US Census Bureau

The U.S. Census Bureau is the federal statistical agency responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. Established in 1902 and part of the U.S. Department of Commerce, the Bureau conducts the constitutionally mandated Decennial Census every ten years and dozens of ongoing surveys including the American Community Survey, Economic Census, Population Estimates, Current Population Survey, and Survey of Income and Program Participation. The Census Bureau exposes its statistics through the Census Data API (over 1,700 datasets), the Microdata API for PUMS tabulation, the TIGERweb geospatial REST services, and the Geocoding Services API — all free, requiring only a free API key for the data endpoints and released into the public domain under CC0.

7 APIs 24 Features

GovernmentFederalDemographicsStatisticsEconomicsGeospatialOpen DataPublic Sector

APIs

Census Data API

Programmatic access to over 1,700 Census Bureau datasets including the American Community Survey (ACS), Decennial Census, Economic Census, Population Estimates, Annual Business ...

Census Microdata API

Tabulate and query Public Use Microdata Sample (PUMS) records across the American Community Survey, Current Population Survey, and Survey of Income and Program Participation. Su...

TIGERweb REST Services

ArcGIS REST services exposing the canonical Census TIGER/Line geographic boundary layers — states, counties, tracts, block groups, blocks, ZIP Code Tabulation Areas, congression...

Census Geocoding Services API

Free geocoding service that turns addresses into geographic coordinates and Census geographies (state, county, tract, block, congressional district, school district). Supports o...

Business Dynamics Statistics API

Time series API covering U.S. business establishment births, deaths, job creation, and job destruction from 1978 to the latest reference year. Supports breakdowns by firm age, f...

International Trade API

Monthly U.S. international goods trade — imports, exports, balance of trade, port-level shipments, HS-coded commodity flows, country-of-origin/destination — from 2010 to present...

Population Clock API

JSON-feed driving the U.S. and world Population Clock — current population estimates plus estimated time intervals for births, deaths, and net international migration. Public, n...

Collections

Business Dynamics Statistics API

OPEN

Census Data API

OPEN

Census Geocoding Services API

OPEN

International Trade API

OPEN

Census Microdata API

OPEN

Population Clock API

OPEN

TIGERweb REST Services

OPEN

Rate Limits

Us Census Bureau Rate Limits

5 limits

RATE LIMITS

Features

Over 1,700 datasets exposed via a single REST API base (api.census.gov/data)

American Community Survey (ACS) 1-Year, 1-Year Supplemental, 3-Year, and 5-Year detailed and subject tables

Decennial Census of Population and Housing (2000, 2010, 2020) Public Law 94-171 and DHC tables

Economic Census 2002-2022 with establishment, sales, payroll, employment by industry and geography

Population Estimates Program (PEP) — annual intercensal estimates by age, sex, race, Hispanic origin

Annual Business Survey (ABS) — women, minority, veteran owned business statistics

County Business Patterns (CBP) and ZIP Code Business Patterns (ZBP) — annual since 1986

Nonemployer Statistics (NES) — businesses with no paid employees

Business Dynamics Statistics (BDS) — establishment births, deaths, job creation, destruction

Household Pulse Survey — near-real-time experimental data on social and economic effects

Quarterly Workforce Indicators (QWI) and Job-to-Job Flows from LEHD

International Trade — monthly imports and exports, HS commodity codes, port-level

Current Population Survey (CPS) basic monthly and supplements (microdata)

Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) longitudinal panels

Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates (SAIPE)

Small Area Health Insurance Estimates (SAHIE)

Population Clock JSON feed for real-time U.S. and world population estimates

Public Use Microdata Sample (PUMS) tabulation API for ACS, CPS, and SIPP

TIGERweb ArcGIS REST services — states, counties, tracts, blocks, ZCTAs, congressional districts

Geocoding Services API — address to coordinates and Census geographies (free, no key)

DCAT-compliant discovery catalog at api.census.gov/data.json

CitySDK JavaScript library and official Census Data API MCP server for AI assistants

All data released under Creative Commons Zero (CC0) public domain dedication

Free API key with no published rate limit; one key per email; required for all data queries

