Statewide Kentucky Census records that exist for Kentucky are 1800, 1810, 1820, 1830, 1840, 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880, 1890 (fragment, see below), 1900, 1910, 1920, 1930 and 1940.
There are Industry and Agriculture Schedules 1850, 1860, 1870 and 1880. Slave Census Schedules exist for 1850 & 1860. The Mortality Schedules for the years 1850, 1860, 1870 and 1880. In 1790 the first federal census took place.
The 1790 and 1800 census records for the state of Kentucky no longer exist. However, there are still published tax records from that time available. They can fill in a lot of the missing census information for researchers.
The federal census for Kentucky from 1890 included a Union veterans and widows schedule. Records from that schedule for 65 of the counties in the state still exist. Several of the censuses for Kentucky have been indexed and published.
There are also published extracts available. The Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives also has microfilmed federal census records on file. AISI has published several census records, but many of the census indexes for Kentucky that are readily available actually predate the AISI records.
Starting in 1888 Kentucky occasionally took public school censuses. Each county’s Board of Education or Board of Health may have some of those records available.
Some records may be restricted by school boards, but records held by county clerks are generally not restricted. The Kentucky Historical Society and the Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives also have some school census records of file.
Searchable Kentucky Census Databases
- “Second Census” of Kentucky, 1800: A Privately Compiled and Published Enumeration of Tax Payers Appearing in the 79 Manuscript Volumes Extant of Tax Lists of the 42 Counties of Kentucky in Existence in 1800
- Early Kentucky Tax Records
- “First Census” of Kentucky, 1790
- Kentucky Census, Reconstructed, 1790
- Second Census of Kentucky 1800
- Kentucky Census, 1810-90
- 1860 Federal Slave Schedule
- Kentucky Census Books (amazon.com)