1920 Census

November 5, 2009

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Profile America — Thursday, November 5th. The national census next April will be the 23rd time this once-a-decade count has been conducted since 1790. The 14th census in 1920 marked a nation in transition. For the first time, there were more people living in urban areas than in rural surroundings. The U.S. population was just over 106 million. New York had more than 5.5 million residents, while Los Angeles was home to fewer than 600,000. In the decade to follow, radio would burst onto the national scene, Reader’s Digest would begin publishing, and Charles Lindbergh would fly solo across the Atlantic. At the decade’s end, the stock market would crash, leading to the Great Depression. Profile America is a public service of the U.S. Census Bureau, now preparing for the 2010 Census.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, Through the Decades
http://www.census.gov/history/www/through_the_decades/fast_facts/1920_3.html