After reviewing my notes on various information sources, I realized that I still needed to transcribe all the columns from the US Census for Puerto Rico related to my ancestors. I began this process by attempting to decipher the column headings. However, even with maximum magnification on my monitor, I struggled to read them.
I decided to focus on understanding the enumerator’s handwriting in the Census rather than the printed column headings. To assist with this, I searched for resources that could provide the titles of each column. While I could generally interpret the content of my ancestors’ responses, I needed help comprehending the context of the questions included in the Census.
I found an excellent resource for the 1930 Census on a Roots Web page: Roots Web – 1930 US Census – Column List.
However, I noticed that the version for Puerto Rico did not contain all the same questions, and the order of the columns was sometimes different.
Below is my latest effort in translating the columns. I still need to work on adding the Spanish terms for each column. I hope this information can assist others on their Puerto Rican genealogy journey.
Check back as I add the 1910, 1920, 1940, and 1950 Census column descriptions.
1930 US Census for Puerto Rico – Census Columns
| COLUMN # | English/Spanish Description |
| Line Number | |
| 1 | Street Address |
| 2 | House Number |
| 3 | Attended school before sep 1, 1929 |
| 4 | Family Number |
| 5 – Extracted | Surname |
| 5 – Extracted | Given Name |
| 6 | Relation to Head (Parentesco) |
| 7 | Home Owned or Rented (Casa Propria or alquilada) |
| 8 | Home Value |
| 9 | Gender (Sexo) |
| 10 | Race |
| 11 | Age |
| (Calculated in Ancestry) | Estimated Birth Year |
| 12 | Marital Status |
| 13 | Attended School before sep 1, 1929 |
| 14 | Able to Read and Write |
| 15 | Birthplace |
| 16 | Father’s Birthplace |
| 17 | Mother’s Birthplace |
| 18 | Language used before migrating to US or Puerto Rico? |
| 19 | Year immigrated to US or Puerto Rico? |
| 20 | Naturalized? |
| 21 | Speak English (¿Hablas inglés?)? |
| 22 | Occupation |
| 23 | Industry |
| 24 | Class of Worker/Trabajador E= Employee, D=Dueno/Owner |
| 25 | UNEMPLOYED—Does this person regularly work in a lucrative business? Spanish – ¿Esta persona trabaja regularmente en un negocio lucrativo? |
| 26 | UNEMPLOYED: Are you currently unemployed? |
| 27 | UNEMPLOYED: How many weeks have you been unemployed? |
| 28 | Número en la tabla de finca. (# in the farm table) |
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