Census Bureau Facts for Features
A product of the U.S. Census Bureau's Public Information Office
CB99-FF.17 December 20, 1999
A Century of Change: America, 1900-1999
To commemorate the close of the 20th century, the Census Bureau, the nation's premiere statistical agency, compiled the following profile, which shows how the United States has changed since the beginning of the century.
Population Distribution
œ - As a country, the United States became more crowded during the 20th
century as its resident population nearly quadrupled from 76 million
on July 1, 1900, to 273 million on July 1, 1999.
<http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/1999/cb99-101.html>
œ - In 1900, our nation's most populous states were New York (7.3 mil.),
Pennsylvania (6.3 mil.), Illinois (4.8 mil.), Ohio (4.2 mil.) and
Missouri (3.1 mil.). By 1998, the top five had changed considerably:
California led all states with 32.7 mil., followed by Texas (19.8
mil.), New York (18.2 mil.), Florida (14.9 mil.) and Illinois (12.0
mil.). In 1900, California had only 1.5 million people and Florida,
529,000. <http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/cb98-242.html>
œ - Our population became older: in 1900, the median age for males was
23.3 years; for females, it was 22.4 years; in 1999, the median for
each had increased by more than 10 years, to 34.3 and 36.6 years,
respectively. And the proportion of the population that is elderly
(65 and over) more than tripled over the period, from 4.1 percent to
12.7 percent. At the same time, life expectancy at birth jumped from
46.3 years for men in 1900 to 73.6 years in 1997; women experienced a
similar increase: from 48.3 years in 1900 to 79.2 years in 1997.
<http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/1999/cb99-101.html>
- Men outnumbered women in the United States in 1900: 38.8 mil. versus
37.2 mil. But by July 1, 1999, the situation had reversed: 139.5 mil.
women versus 133.4 mil. men.
<http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/1999/cb99-101.html>
œ- In 1900, the "Wild West" was a not-so-distant memory. And typical of
those frontier days, men outnumbered women by wide margins in several
western states and territories, namely, Alaska (46,000 to 18,000),
Hawaii (106,000 to 48,000), Montana (150,000 to 93,000), Nevada
(26,000 to 17,000) and Wyoming (58,000 to 34,000). By 1998, in the
few states where women constituted the minority sex, they were not in
the minority by much. <http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/cb98-242.html>
Coming to America
œ - The nation's foreign-born resident population totaled 10.3 mil. at
the start of the century -- 13.6 percent of the total U.S. population.
The numerical total in 1998 was 25.2 mil. and the percentage of the
whole, 9.3 percent, less than the 20th century high of 14.7 percent in
1910, but more than the low of 4.7 percent in 1970.
<http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/1999/cb99-171.html>
œ - Yes, people from around the world are still coming to America, they're
just coming from different places. One hundred years ago, most
immigrants were from Europe: Germany (2.7 mil.), Ireland (1.6 mil.),
Canada (1.2 mil.), Great Britain (1.2 mil.), Sweden (582,000), Italy
(484,000), Russia (424,000), Poland (383,000), Norway (336,000) and
Austria (276,000) were the leading contributors to the foreign-born
population in 1900.
<http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/1999/cb99-195.html>
- ... by 1997, Latin America and Asia accounted for eight of the top
10 countries of birth for the foreign-born population (Mexico, the
Philippines, China, Cuba, Vietnam, India, the Dominican Republic and
El Salvador). The exact number and the exact order after Mexico are
uncertain due to sampling variability in the Current Population
Survey. <http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/1999/cb99-195.html>
The Workforce
œ - One of the most dramatic sociological changes this century has been
the participation of women (age 16 and over) in the nation's
workforce: the proportion of women in the workplace tripled from 19
percent in 1900 to 60 percent in 1998. The rate for men, meanwhile,
dipped from 80 percent to 75 percent.
<http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/1999/cb99-238.html>
Education
œ - At the beginning -- and even in the middle -- of the century, high
school diplomas were rare, indeed. Back in 1900, for instance, only
6 percent of 17-year-olds graduated from high school. By 1940,
25 percent of people age 25 and over had at least a high school diploma.
Today, a diploma is the rule rather than the exception: 83 percent of
people age 25 and over had at least a high school diploma in 1998.
<http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/cb98-221.html>
œ - The number of degrees conferred by the nation's colleges and
universities now is more than 70 times higher than it was at the
century's start: fewer than 30,000 were awarded in the 1899-1900
school year, compared with 2.2 mil. in 1995-1996.
<http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/1999/cb99-238.html>
Families œ
- In 1900, it was unusual to find people living alone, but relatively
common to see large households: only 5 percent of households in 1900
consisted of people living alone while 20 percent had seven or more
people. Over the course of the century, the proportions reversed: 26
percent of 1998s households had only one person; 1 percent had seven
or more. Consequently, the average household size dipped from 4.8
people in 1900 to 2.6 people in 1998.
<http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/cb98-228.html>
-œDivorce, almost unheard of in 1900, became more widespread. Fewer
than 1 percent of the nation's men and women (age 15 and over) were
divorced in 1900, compared with 8 percent for men (age 15 and over)
and 10 percent for women in 1998.
<http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/1999/cb99-03.html>
Health
œ - Diseases that terrorized the United States at the beginning of the
20th century no longer pose much, if any, threat today. For instance,
194 people out of 100,000 died from tuberculosis in 1900 while
typhoid fever and diptheria claimed 31 and 40 victims, respectively,
per 100,000 population. In 1997, there were 0.4 deaths per 100,000
population from tuberculosis; the other two diseases had been
eradicated in this country.
<http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/1999/cb99-238.html>
Automobiles
œ - At the start of the century, motor vehicles were few and far between:
a mere 8,000 of them were registered across the United States in
1900. Today, they are a vital part of our nation: by 1997, the number
of registrations had skyrocketed to 208 million.
<http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/1999/cb99-238.html>
The Military
œ - As the century began, the Spanish-American War of 1898 had left a
standing army, navy and marine corps of about 125,000 men. As of 1997,
the total number of active-duty U.S. military personnel, men and
women, exceeded 1.4 million. The century's peak, 12.1 million, was
recorded in 1945, the last year of World War II.
<http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/1999/cb99-238.html>
œ - Among the 1.2 million veterans in 1900, 1.0 million had fought in the
Civil War. As of 1998, the plurality of the nation's 25.1 million
veterans (8.1 million) were Vietnam-era vets.
<http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/1999/cb99-238.html>
The preceding facts come from the Current Population Survey, the Statistical Abstract of the United States, population estimates and Historical Statistics of the United States: Colonial Times to 1970. The data are subject to sampling variability and other sources of error. Previous 1999 Facts for Features: African American History Month (February), Valentine's Day (February 14), Women's History Month (March), Countdown to Census 2000 (April 1), Secretaries' Day (April 21), Asian and Pacific Islander American Heritage Month (May), Mother's Day (May 9), Father's Day (June 20), the Fourth of July, Back to School (August), Grandparents Day (September 12), Hispanic Heritage Month (September 15 - October 15), Disability Employment Awareness Month (October), American Indian Heritage Month (November), Thanksgiving Day (November 25) and the Holiday Season. Questions or comments should be directed to the Census Bureau's Public Information Office (Tel: 301-457-3030; Fax: 301-457-3670; E-mail: pio at census.gov).