Over the last few weeks, I have compared the collections on the 3 paid subscription sites (Ancestry, FindMyPast and MyHeritage) for the Census and Voter lists category for Australia and New Zealand and Canada.
This week I will be starting to look at the Census and Voter lists for the United States.
MyHeritage has 55 collections, and FindMyPast has 52. FamilySearch has 90. Ancestry has 377. To compare the collections held on the 4 sites, I copied the details from each site into an Excel spreadsheet, and added columns for the state or territory, and year. For the Federal censuses, I put Federal in the State or territory column. For any collections that covered more than one state, or didn’t specify a state, I left the column blank.
Because Ancestry has so many collections, I will be working on one section at a time, starting with the Federal Census collections. All four sites have images for these collections. FamilySearch and FindMyPast are free.
| FEDERAL CENSUSES | ||||
| Collection title | Number of records | Year | Site | Comments |
| 1790 United States
Federal Census |
406,419 | 1790 | MyHeritage | |
| US Census 1790 | 1790 | FindMyPast | ||
| United States Census, 1790 | 408,505 | 1790 | FamilySearch | |
| 1790 United States Federal Census | 419,502 | 1790 | Ancestry | |
| 1800 United States Federal Census | 540,435 | 1800 | MyHeritage | |
| US Census 1800 | 1800 | FindMyPast | ||
| United States Census, 1800 | 540,398 | 1800 | FamilySearch | |
| 1800 United States Federal Census | 542,070 | 1800 | Ancestry | |
| 1810 United States Federal Census | 825,999 | 1810 | MyHeritage | |
| US Census 1810 | 1810 | FindMyPast | ||
| United States Census, 1810 | 827,020 | 1810 | FamilySearch | |
| 1810 United States Federal Census | 830,631 | 1810 | Ancestry | |
| 1820 United States Federal Census | 1,225,505 | 1820 | MyHeritage | |
| US Census 1820 | 1820 | FindMyPast | ||
| United States Census, 1820 | 1,226,220 | 1820 | FamilySearch | |
| 1820 United States Federal Census | 1,239,769 | 1820 | Ancestry | |
| 1830 United States Federal Census | 1,824,364 | 1830 | MyHeritage | |
| US Census 1830 | 1830 | FindMyPast | ||
| United States Census, 1830 | 1,824,437 | 1830 | FamilySearch | |
| 1830 United States Federal Census | 1,828,795 | 1830 | Ancestry | |
| 1840 United States Federal Census | 2,566,557 | 1840 | MyHeritage | |
| US Census 1840 | 1840 | FindMyPast | ||
| 1840 United States Census, Revolutionary War Veterans | 1840 | FindMyPast | ||
| United States Census, 1840 | 2,566,593 | 1840 | FamilySearch | |
| 1840 United States Federal Census | 2,585,887 | 1840 | Ancestry | |
| Revolutionary War Pensioner Census, 1841 | 195 | 1841 | Ancestry | |
| 1850 United States Federal Census | 20,571,627 | 1850 | MyHeritage | |
| 1850 United States Federal Census (Slave Schedule) | 3,178,264 | 1850 | MyHeritage | |
| 1850 United States Federal Census (Mortality Schedule) | 241,424 | 1850 | MyHeritage | |
| US Census 1850 | 1850 | FindMyPast | ||
| US Census 1850 Mortality Schedule | 1850 | FindMyPast | ||
| US Census 1850 Slave Schedule | 1850 | FindMyPast | ||
| United States Census (Mortality Schedule), 1850 | 257,789 | 1850 | FamilySearch | The 1850 Mortality Schedule is included in the U.S. Federal Census Mortality Schedules, 1850-1885 collection at Ancestry |
| United States Census (Slave Schedule), 1850 | 3,205,407 | 1850 | FamilySearch | |
| United States Census, 1850 | 20,224,571 | 1850 | FamilySearch | |
