Daily AncestorW
W in the census race column means white; in the class of worker column (1910 to 1930) it means wage worker, and in 1940 veterans, World War.
From 1900 to 1950 the enumerator instructions told enumerators to write W for white in the color or race column. That is the W you see most often.
The same letter had other jobs. In 1910 and 1920 the column for employer, wage earner or own account used W for a person working for wages or salary, and 1930 used W for a wage or salary worker. In 1940 the veterans column used W for the World War. Check which column the letter sits in before you read it.
As seen in a recordRace and class of worker columns of the 1930 census
Marsh, Orrin, Head, M, W, 41 ... W
Sources
How to cite this page
Daily Ancestor. "W." Dictionary of Old Record Words. https://dailyancestor.com/dictionary/abbreviations/census-w. Last checked 2026-10-12.