The first U.S. census recorded a total population of 3,929,214 in 1790.
The census was conducted under the authority of the Constitution, which required the population to be counted for representation and direct taxation. Marshals and their assistants visited households across the 13 states, as well as the districts that later became part of Kentucky, Maine, Tennessee, and Vermont’s census reporting history. The official count covered free people and enslaved people, but it did not treat everyone equally in representation calculations.
The 1790 enumeration asked for information including the names of heads of households and counts of free white males, free white females, other free persons, and enslaved people. The schedule did not collect modern categories such as race, occupation, or income in the detailed form used by later censuses.
The published total is lower than the population of any modern U.S. census by an enormous margin. It is also often confused with estimates that include territories or with later revisions. The census established the decennial population-counting tradition that continues today.