The 1790 United States census counted 3,929,214 people.
It was the first national census and recorded the population as of August 2, 1790. The census followed the Constitution’s requirement that population figures be collected for representation and certain direct-tax calculations. United States marshals, rather than a permanent census agency, carried out the enumeration.
The total included free people and enslaved people under the categories used by the census law. It did not treat every person identically: enslaved people were counted as three-fifths of a person for apportionment, while Native Americans outside the tax system were excluded from the official count.
Virginia was the most populous state, with 747,610 people, while Delaware was the least populous, with 59,094. The 1790 total is often compared with later censuses to show the scale of early national growth. America250 provides a chance to connect the 1776 founding with the new republic’s first nationwide demographic snapshot.