From Ancestry.com

The 1930 census began on 2 April 1930 for the general population of the United States. (The enumeration in Alaska began on 1 October 1929.) Regardless of when an individual was contacted, all responses were to reflect the status of the individual as of 1 April 1930.

Enumerators (census takers) collected the following information for each household:

* Address (name of the street, avenue, or road; house number)
* Occupant (name of each person and their relationship to head of family)
* Residence (whether home is owned or rented; value of home; whether home is farm residence; whether home has a radio)
* Personal (sex, race, age, marital status, college attendance, ability to read and write, birthplace, and birthplace of parents)
* Citizenship (language spoken before coming to the United States; year of immigration; whether naturalized or alien; ability to speak English)
* Occupation (trade or profession; industry or business working in; class of worker; whether worked the previous day; line number of unemployment schedule)
* Military (whether veteran or not; war or expedition participated in)

Note: Individuals in Alaska, and Indians were asked slightly different questions. For example, Indians were not asked about their mother’s country of origin, but which tribe she belonged to.

Unique Features

* Servicemen were not recorded with their families in the 1930 census; they were treated as residents of their duty posts. If you’re looking for someone in the military, you should not assume they will be listed in their home town.

* Children that were born between the official start date of the census and the actual day of enumeration were not included. Individuals that were alive on the official start date of the census but deceased by the actual day of enumeration were included.

* Indians were included in the enumeration of the general population, though they were asked different questions than the general population.


Search Tips

* The census contains great information, but some data may not be completely accurate. For example, individuals may not have known the answers to certain questions; the census taker may have asked a neighbor for information if the family could not be contacted; and people did not always give truthful information.

* Family members may not be included in the index because of errors or omissions, but may appear in the actual census records. If you can’t find the individual you’re looking for, don’t give up. By searching through states, cities, and towns, you may be able to find record of the individual in the actual records.

* If you encounter illegible writing, you may want to study the handwriting of the enumerator who recorded the census form you’re looking at. You can do this by picking out the most legible letters and words and working from there. For example, the enumerator listing Abraham Lincoln in the 1860 census (Illinois) wrote the letter "L" in a way that resembles an "S". Without looking at other words on the page, one might think that he was a "Sawyer" instead of a "Lawyer."

Interesting Facts

* This is the last census in which individuals were asked whether they could read or write.
* Unlike previous censuses, this census did not ask individuals for their year of naturalization.
* This is the first census in which individuals were asked: the value of their home, or the amount of rent paid each month; their age at the time of their first marriage; the specific war a man had fought in.
* The 1930 census is the only census to ask whether the occupants of the home owned a radio.
* Based on the census, the average number of people in a household was 4.1.
* In 1930, the average life expectancy for an American was 59.7 years.
* The leading country for people of foreign birth was Italy (1.8 million).
* Ancestry.com used microfilm from the National Archives Records Administration (NARA) to create its digitized images of the census.


FAQ

What do the abbreviations in the 1930 census schedules mean?
Those recording census information in the year 1930 were provided sheets by the government on which information was to be recorded. At the bottom of these pages were found a set of instructions, abbreviations to be used, and which entries were required to be recorded. The following is a list of abbreviations that were to be used in their respective columns. (The information provided is transcribed directly from the census schedules.)

Abbreviations were to be used in the columns as shown:

* Cols. 18, 19, 20, and 21—Use no abbreviations for state or country of birth or for mother tongue
* Col. 6—Indicate the home-maker in each family by the letter "H" following the word which shows the relationship as "Wife - H"
* Col. 7—Owned = O, Rented = R
* Col. 9—Radio Set = R. Make no entry for families having no radio set.
* Col. 11—Male = M, Female = F
* Col. 12—White = W, Negro = Neg., Mexican = Mex., Indian = In., Chinese = Ch., Japanese = Jp., Filipina = Fil., Hindu = Hin., Korean = Kor., Other races spell out in full
* Col. 14—Single = S, Married = M, Widowed = Wd, Divorced = D
* Col. 23—Naturalized = Na, First Papers = Pa, Alien = Al
* Col. 27—Employer = E, Wage or Salary Worker = W, Working on own account = O, Unpaid worker, member of the family = NP
* Col. 31—World War = WW, Spanish-American War = Sp, Civil War = Civ, Philippine Insurrection = Phil, Boxer Rebellion = Box, Mexican Expedition = Mex

57 areas were enumerated:

Alabama, Alaska, America Samoa, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Consular Service, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Guam, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indian Territory, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Panama Canal Zone, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virgin Islands, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming

This is a pdf of the blank census form

http://www.ancestrallychallenged.com/upload/1930.pdf

This is an actual page from the Haywood Co, NC enumeration