> Can someone recommend a source listing the populations > of cities and counties of the colonies in the 1770s? The short answer is that there is no such information available; however, there is some data available for some cities and counties. The editors of _Atlas of Early American History: The Revolutionary Era 1760-1790_ (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1976) put together a bunch of maps with population dots (per 1000 inhabitants) and some pretty maps with colors showing estimated population density; however, they avoid giving any tabular information except for a few cities. The largest cities were: Albany NY 1775 = 3,700 1780 = 3,050 1790 = 3,494 Baltimore MD 1775 = 6,734 1780 = 8,000 1790 = 13,503 Boston MA 1775 = 16,000 1780 = 10,000 1790 = 18,038 Charleston SC 1775 = 14,000 1780 = 10,000 1790 = 16,359 Marblehead MA 1775 = 4,812 1780 = 4,142 1790 = 5,661 New Haven CT 1775 = not available 1780 = 3,350 1790 = 4,487 New York NY 1775 = 22,000 1780 = 18,000 1790 = 32,305 Newburyport MA 1775 = 3,000 1780 = 3,080 1790 = 4,817 Newport RI 1775 = 9,209 1780 = 5,530 1790 = 6,744 Philadelphia PA 1775 = 23,739 1780 = 27,565 1790 = 42,520 Portsmouth NH 1775 = 4,590 1780 = 4,222 1790 = 4,720 Providence RI 1775 = 4,321 1780 = 4,310 1790 = 6,371 Salem MA 1775 = 5,000 1780 = 4,008 1790 = 7,917 The following is extracted from the source notes to the map "Total Population c. 1775" "In Massachusetts the county populations were derived from the 1776 census, which includes figures for almost every town.... Where the 1776 census provided no population for a town, an estimate was computed on based on the polls of 1777, 1778, or 1781...." [Note: The district of Maine portion of the 1776 'census' was numerical based on 4.5 souls per household. The 1777 tax list at least gives names; however, it has large areas with no data] "New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Connecticut took censuses before the Revolution. The figures, for 1775 for New Hampshire and 1774 in the other two states, provided population estimates." [Note: In the summer of 1776 in NH, every male over age 21 was required to sign an oath or be named as refusing to sign. R.I. had 1774, 1777 and 1782 censuses naming heads of household and giving a breakdown of the makeup of the household. All three censuses have been published.] "For most of the counties of New York, Stella Sutherland's estimates, derived from the 1771 and 1786 cesuses were used...." [Note: Stella Helen Sutherland, _Population Distribution in Colonial America_ (New York: Columbia University Press, 1936)] "The censuses of 1772 and 1784 in New Jersey were used to estimate population in seven Counties in 1775. For the remaining counties, Sutherland's formula...." "Pennsylvania county populations were derived from the lists of taxables for 1775 or for the closest available dates...." "Sutherland estimated the 1774 population in Delaware counties, drawing on both the total population in 1775 and taxables and census figures for 1774, 1782, and 1784." "For Maryland and Virginia, population was computed from taxables lists for 1775 and 1773, respectively...." "North Carolina county population estimates for 1775 were based on taxables for 1765-1772...." "There were no local population figures available for South Carolina or Georgia before 1790...." Boib Brooks, retired on the downeast coast of Maine