4 Noticeable Differences in the 1950 Census

What differences in the 1950 census have you seen? Have you noticed new notations? Is the format different? Are the people arranged differently on this record? Yes to all of that! Things are slightly different on this record. I’ve had to learn it myself. So this article shares what’s new or different on this record. And what to do if you can’t find your relatives.

A bigger section for sample information

Having sample lines on a census to collect more information isn’t new. But on the 1950 census, there is a whopping 6 sample lines that have a ton of questions to ask each person. You’ll know if your relative is on one of the sample lines by seeing the line in bold and having the box poke out a little bit more on the left and right hand sides. This section is found at the bottom of each page.

“Not At Home” Notations

The 1950 census was the first census where the enumerators were told to write down if the person wasn’t home. Then they were supposed to go back another day and time to get their information. So you’ll see examples such as “not at home see page 79” written where your relative’s info should be.

But wait, what if there’s only 12 pages in the census group that you’re looking in? Where’s page 79? No worries! Just look in the top right corner for those page numbers. You’ll notice that it starts off numerically just fine then all of a sudden it will jump to 79. It doesn’t mean there are missing pages. It just means the enumerator gave it a random number at the end to show that this was a second trip to the same house. You’re fine! All of it is still there.

More Enumerator Notes

Have you read some of the notes written in the notes section? There pretty entertaining! You’ll see a snapshot of the enumerator’s day in those notes. Usually they wrote about who gave them the person’s information if nobody was home. It usually was a neighbor. But sometimes, they gave a reason why the person wasn’t home such as on vacation, away for the season, or visiting other family, etc. So for the first time, you get to see the actual reason instead of speculating why they weren’t home.

Codes Differences in the 1950 Census

You’ll see a lot of spaces where it says “leave blank”. You know it’s for office use only, but do you know what they are? They’re occupation codes, residence codes, income codes, birthplace codes, relationship to the head of household codes, and parents’ country of birth codes. They don’t give you any new information. They are strictly for data entry for the federal government and filled in long after the enumerator turned his papers in.

So why do you need to know this? Because if the handwriting is illegible or the digital copy isn’t good quality to see the info, then you have the code to tell you some information. It’s better than nothing if it’s your relative that you’re searching for. One place you can go to search these codes is stevemorse.org. He has a whole list of different codes with links to various information that will help you get what you need.

Not finding your relatives?

So you still can’t find your relatives. You’ve looked all over where they should be residing, scanned every person on every page, and still nothing. I’m in that boat right now! My relatives are not where they’re supposed to be. So there’s two things you can do. Go back to your research and see if you’re searching in the right place. Ask more questions of your living family for more specifics. Then wait for the census to be indexed because just maybe they’re in there, but in a spot that will only be revealed when the indexing is done. Or worst case scenario is that your relatives were missed when the census was taken. It is possible, but you’ll have to wait and see if that’s the case. On Family Search, you can see what has been indexed and what hasn’t so far.

Last Thoughts on the Differences in the 1950 Census

I love it when a new census comes out, but I’m also frustrated with many parts of it. It’s in this mess that we find our relatives, that we find our determination, our commitment to keep searching. This is how it’s supposed to be! Messy! But then we find them and it’s all worth it. Maybe you’ll find your relatives, maybe not. But you’ll learn a ton along the way.

And as always…good luck and happy hunting!

Tiffany

P.S. Related Reads…

• How to Research the 1950 Census Record
• How to Find the Whole Family on the Census

P.P.S.

Need help finding your relatives or just don’t have the time? Then contact me to set up a free consultation with me. I would be honored to help you.