Census.gov

About Census.gov

The Census Bureau's API provides programmatic access to a wide range of publicly available datasets covering U.S. population, housing, and economic characteristics. Available datasets include the American Community Survey (1-year, 3-year, and 5-year data, plus migration flows and language statistics), the Decennial Census (population and housing data by sex, age, race, and Hispanic origin, including surname files and self-response rates), the Economic Census, Population Estimates and Projections, and several business and economic surveys such as the Annual Business Survey, Annual Integrated Economic Survey, Annual Survey of Manufactures, Business Dynamics Statistics, County Business Patterns, ZIP Code Business Patterns, and the Commodity Flow Survey.

Data is available at varying geographic resolutions, from national and state levels down to counties, metropolitan areas, census tracts, and in some cases block groups. Datasets span multiple years, with some time series extending back to the late 1970s and others updated as recently as 2026.

The API is intended for developers building web and mobile applications that incorporate demographic, housing, or economic statistics. An API key is required to make requests, and a developers' forum is available for requesting additional datasets to be released via API.

Key features

• Access American Community Survey 1-year, 3-year, and 5-year demographic, social, and housing data
• Query Decennial Census population and housing data at multiple geographic levels
• Retrieve Economic Census data down to the county level
• Access Population Estimates and Projections by geography
• Request an API key and submit dataset requests via the Developer Forum

Frequently asked questions