FROM AN ESTIMATED 4,600 white inhabitants in 1630, the country’s population grew to a total of more than 308 million in 2010. It is important to note that the U.S. census, first conducted in 1790 and the source of these figures, counted blacks, both free and slave, but did not include American Indians until 1860. The years 1790 to 1900 saw the most rapid population growth, with an average increase of 25 to 35 percent per decade. In addition to “natural” growth—
Year | Population | Percent Increase |
1630 | 4,600 | — |
1640 | 26,600 | 473.3 |
1650 | 50,400 | 89.1 |
1660 | 75,100 | 49.0 |
1670 | 111,900 | 49.1 |
1680 | 151,500 | 35.4 |
1690 | 210,400 | 38.9 |
1700 | 250,900 | 19.3 |
1710 | 331,700 | 32.2 |
1720 | 466,200 | 40.5 |
1730 | 629,400 | 35.0 |
1740 | 905,600 | 43.9 |
1750 | 1,170,800 | 30.0 |
1760 | 1,593,600 | 36.1 |
1770 | 2,148,100 | 34.8 |
1780 | 2,780,400 | 29.4 |
1790 | 3,929,214 | 41.3 |
1800 | 5,308,483 | 35.1 |
1810 | 7,239,881 | 36.4 |
1820 | 9,638,453 | 33.1 |
1830 | 12,866,020 | 33.5 |
1840 | 17,069,453 | 32.7 |
1850 | 23,191,876 | 35.9 |
1860 | 31,443,321 | 35.6 |
1870 | 39,818,449 | 26.6 |
1880 | 50,155,783 | 26.0 |
1890 | 62,947,714 | 25.5 |
1900 | 75,994,575 | 20.7 |
1910 | 91,972,266 | 21.0 |
1920 | 105,710,620 | 14.9 |
1930 | 122,775,046 | 16.1 |
1940 | 131,669,275 | 7.2 |
1950 | 150,697,361 | 14.5 |
1960 | 179,323,175 | 19.0 |
1970 | 203,302,031 | 13.4 |
1980 | 226,542,199 | 11.4 |
1990 | 248,718,302 | 9.8 |
2000 | 281,422,509 | 13.1 |
2010 | 308,745,538 | 9.7 |
SOURCE: Historical Statistics of the U.S. (1960), Historical Statistics of the U.S., Colonial Times to 1970 (1975), Statistical Abstract of the U.S., 1996 (1996), Statistical Abstract of the U.S., 2003 (2003), and United States Census (2010). |