1920 State Populations

**Sustained growth and rapid urbanization.**

In 1920, the United States recorded a population of approximately 106 million people (106,021,537 according to the census), marking a nation undergoing significant demographic shifts driven by industrialization and post-World War I societal changes. The decade ushered in a profound rural-to-urban migration, with burgeoning industrial centers in the Northeast and Midwest experiencing robust growth as people left agricultural areas seeking economic opportunities; states like New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Illinois, and Michigan saw substantial increases. Concurrently, the Great Migration saw a substantial movement of African Americans from the rural South to these Northern and Midwestern cities, drastically altering the demographic composition of both regions and often leading to slower overall population growth or even stagnation in some Southern states, while continued, albeit less dramatic, westward expansion, particularly in states like California, further diversified the national population spread.

Data Source: US Census Bureau