# 1970 United States census

The 1970 United States census, conducted by the Census Bureau, determined the resident population of the United States to be 203,392,031, an increase of 13.4 percent over the 179,323,175 persons enumerated during the 1960 census.
This was the first census since 1820 in which New York was not the most populous state—California overtook it in population in January 1963. This was also the first census in which all states recorded a population of over 300,000, and the first in which a city in the geographic South—Houston—recorded a population of over 1 million.
Accurate racial census data was required by both the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and the 1970 Census changed to identify race on the basis of self-identification rather than by government census enumerators.

## Data availability

Microdata from the 1970 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. These data were originally created and disseminated by DUALabs. Personally identifiable information will be available in 2042.

## State rankings

| Rank | State | Population as of 1970 census | Population as of 1960 census | Change | Percent change |
| 1 | California | 19,953,134 | 15,717,204 | 4,235,930 | 27.0% |
| 2 | New York | 18,236,967 | 16,782,304 | 1,454,663 | 8.7% |
| 3 | Pennsylvania | 11,793,909 | 11,319,366 | 474,543 | 4.2% |
| 4 | Texas | 11,196,730 | 9,579,677 | 1,617,053 | 16.9% |
| 5 | Illinois | 11,113,976 | 10,081,158 | 1,032,818 | 10.2% |
| 6 | Ohio | 10,652,017 | 9,706,397 | 945,620 | 9.7% |
| 7 | Michigan | 8,875,083 | 7,823,194 | 1,051,889 | 13.4% |
| 8 | New Jersey | 7,168,164 | 6,066,782 | 1,101,382 | 18.2% |
| 9 | Florida | 6,789,443 | 4,951,560 | 1,837,883 | 37.1% |
| 10 | Massachusetts | 5,689,170 | 5,148,578 | 540,592 | 10.5% |
| 11 | Indiana | 5,193,669 | 4,662,498 | 531,171 | 11.4% |
| 12 | North Carolina | 5,082,059 | 4,556,155 | 525,904 | 11.5% |
| 13 | Missouri | 4,676,501 | 4,319,813 | 356,688 | 8.3% |
| 14 | Virginia | 4,648,494 | 3,966,949 | 681,545 | 17.2% |
| 15 | Georgia | 4,589,575 | 3,943,116 | 646,459 | 16.4% |
| 16 | Wisconsin | 4,417,731 | 3,951,777 | 465,954 | 11.8% |
| 17 | Tennessee | 3,923,687 | 3,567,089 | 356,598 | 10.0% |
| 18 | Maryland | 3,922,399 | 3,100,689 | 821,710 | 26.5% |
| 19 | Minnesota | 3,804,971 | 3,413,864 | 391,107 | 11.5% |
| 20 | Louisiana | 3,641,306 | 3,257,022 | 384,284 | 11.8% |
| 21 | Alabama | 3,444,165 | 3,266,740 | 177,425 | 5.4% |
| 22 | Washington | 3,409,169 | 2,853,214 | 555,955 | 19.5% |
| 23 | Kentucky | 3,218,706 | 3,038,156 | 180,550 | 5.9% |
| 24 | Connecticut | 3,031,709 | 2,535,234 | 496,475 | 19.6% |
| 25 | Iowa | 2,824,376 | 2,757,537 | 66,839 | 2.4% |
| 26 | South Carolina | 2,590,516 | 2,382,594 | 207,922 | 8.7% |
| 27 | Oklahoma | 2,559,229 | 2,328,284 | 230,945 | 9.9% |
| 28 | Kansas | 2,246,578 | 2,178,611 | 67,967 | 3.1% |
| 29 | Mississippi | 2,216,912 | 2,178,141 | 38,771 | 1.8% |
| 30 | Colorado | 2,207,259 | 1,753,947 | 453,312 | 25.8% |
| 31 | Oregon | 2,091,533 | 1,768,687 | 322,846 | 18.3% |
| 32 | Arkansas | 1,923,295 | 1,786,272 | 137,023 | 7.7% |
| 33 | Arizona | 1,745,944 | 1,302,161 | 443,783 | 34.1% |
| 34 | West Virginia | 1,744,237 | 1,860,421 | -116,184 | -6.2% |
| 35 | Nebraska | 1,483,493 | 1,411,330 | 72,163 | 5.1% |
| 36 | Utah | 1,059,273 | 890,627 | 168,646 | 18.9% |
| 37 | New Mexico | 1,017,055 | 951,023 | 66,032 | 6.9% |
| 38 | Maine | 992,048 | 969,265 | 22,783 | 2.4% |
| 39 | Rhode Island | 946,725 | 859,488 | 87,237 | 10.1% |
| 40 | Hawaii | 769,913 | 632,772 | 137,141 | 21.7% |
| – | District of Columbia | 756,510 | 763,956 | -7,446 | -1.0% |
| 41 | New Hampshire | 737,681 | 606,921 | 130,760 | 21.5% |
| 42 | Idaho | 712,567 | 667,191 | 45,376 | 6.8% |
| 43 | Montana | 694,409 | 674,767 | 19,642 | 2.9% |
| 44 | South Dakota | 665,507 | 680,514 | -15,007 | -2.2% |
| 45 | North Dakota | 617,761 | 632,446 | -14,685 | -2.3% |
| 46 | Delaware | 548,104 | 446,292 | 101,812 | 22.8% |
| 47 | Nevada | 488,738 | 285,278 | 203,460 | 71.3% |
| 48 | Vermont | 444,330 | 389,881 | 54,449 | 14.0% |
| 49 | Wyoming | 332,416 | 330,066 | 2,350 | 0.7% |
| 50 | Alaska | 300,382 | 226,167 | 74,215 | 32.8% |

