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.

Nineteenth census
of the United States

← 1960 April 1, 1970 1980 →

U.S. Census Bureau seal
1970 U.S. census logo
General information
CountryUnited States
Results
Total population203,392,031 (Increase 13.4%)
Most populous ​stateCalifornia
19,953,134
Least populous ​stateAlaska
302,173

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.

Percentage population change by state since the previous census (1960)

Data availability

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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.[1]

State rankings

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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

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Rank City State Population[2] Region (2014)[3]
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

Locations of 50 most populous cities

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Conclusions

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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.[4]

Notes

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  1. ^ "The "72-Year Rule" – History". U.S. Census Bureau. Archived from the original on October 4, 2015. Retrieved October 26, 2013.
  2. ^ Gibson, Campbell (June 1998), Population of the 100 Largest Cities and Other Urban Places in the United States: 1790 to 1990, U.S. Census Bureau, archived from the original on September 2, 2017
  3. ^ "Regions and Divisions". U.S. Census Bureau. Archived from the original on December 3, 2016. Retrieved September 9, 2014.
  4. ^ http://www.upi.com/Audio/Year_in_Review/Events-of-1970/Apollo-13/12303235577467-2/#title "1970 Year in Review, UPI.com". Accessed April 8, 2009. Archived May 4, 2009.
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