US releases 1940 census data after 72 years, giving you a chance to see what your grandparents were up to

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US releases 1940 census data after 72 years, giving you a chance to see what your grandparents were up to

After the required 72 year waiting period, the US Census released its census data from 1940 this past weekend. If you’re at all curious about what your grandparents, great aunts or uncles or parents were up to in 1940, you might be able to find something interesting.

You can view the raw census data here, though Ancestry.com has a much better database search, though you will have to sign up for a free Ancestry.com account to use it. It’s a tremendous amount of information, and hopefully you can find what and who you’re looking for. The last census data, from 1930 was released in 2002 and the next census won’t be released til 2022, so this is a cool opportunity for anyone looking to fill out their family tree.

And no, this is not sponsored by Ancestry.com, it’s just that they honestly do have the best database search of this information so far. You can go mining through it on your own, but it’s a real pain in the ass. Okay, so jumping through Ancestry’s hoops to get the information you want without accidentally signing up for their paid service is sort of a pain in the ass, but it’s the best I could find for right now.

Search the database here on Ancestry.com