## City rankings

| Rank | City | State | Population | Region (2014) |
| 01 | New York | New York | 7,894,862 | Northeast |
| 02 | Chicago | Illinois | 3,366,957 | Midwest |
| 03 | Los Angeles | California | 2,816,061 | West |
| 04 | Philadelphia | Pennsylvania | 1,948,609 | Northeast |
| 05 | Detroit | Michigan | 1,511,482 | Midwest |
| 06 | Houston | Texas | 1,232,802 | South |
| 07 | Baltimore | Maryland | 905,759 | South |
| 08 | Dallas | Texas | 844,401 | South |
| 09 | Washington | District of Columbia | 756,510 | South |
| 10 | Cleveland | Ohio | 750,903 | Midwest |
| 11 | Indianapolis | Indiana | 744,624 | Midwest |
| 12 | Milwaukee | Wisconsin | 717,099 | Midwest |
| 13 | San Francisco | California | 715,674 | West |
| 14 | San Diego | California | 696,769 | West |
| 15 | San Antonio | Texas | 654,153 | South |
| 16 | Boston | Massachusetts | 641,071 | Northeast |
| 17 | Memphis | Tennessee | 623,530 | South |
| 18 | St. Louis | Missouri | 622,236 | Midwest |
| 19 | New Orleans | Louisiana | 593,471 | South |
| 20 | Phoenix | Arizona | 581,562 | West |
| 21 | Columbus | Ohio | 539,677 | Midwest |
| 22 | Seattle | Washington | 530,831 | West |
| 23 | Jacksonville | Florida | 528,865 | South |
| 24 | Pittsburgh | Pennsylvania | 520,117 | Northeast |
| 25 | Denver | Colorado | 514,678 | West |
| 26 | Kansas City | Missouri | 507,087 | Midwest |
| 27 | Atlanta | Georgia | 496,973 | South |
| 28 | Buffalo | New York | 462,768 | Northeast |
| 29 | Cincinnati | Ohio | 452,524 | Midwest |
| 30 | Nashville-Davidson | Tennessee | 448,003 | South |
| 31 | San Jose | California | 445,779 | West |
| 32 | Minneapolis | Minnesota | 434,400 | Midwest |
| 33 | Fort Worth | Texas | 393,476 | South |
| 34 | Toledo | Ohio | 383,818 | Midwest |
| 35 | Portland | Oregon | 382,619 | West |
| 36 | Newark | New Jersey | 382,417 | Northeast |
| 37 | Oklahoma City | Oklahoma | 366,481 | South |
| 38 | Oakland | California | 361,561 | West |
| 39 | Louisville | Kentucky | 361,472 | South |
| 40 | Long Beach | California | 358,633 | West |
| 41 | Omaha | Nebraska | 347,328 | Midwest |
| 42 | Miami | Florida | 334,859 | South |
| 43 | Tulsa | Oklahoma | 331,638 | South |
| 44 | Honolulu | Hawaii | 324,871 | West |
| 45 | El Paso | Texas | 322,261 | South |
| 46 | Saint Paul | Minnesota | 309,980 | Midwest |
| 47 | Norfolk | Virginia | 307,951 | South |
| 48 | Birmingham | Alabama | 300,910 | South |
| 49 | Rochester | New York | 296,233 | Northeast |
| 50 | Tampa | Florida | 277,767 | South |
| 51 | Wichita | Kansas | 276,554 | Midwest |
| 52 | Akron | Ohio | 275,425 | Midwest |
| 53 | Tucson | Arizona | 262,933 | West |