| 1850 United States Federal Census | 20,053,649 | 1850 | Ancestry | |
| 1850 U.S. Federal Census – Slave Schedules | 3,193,212 | 1850 | Ancestry | |
| 1860 United States Federal Census | 27,120,064 | 1860 | MyHeritage | |
| US Census 1860 | 1860 | FindMyPast | ||
| United States Census, 1860 | 27,150,731 | 1860 | FamilySearch | |
| 1860 United States Federal Census | 27,493,972 | 1860 | Ancestry | |
| 1860 U.S. Federal Census – Slave Schedules | 3,859,287 | 1860 | Ancestry | |
| 1870 United States Federal Census | 40,383,628 | 1870 | MyHeritage | |
| US Census 1870 | 1870 | FindMyPast | ||
| United States Census, 1870 | 40,350,669 | 1870 | FamilySearch | |
| 1870 United States Federal Census | 40,405,477 | 1870 | Ancestry | |
| 1880 United States Federal Census | 50,473,326 | 1880 | MyHeritage | |
| US Census 1880 | 1880 | FindMyPast | ||
| United States Census, 1880 | 50,471,461 | 1880 | FamilySearch | |
| 1880 United States Federal Census | 50,480,843 | 1880 | Ancestry | |
| U.S. Federal Census – 1880 Schedules of Defective, Dependent, and Delinquent Classes | 325,492 | 1880 | Ancestry | |
| 1890 United States Federal Census | 6,304 | 1890 | MyHeritage | |
| US Census 1890 | 1890 | FindMyPast | ||
| 1890 U.S. Census, Civil War Union Veterans and Widows | 1890 | FindMyPast | ||
| United States Census, 1890 | 6,285 | 1890 | FamilySearch | |
| 1890 Veterans Schedules | 881,002 | 1890 | Ancestry | |
| 1890 United States Federal Census Fragment | 6,304 | 1890 | Ancestry | |
| 1900 United States Federal Census | 76,460,854 | 1900 | MyHeritage | |
| US Census 1900 | 1900 | FindMyPast | ||
| United States Census, 1900 | 76,479,144 | 1900 | FamilySearch | |
| 1900 United States Federal Census | 77,277,539 | 1900 | Ancestry | |
| 1910 United States Federal Census | 92,639,466 | 1910 | MyHeritage | |
| US Census 1910 | 1910 | FindMyPast | ||
| United States Census, 1910 | 93,758,701 | 1910 | FamilySearch | |
| 1910 United States Federal Census | 93,627,758 | 1910 | Ancestry | |
| 1920 United States Federal Census | 107,445,111 | 1920 | MyHeritage | |
| US Census 1920 | 1920 | FindMyPast | ||
| United States Census, 1920 | 107,660,168 | 1920 | FamilySearch | |
| 1920 United States Federal Census | 107,684,890 | 1920 | Ancestry | |
| 1930 United States Federal Census | 125,150,767 | 1930 | MyHeritage | |
| US Census 1930 | 1930 | FindMyPast | ||
| United States Census, 1930 | 125,180,397 | 1930 | FamilySearch | |
| 1930 United States Federal Census | 124,964,073 | 1930 | Ancestry | |
| 1940 United States Federal Census | 134,437,340 | 1940 | MyHeritage | |
| US Census 1940 | 1940 | FindMyPast | ||
| United States Census, 1940 | 134,867,561 | 1940 | FamilySearch | |
| 1940 United States Federal Census | 134,484,648 | 1940 | Ancestry | |
| U.S., Selected Federal Census Non-Population Schedules, 1850-1880 | 5,884,130 | 1850-1880 | Ancestry | |
| U.S., Federal Census Mortality Schedules Index, 1850-1880 | 492,925 | 1850-1880 | Ancestry | |
| U.S. Federal Census Mortality Schedules, 1850-1885 | 1,607,736 | 1850-1885 | Ancestry | |
All 4 sites have similar collections, but Ancestry has a couple of additional collections that the other sites don’t have.
This list doesn’t display very well on my blog, so I have set up an Excel spreadsheet that you can download.
Featured image created using an image from
Unsplash (https://unsplash.com/search/grand-canyon?photo=JEq_2UJoTtg Photo byJad Limcaco) and Microsoft PowerPoint
