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1930 census code explanation

OCCUPATION CODES APPENDED TO 1930 CENSUS

From the webpage of Stephen P. Morse:

The following codes have been summarized from the 200+ page 1930 Census Bureau publication “Classified Index of Occupations”. These codes were put on the census pages well after the enumeration was done, and therefore provide no additional information. However, sometimes knowing the code can help you determine the occupation in cases where the quality of the microfilm is poor or the handwriting of the enumerator is difficult to read.


From Researcher Mark Jacobson, Boca Raton, Florida:

“These code numbers were not filled in by the enumerator.  They were added later, sometimes years later, by tabulators checking the census for various statistics.  They were originally written in red pencil so the tabulators could find them easily and know that they were not put there by the enumerator, the problem is that the census pages were microfilmed in black and white and the originals destroyed.  The codes have no importance to anyone doing research – they were a simplified way for the tabulators to see how many people were foreign born, born in different states, etc.  The numbers were created using the information in the census.  Nothing new will be found from these
codes.  It’s the same as the occupation codes often found in the last few columns of many census years.”


CODES

In addition to the 13 numbered columns, the form # 15-202 contained three lettered columns “for office use only” into which a tabulation code was entered:

A-state code
B-country code
C-Nativity
D-occupation code

Subsequently, the data from the schedules were tabulated for statistical purposes, and this information was incorporated into the Bureau’s published reports on the fifteenth Census.

For a complete list of Nativity codes: see U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census. Coding Instructions for the Population Schedule. fifteenth Census of the United States, U.S. Government Printing Office: Washington, DC, 1930, (C3.37/6C64/1-3).

For a complete list of Occupations codes: see U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census. Classified Index of Occupations, Fifteenth Census of the United States, U.S. government Printing Office: Washington, DC, 1930, (C3.37/2:Oc1/2-2).

Also see:  https://www.archives.gov/research/census/1930/general-faqs.html