The difference between 1950 and 2010 is probably the number of employed taxpayers who moved to the suburbs.
Notice the big drop from the ‘70 to the ‘80.
That represents THE Riots.
Not to mention the inestimable damage to everything in the world that the ‘60s did.
And the difference from 1990 to 2000 is probably the result of an audit of the voting rolls to remove the registered dead.