Semantic Vocabularies

Us Census Bureau Context

7 classes · 4 properties

JSON-LD

API Governance Rules

US Census Bureau API Rules

7 rules · 3 errors 4 warnings

SPECTRAL

JSON Structure

Census Data Row Structure

0 properties

JSON STRUCTURE

Example Payloads

Census Acs5 Get Example

4 fields

EXAMPLE

Census Discovery List Example

4 fields

EXAMPLE

Census Geocoder Onelineaddress Example

4 fields

EXAMPLE

Census Pums Tabulate Example

4 fields

EXAMPLE

Resources

Documentation

Documentation

Documentation

Documentation

Documentation

TermsOfService

PrivacyPolicy

GitHubOrganization

GitHubOrganization

Documentation

Documentation

Documentation

Documentation

Documentation

ContactForm

Sources

opencollection: 1.0.0
info:
  name: TIGERweb REST Services
  version: '2026-05-25'
items:
- info:
    name: Catalog
    type: folder
  items:
  - info:
      name: List TIGERweb Service Catalog
      type: http
    http:
      method: GET
      url: https://tigerweb.geo.census.gov/arcgis/rest/services/
      params:
      - name: f
        value: ''
        type: query
        description: Output format.
    docs: Returns the directory of folders and services hosted by the TIGERweb ArcGIS instance.
- info:
    name: Current
    type: folder
  items:
  - info:
      name: Get States And Counties Map Service
      type: http
    http:
      method: GET
      url: https://tigerweb.geo.census.gov/arcgis/rest/services/TIGERweb/State_County/MapServer
      params:
      - name: f
        value: ''
        type: query
        description: Output format.
    docs: Returns metadata for the State_County map service including layer list and capabilities.
  - info:
      name: Query States And Counties Features
      type: http
    http:
      method: GET
      url: https://tigerweb.geo.census.gov/arcgis/rest/services/TIGERweb/State_County/MapServer/:layerId/query
      params:
      - name: layerId
        value: ''
        type: path
        description: Numeric ArcGIS layer ID within the parent map service.
      - name: where
        value: ''
        type: query
        description: SQL-like WHERE clause filtering attributes.
      - name: outFields
        value: ''
        type: query
        description: Comma-separated list of fields to return (use `*` for all).
      - name: geometry
        value: ''
        type: query
        description: Geometry filter as JSON, envelope, point, polyline, or polygon.
      - name: geometryType
        value: ''
        type: query
      - name: spatialRel
        value: ''
        type: query
      - name: inSR
        value: ''
        type: query
        description: Input spatial reference WKID.
      - name: outSR
        value: ''
        type: query
        description: Output spatial reference WKID.
      - name: returnGeometry
        value: ''
        type: query
      - name: f
        value: ''
        type: query
        description: Output format.
    docs: 'Spatial / attribute query against the State_County map service. Use

      layer 0 for states and layer 1 for counties.

      '
  - info:
      name: Query Census Tracts And Blocks Features
      type: http
    http:
      method: GET
      url: https://tigerweb.geo.census.gov/arcgis/rest/services/TIGERweb/Tracts_Blocks/MapServer/:layerId/query
      params:
      - name: layerId
        value: ''
        type: path
        description: Numeric ArcGIS layer ID within the parent map service.
      - name: where
        value: ''
        type: query
        description: SQL-like WHERE clause filtering attributes.
      - name: geometry
        value: ''
        type: query
        description: Geometry filter as JSON, envelope, point, polyline, or polygon.
      - name: f
        value: ''
        type: query
        description: Output format.
    docs: Query census tract, block group, and block layers from the Tracts_Blocks service.
  - info:
      name: Query PUMAs And ZIP Code Tabulation Areas
      type: http
    http:
      method: GET
      url: https://tigerweb.geo.census.gov/arcgis/rest/services/TIGERweb/PUMA_TAD_TAZ_UGA_ZCTA/MapServer/:layerId/query
      params:
      - name: layerId
        value: ''
        type: path
        description: Numeric ArcGIS layer ID within the parent map service.
      - name: where
        value: ''
        type: query
        description: SQL-like WHERE clause filtering attributes.
      - name: f
        value: ''
        type: query
        description: Output format.
    docs: Query PUMA, traffic analysis district/zone, urban growth area, and ZCTA layers.
- info:
    name: '2020'
    type: folder
  items:
  - info:
      name: Query 2020 Census State And County Features
      type: http
    http:
      method: GET
      url: https://tigerweb.geo.census.gov/arcgis/rest/services/Census2020/State_County/MapServer/:layerId/query
      params:
      - name: layerId
        value: ''
        type: path
        description: Numeric ArcGIS layer ID within the parent map service.
      - name: where
        value: ''
        type: query
        description: SQL-like WHERE clause filtering attributes.
      - name: f
        value: ''
        type: query
        description: Output format.
    docs: Query the 2020 census vintage State_County map service.
- info:
    name: '2010'
    type: folder
  items:
  - info:
      name: Query 2010 Census State And County Features
      type: http
    http:
      method: GET
      url: https://tigerweb.geo.census.gov/arcgis/rest/services/Census2010/State_County/MapServer/:layerId/query
      params:
      - name: layerId
        value: ''
        type: path
        description: Numeric ArcGIS layer ID within the parent map service.
      - name: where
        value: ''
        type: query
        description: SQL-like WHERE clause filtering attributes.
      - name: f
        value: ''
        type: query
        description: Output format.
    docs: Query the 2010 census vintage State_County map service.
bundled: true