Census Records & City Directories

United States population censuses were taken in 1790 and every 10th year thereafter. Population schedules are available 72 years after the enumeration due to privacy reasons, so the most current population census currently available is from 1950.

U.S. federal census records for Connecticut are available online through different databases, such as Ancestry.com, the FamilySearch website, and HeritageQuest. The 1850 census was the first to give the name and age of every person in the household. Before 1850, only the name of the head of household is given, all other individuals are merely counted - i.e., 1 male between the ages of 5 and 10, etc.

For more information about census records, such as colonial and special enumerations, and to see what questions were asked each census year, please see our main Census Guide.

The links to each US Census below are available freely through the FamilySearch website. However, users must create an account with FamilySearch to access them.

In 2022, FamilySearch digitized many of the Census Records held in the CT State Archives. Though not searchable by name, researchers may access these records using pdfs created by library staff to view the original records. These are state copies of the federal records and may contain different or additional information. In addition to Population schedules, Agricultural, Industrial and Mortality schedules are included.