| 54 | Jersey City | New Jersey | 260,545 | Northeast |
| 55 | Sacramento | California | 254,413 | West |
| 56 | Austin | Texas | 251,808 | South |
| 57 | Richmond | Virginia | 249,621 | South |
| 58 | Albuquerque | New Mexico | 243,751 | West |
| 59 | Dayton | Ohio | 243,601 | Midwest |
| 60 | Charlotte | North Carolina | 241,178 | South |
| 61 | St. Petersburg | Florida | 216,232 | South |
| 62 | Corpus Christi | Texas | 204,525 | South |
| 63 | Yonkers | New York | 204,297 | Northeast |
| 64 | Des Moines | Iowa | 200,587 | Midwest |
| 65 | Grand Rapids | Michigan | 197,649 | Midwest |
| 66 | Syracuse | New York | 197,208 | Northeast |
| 67 | Flint | Michigan | 193,317 | Midwest |
| 68 | Mobile | Alabama | 190,026 | South |
| 69 | Shreveport | Louisiana | 182,064 | South |
| 70 | Warren | Michigan | 179,260 | Midwest |
| 71 | Providence | Rhode Island | 179,213 | Northeast |
| 72 | Fort Wayne | Indiana | 177,671 | Midwest |
| 73 | Worcester | Massachusetts | 176,572 | Northeast |
| 74 | Salt Lake City | Utah | 175,885 | West |
| 75 | Gary | Indiana | 175,415 | Midwest |
| 76 | Knoxville | Tennessee | 174,587 | South |
| 77 | Arlington | Virginia | 174,284 | South |
| 78 | Madison | Wisconsin | 173,258 | Midwest |
| 79 | Virginia Beach | Virginia | 172,106 | South |
| 80 | Spokane | Washington | 170,516 | West |
| 81 | Kansas City | Kansas | 168,213 | Midwest |
| 82 | Anaheim | California | 166,701 | West |
| 83 | Fresno | California | 165,972 | West |
| 84 | Baton Rouge | Louisiana | 165,963 | South |
| 85 | Springfield | Massachusetts | 163,905 | Northeast |
| 86 | Hartford | Connecticut | 158,017 | Northeast |
| 87 | Santa Ana | California | 156,601 | West |
| 88 | Bridgeport | Connecticut | 156,542 | Northeast |
| 89 | Tacoma | Washington | 154,581 | West |
| 90 | Columbus | Georgia | 154,168 | South |
| 91 | Jackson | Mississippi | 153,968 | South |
| 92 | Lincoln | Nebraska | 149,518 | Midwest |
| 93 | Lubbock | Texas | 149,101 | South |
| 94 | Rockford | Illinois | 147,370 | Midwest |
| 95 | Paterson | New Jersey | 144,824 | Northeast |
| 96 | Greensboro | North Carolina | 144,076 | South |
| 97 | Riverside | California | 140,089 | West |
| 98 | Youngstown | Ohio | 139,788 | Midwest |
| 99 | Fort Lauderdale | Florida | 139,590 | South |
| 100 | Evansville | Indiana | 138,764 | Midwest |

## Conclusions

California took over as the most populous state; New York had previously been ranked number one. While the entire country increased to more than 204 million persons, four states lost population, with West Virginia leading the list, down roughly 7 percent from 1960.