Although I can usually read the handwritten answers in the 1950 US Census, I wanted to see how the Census Bureau coded some answers for tabulation and analysis. Also, if handwriting is unclear or illegible, deciphering the codes will help me figure out what was written down.
With sincere gratitude to Steve Morse and Joel Weintraub, I used their special page to decode birthplace if born in the United States, birthplace if born in another country (and citizenship), and how related to head of household.
At top, some random examples I plugged into the special Steve Morse page. This shows how the drop-down menus work. I experimented to see all the coding possibilities and then looked at codes on some actual Census pages where my ancestors were mentioned.
By the way, remember that the coding only puts into numbers what the enumerator wrote. And the enumerator wrote what the resident said (or a neighbor said). Not necessarily the truth, but what the enumerator was told.
If this country code had said 255, it would mean born in Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, but not a US citizen.
If this country code had said 355, it would mean born in Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, and parents are US citizens.
Relationship to head of household
The step-daughter in this example is coded as 3, which stands for son, daughter, or step-child. NOT included in this code are sons-in-law and daughters-in-law, coded separately as as 4.
The sister of head is coded as 7. This code covers brothers, sisters, brothers-in-law, sisters-in-law, nephews, nieces, uncles, aunts, grandparents, cousins, and so on.
The lodger in a household is coded as 9, meaning non-relative of head of household.
Decoding the codes is a fun extra as I wring every bit of info from what enumerators recorded about my ancestors during the 1950 US Census.
BIG NEWS! Ancestry has uploaded an "early version" of the index for the entire 1950 US Census. For more, see Crista Cowan on YouTube here.
This is excellent. Thanks for gathering this info for us.
ReplyDeleteThanks. I have a really puzzling entry for one guy and it has a 9, showing non-relative, but his entry also has a dwelling number. He is on the last page. It's a real puzzle, as there is an address that does not match the dwelling number in the previous pages. I may never figure it out.
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