218,706	3,660,777	442,071	13.7%
24	South Carolina	2,590,516	3,121,820	531,304	20.5%
25	Connecticut	3,031,709	3,107,576	75,867	2.5%
26	Oklahoma	2,559,229	3,025,290	466,061	18.2%
27	Iowa	2,824,376	2,913,808	89,432	3.2%
28	Colorado	2,207,259	2,889,964	682,705	30.9%
29	Arizona	1,745,944	2,718,215	972,271	55.7%
30	Oregon	2,091,533	2,633,105	541,572	25.9%
31	Mississippi	2,216,192	2,520,638	304,446	13.7%
32	Kansas	2,246,578	2,363,679	117,101	5.2%
33	Arkansas	1,923,295	2,286,435	363,140	18.9%
34	West Virginia	1,744,237	1,949,644	205,407	11.8%
35	Nebraska	1,483,493	1,569,825	86,332	5.8%
36	Utah	1,059,273	1,461,037	401,764	37.9%
37	New Mexico	1,017,055	1,302,894	285,839	28.1%
38	Maine	992,048	1,124,660	132,612	13.4%
39	Hawaii	769,913	964,691	194,778	25.3%
40	Rhode Island	946,725	947,154	429	0.0%
41	Idaho	712,567	943,935	231,368	32.5%
42	New Hampshire	737,681	920,610	182,929	24.8%
43	Nevada	488,738	800,493	311,755	63.8%
44	Montana	694,409	786,690	92,281	13.3%
45	South Dakota	665,507	690,768	25,261	3.8%
46	North Dakota	617,761	652,717	34,956	5.7%
—	District of Columbia	756,510	638,333	–118,177	–15.6%
47	Delaware	548,104	594,338	46,234	8.4%
48	Vermont	444,330	511,456	67,126	15.1%
49	Wyoming	332,416	469,557	137,141	41.3%
50	Alaska	300,382	401,851	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 rankings

Rank	City	State	Population	Region (2016)
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