The population as reported by the decennial censuses has been as follows:
| YEARS. | White. | Colored. | Free colored. | Slave. | Aggregate. |
| 1790 | 3,172,006 | 757,208 | 59,527 | 697,681 | 3,929,214 |
| 1800 | 4,306,446 | 1,002,037 | 108,485 | 893,602 | 5,308,483 |
| 1810 | 5,862,073 | 1,377,808 | 186,446 | 1,191,362 | 7,239,881 |
| 1820 | 7,862,166 | 1,771,656 | 233,634 | 1,538,022 | 9,633,822 |
| 1830 | 10,537,378 | 2,328,642 | 319,599 | 2,009,043 | 12,866,020 |
| 1840 | 14,195,805 | 2,873,649 | 386,293 | 2,487,355 | 17,069,453 |
| 1850 | 19,553,068 | 3,638,808 | 434,495 | 3,204,313 | 23,191,876 |
| 1860 | 26,922,537 | 4,441,830 | 488,070 | 3,953,760 | 31,443,821 |
| 1870 | 33,589,377 | 4,880,009 | 4,880,009 | ........ | 38,558,371 |
Included in the aggregate for 1860 were 44,021 Indians and 34,993 Chinese, and in that for 1870, 25,731 Indians out of tribal relations, 63,199 Chinese, and 55 Japanese. The number of Indians sustaining tribal relations in 1870 was estimated at 357,981. In 1875 the number was reported by the commissioner of Indian affairs at 279,337, exclusive of 11,650 in Alaska; land reserved for Indians, 165,729,714 acres; number of agencies, 82. The representative population, excluding Indians not taxed and the inhabitants of the territories, was 38,115,641. The average increase in the aggregate population since 1870, in the 14 states that took censuses in 1875 and one in 1874, was over 15½ per cent.; at the same rate the population of the United States in 1875 would be about 44,590,000. The density of population in 1870 was 10.7 persons to the square mile, or, excluding the territories, 19.21. The total number of families in the United States was 7,579,363, having an average of 5.09 persons to each; the number of dwellings was 7,042,833, with an average of 5.47 persons to each. Of the total population in 1870, 32,991,142 were born in the United States and 5,567,229 in foreign countries. The number born of foreign parents was 9,734,845, and there were 1,157,170 persons of mixed (half native and half foreign) parentage, making 10,892,015 persons having one or both parents foreign. Only the nativity of those born in foreign countries is reported by the census. The distribution of the entire foreign element (10,892,015) into the chief nationalities has been computed as follows: Irish, 3,630,839; German, 3,307,205; British, 1,496,739; Scandinavian, 467,183; all others, 1,990,049. (See Emigration.) The distribution of population by sex, nativity, and color, in 1860 and 1870, was as follows:
| PARTICULARS. | 1860 | 1870 | ||||
| Total | Male. | Female. | Total. | Male. | Female. | |
| Population | 31,443,321 | 16,085,204 | 15,358,117 | 38,558,371 | 19,493,565 | 19,064,806 |
| Native | 27,304,624 | 13,856,313 | 13,448,311 | 32,991,142 | 16,486,622 | 16,504,520 |
| Foreign | 4,138,697 | 2,228,891 | 1,909,806 | 5,567,229 | 3,006,943 | 2,560,286 |
| White | 26,922,537 | 13,811,387 | 13,111,150 | 33,589,377 | 17,029,088 | 16,560,289 |
| Native | [1]22,869,805 | 11,643,081 | 11,226,724 | 28,095,665 | 14,086,509 | 14,009,156 |
| Foreign | [1]4,131,686 | 2,225,379 | 1,906,307 | 5,493,712 | 2,942,579 | 2,551,133 |
| Colored | 4,441,830 | 2,216,744 | 2,225,086 | 4,880,009 | 2,393,263 | 2,486,746 |
| Blacks | 3,853,467 | 1,936,586 | 1,916,931 | 4,295,960 | 2,115,380 | 2,180,580 |
| Mulattoes | 588,363 | 280,208 | 308,155 | 584,049 | 277,896 | 306,153 |
| Chinese and Japanese | 34,933 | 33,149 | 1,784 | 63,254 | 58,680 | 4,574 |
| Indians | 44,021 | 23,924 | 20,097 | 25,731 | 12,534 | 13,197 |
The number of males and females of school age, of males of the military and voting ages, with the distinctions of general nativity and race, and of male citizens of the voting age, was as follows in 1870:
| PARTICULARS. | Total. | Male. | Female. |
| From 5 to 18 years of age | 12,055,443 | 6,086,872 | 5,968,571 |
| Native | 11,509,126 | 5,811,730 | 5,697,396 |
| Foreign | 546,317 | 275,142 | 271,175 |
| White | 10,422,564 | 5,264,635 | 5,157,929 |
| Colored | 1,620,978 | 814,576 | 806,402 |
| Chinese | 4,143 | 3,666 | 477 |
| Indians | 7,758 | 3,995 | 3,763 |
| Males 18 to 45 years of age | 7,570,487 | ........ | ........ |
| Native | 5,697,085 | ........ | ........ |
| Foreign | 1,873,402 | ........ | ........ |
| White | 6,655,811 | ........ | ........ |
| Colored | 861,164 | ........ | ........ |
| Chinese | 48,666 | ........ | ........ |
| Indians | 4,846 | ........ | ........ |
| Males 21 yrs. of age and upward | 9,439,206 | ........ | ........ |
| Native | 6,896,623 | ........ | ........ |
| Foreign | 2,542,583 | ........ | ........ |
| White | 8,353,719 | ........ | ........ |
| Colored | 1,032,475 | ........ | ........ |
| Chinese | 47,531 | ........ | ........ |
| Indians | 5,481 | ........ | ........ |
| Male citizens 21 years of age and upward | 8,425,941 | ........ | ........ |
The total population 10 years of age and over was 28,228,945, of whom 14,258,866 were males and 13,970,079 females. There were engaged in all occupations 12,505,923, of whom 10,669,635 were males and 1,836,288 females, and 739,164 were from 10 to 15 years of age; in agriculture, 5,922,471 (5,525,503 males and 396,968 females), including 2,885,996 laborers and 2,977,711 farmers and planters; in professional and personal services, 2,684,793 (1,618,121 males and 1,066,672 females), including 2,053 actors, 43,874 clergymen, 975,734 domestic servants, 5,286 journalists, 1,031,666 laborers not specified, 40,736 lawyers, 62,383 physicians and surgeons, and 126,822 teachers not specified; in trade and transportation, 1,191,238 (1,172,540 males and 18,698 females); and in manufactures and mechanical and mining industries, 2,707,421 (2,353,471 males and 353,950 females), including, besides 41,619 mill and factory operatives not specified, 111,606 cotton and 58,836 woollen mill operatives, and 152,107 miners. The total number of blind was 20,320; deaf and dumb, 16,205; insane, 37,432; idiotic, 24,527. The total deaths from all causes during the year ended May 31, 1870, as reported by the census, were 492,263, being
