CENSUS
US State Populations

The US Constitution mandates that the apportionment of the House of Representatives be based on the population of the states, and that a census of state populations be made every ten years for this purpose.

The files here contain some rough, recent census results for the states. With a little care, this information can be used to study various schemes for "fair" distribution of the seats in the House of Representatives.

Related Data and Programs:

APPORTIONMENT is a FORTRAN90 library of routines which implements simple versions of some of the apportionment rules used for the House of Representatives.

Datasets:

Here are state populations as taken from the census. The states are listed alphabetically, and include the District of Columbia. Each line begins with the two letter abbreviation for the state, followed by its population.

• census_1900.txt, census results for 1900.
• census_1910.txt, census results for 1910.
• census_1920.txt, census results for 1920.
• census_1930.txt, census results for 1930.
• census_1930.txt, census results for 1930.
• census_1940.txt, census results for 1940.
• census_1950.txt, census results for 1950.
• census_1960.txt, census results for 1960.
• census_1970.txt, census results for 1970.
• census_1980.txt, census results for 1980.
• census_1990.txt, census results for 1990.
• census_2000.txt, census results for 2000.

Here are the number of representatives assigned to each state and the District of Columbia (which has zero). The states are sorted alphabetically. Each line begins with the two letter postal abbreviation for the state, followed by the number of representatives based on the census of that decade.

• reps_1789.txt, initial assignments made by the US Constitution.
• reps_1790.txt, based on the 1790 census.
• reps_1800.txt, based on the 1800 census.
• reps_1810.txt, based on the 1810 census.
• reps_1820.txt, based on the 1820 census.
• reps_1830.txt, based on the 1830 census.
• reps_1840.txt, based on the 1840 census.
• reps_1850.txt, based on the 1850 census.
• reps_1860.txt, based on the 1860 census.
• reps_1870.txt, based on the 1870 census.
• reps_1880.txt, based on the 1880 census.
• reps_1890.txt, based on the 1890 census.
• reps_1900.txt, based on the 1900 census.
• reps_1910.txt, based on the 1910 census.
• reps_1920.txt, based on the 1920 census. (Actually, in violation of the Constitution, no reapportionment was done following the 1920 census, and so the 1920 apportionment is the same as that for 1910!)
• reps_1930.txt, based on the 1930 census.
• reps_1940.txt, based on the 1940 census.
• reps_1950.txt, based on the 1950 census.
• reps_1960.txt, based on the 1960 census.
• reps_1970.txt, based on the 1970 census.
• reps_1980.txt, based on the 1980 census.
• reps_1990.txt, based on the 1990 census.
• reps_2000.txt, based on the 2000 census.

Here are a few auxilliary files:

• state_id.txt, the 2 letter postal codes of the states and the District of Columbia, corresponding to the alphabetical ordering of the full state names.
• state_name.txt, the full names of the states and the District of Columbia, in alphabetical order.
• state_statehood.txt, statehood date of each state, and the District of Columbia, in alphabetical order, listing 2 letter postal code, year, month and day.

You can go up one level to the DATASETS directory.