Census Enumeration Districts

Census enumeration districts are geographic areas assigned to each census taker, usually representing a specific portion of a city or county. Enumeration districts (EDs) may not be hard to identify in smaller communities. But identifying them in large cities like Chicago can be daunting.

If you want to browse the census pages in Ancestry Library Edition for your family, you need too know in which ED they lived. A Look At Cook can make this task much easier for EDs in Chicago or Cook County Townships.


Click on the census year you are researching. Yoou need to have a general idea of the neighborhood in which they lived.


For Chicago, select a ward, and click on the interactive map. Within each ward, the EDs are mapped and identified by number. Browse Ancestry Library Edition for that ED.




For large cities other than Chicago, try the Steve Morse web site.