After locating documents and information from the web page, researchers can go to their local Family History Library and order the documents from Salt Lake. The federal census has been taken every 10 years since 1790. The earliest census contains only the names of the heads of households. From 1850 forward, names of every person were included on the census. The census contains information helpful to genealogy researchers such as age, place of birth and occupation.
Later censuses contain immigration and naturalization information.
The census is arranged by state and then by county. A census exists for every state that was a state at the time the census was taken. Knowing when the state you are researching became a state will aid you in determining the earliest census that is available for that state. Alphabetical indexes exist for the census years 1790-1870. For years 1880 and beyond, the soundex system is used.