MARYLAND: Final Population Sixteenth Census of the
United States: 1940

POPULATION OF
THE STATE OF MARYLAND

FINAL FIGURES: 1940

Between 1930 and 1940 Maryland's rural areas continued to grow some-
what more rapidly than the urban places, according to the final figures from
the Sixteenth Decennial Census, issued today by Director William Lane
Austin, of the Bureau of the Census, Department of Commerce.

The final count of the Sixteenth Census showed that on April 1, 1940,
Maryland had a population of 1,821,244, an increase of 189,718 over the
1,631,526 residents reported in the 1930 census. This change represents an
increase of 11.6 percent as compared with 12.5 percent between 1920 and
1930. The population increase in urban areas from 1930 to 1940 was 10.8
percent as compared with 12.8 percent in the rural sections. Urban residents
accounted for 59.3 percent of the State's population in 1940, as compared
with 59.8 percent in 1930. In 1940, residents of urban areas numbered
1,080,351, while the rural population amounted to 740,893. The Census
Bureau considers as urban areas the incorporated places of 2,500 or more.
In Maryland, however, two unincorporated political subdivisions are also
classified as urban on the basis of special qualifications. The remaining
territory is classified as rural.

There were seven cities of 10,000 or more in Maryland, one (Cambridge)
having reached this size since 1930. There were also two election districts
adjacent to Baltimore city in this size-group that qualified as urban under
the special rule. All nine of these urban places of 10,000 or more increased
between 1930 and 1940. District 12 of Baltimore County, with an increase
of 33.6 percent, was the fastest growing urban place having 10,000 or more
population. Salisbury, with an increase of 21.1 percent, was the fastest
growing incorporated place in this size-group.

Eighteen of the 23 counties gained population between 1930 and 1940,
as did the independent city of Baltimore, which has the status of a county.
Montgomery County, with an increase of 70.5 percent, had the most ex-
tensive growth.

The first census of Maryland was taken in 1790, returning a population
of 319,728. The population has shown an increase at every census since that
time, passing 500,000 between 1840 and 1850, 1,000,000 between 1880 and
1890, and 1,500,000 between 1920 and 1930. The present population rep-
resents a density of 184.2 inhabitants per square mile. Maryland's total
land area is 9,887 square miles.

Table I, presents the figures for counties and for urban places of 10,000
or more, and Table 2, for incorporated places of less than 10,000. Table
3 shows the population of Baltimore city by wards.