Tabular Data Sources | IPUMS NHGIS

Documentation for the digital sources of NHGIS data tables:

Secondary Sources (1790-2010)
Decennial Census Summary Files (1960-2020)
- 1960
- 1970
- 1980
- 1990
- 2000
- 2010
- 2020
County Business Patterns (1970-2003)
American Community Survey (2009-2023)

See also the Overview of NHGIS Datasets for summaries of the sources used.

Secondary Sources

Most NHGIS data tables for years prior to 1970 were originally entered into machine-readable digital formats from print publications by researchers at other institutions.

The documentation provided here describes the content and sources of the digital files that NHGIS has integrated into its system.

Scanned versions of many print census publications are also available through the U.S. Census Bureau's Publications site.

1790-1960

Historical Demographic, Economic and Social Data: The United States, 1790-2002 (ICPSR 2896)
- ICSPR Study 2896 is the secondary source of most of NHGIS's pre-1970 nation, state and county-level tables, including population, housing, manufacturing, and religious bodies data.
- This is also the source of all NHGIS agricultural census data for years 1840-1910 and for all tables in these NHGIS datasets: 1850_1959_cFV, 1920_cPHAM, 1920_sOccFarmer, 1930_cPAE, 1940_cPHAE, 1950_cPHA
- Updates in either the ICPSR or NHGIS data may have produced incomplete correspondence.
- For more information, see ICPSR's Study 2896 page.
Historical Demographic, Economic and Social Data: The United States, 1790-1970 (ICPSR 3)
- ICPSR Study 3 is an earlier version of ICPSR 2896 with a smaller scope and was used by NHGIS for its initial data development.
- Where ICPSR 2896 deviates from ICPSR 3, NHGIS data may correspond to either source, depending on which updates were available at the time NHGIS added the data.
- For more information, see ICPSR's Study 3 page.

1910, 1920 & 1930 Tract & Enumeration District Data

Summaries of data provided by Andrew Beveridge, Queens College, City University of New York:

1915-1972 Vital Statistics: Natality & Mortality Data

The 1915-1967 births and deaths data are derived from printed annual reports of the U.S. Census Bureau (1915-1944) and the U.S. Public Health Service (1945-1967), most of which are available as PDF documents through this repository of the National Center for Health Statistics.

The 1968-1972 data are derived from individual-level microdata (either birth certificates or the Compressed Mortality File) from the National Center for Health Statistics.

Michael Haines at Colgate University provided NHGIS with the digital source data.

1970-2007 Vital Statistics: Natality & Mortality Data

The 1970-2007 births and deaths data (in dataset 1970_2007_cVS) are derived from the USA Counties database of the U.S. Census Bureau, which includes birth and death data from the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) and population estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates program.

WARNING: Where county boundary changes occurred, the population estimates may be based on *different* county boundary definitions than the birth and death counts. In some cases, NHGIS has attempted to standardize the counts and rates to describe consistent county definitions. Elsewhere, NHGIS supplies a note to indicate where inconsistencies may occur. In these cases, the reported birth and death rates may be inaccurate and should be interpreted with caution.

NHGIS supplies flags and note codes for these data records within output NHGIS data files. The flag text is provided completely within the output file. The notes corresponding to the note codes are given in the NHGIS 1970-2007 Vital Statistics Notes file.

Documentation for the original USA Counties database is provided through these Excel files:

Mastgroups - The generalized group classification of data
Mastdata - Individual data names and descriptions
Source - Source provider of data
Footnote Reference - Footnotes applied to some records
Flag Reference - Reference description and ID of flags used in data collection

1867-2010 Vital Statistics: Marriage & Divorce Data

The 1867-2010 marriage and divorce data (in dataset 1867_2010_cMD) were compiled by the National Center for Family and Marriage Research (NCFMR) at Bowling Green State University. NCFMR researchers derived the 2000 and 2010 data from county court record information obtained through individual state or county agencies. They derived the earlier data from print reports from the U.S. Bureau of Labor (1867-1886), the U.S. Census Bureau (1890, 1900, 1916, 1922-1932), the National Office of Vital Statistics (1949-1950, 1952, 1957-1958), and the National Center for Health Statistics (1959-1987).

Detailed Source List for Marriage & Divorce Data

NHGIS supplies note codes for these data records in output NHGIS data files. The notes corresponding to the note codes are given in the NHGIS 1867-2010 Marriage and Divorce Data Notes file.

1920-1935 Census of Agriculture Data

United States Agriculture Data, 1840-2012
- This data series, compiled by Michael Haines (Colgate University), Price Fishback (University of Arizona) and Paul Rhode (University of Michigan), is also available as ICPSR Study 35206
- Many of the datasets in this series were derived directly from ICPSR Study 3 or 2896, resulting in overlaps in series content.
- NHGIS used this source for all of its detailed agricultural datasets (those with "cAg" codes) for 1920 and later years.

1920-1936 Bank Deposit Data