The State of New York passed to the first place in population in the nation in 1820. Since that day the population of the Union, of the State of New York, and the combined population of the cities of New York and Brooklyn, at each decade from 1820 to 1880, and the percentage of increase in each decade, have been as follows: Population Population Population of New Increase of the Increase of the Increase York and per State of per United per Years. Brooklyn. cent. New York. cent. States. cent. 1820 130,881 1,372,111 9,633,822 1830 215,049 64.3 1,918,608 39.8 12,866,020 32.51 1840 348,943 62.2 2,428,926 26.5 17,069,453 33.52 1850 612,385 75.5 3,097,394 27.5 23,191,876 33.83 1860 1,072,312 75.1 3,880,735 25.2 31,443,321 35.11 1870 1,338,391 24.8 4,382,759 12.9 38,558,371 22.65 1880 1,772,962 32.4 5,082,871 15.9 50,155.783 30.08 Thus the combined population of New York and Brooklyn has at all times since 1830 grown at a rate much more rapid than that of the growth of the State of New York; the rate of growth of the two cities has at all times exceeded the rate of growth of the population of the whole Union, although the rate of growth of the population of the State of New York has not kept pace with that of the population of the United States since 1830. But for the growth of the two cities, the State would, before this time, have ceased to hold the first place. The degree to which the population of the two cities has gained upon that of the State in the whole period, is quite notable. Their proportion of the population of the State in 1820 was less than one-tenth; while in 1880 more than one-third of the population of the State lived in Brooklyn and New York. On the other hand, in 1820, the State of New York included more than one-eighth of the population of the whole Union; while in 1880 it embraced a little less than one-tenth of that population. At present, adopting the estimates already given, based upon the Presidential vote for this year, New York and Brooklyn include nearly, if not quite, two-fifths of the population of the whole State.