US Census Bureau MCP Server

MCP (Model Context Protocol) server providing AI agents with direct access to US Census Bureau data — population, income, housing, education, poverty, and more across all US geographies. Query 1,700+ datasets including the American Community Survey and Decennial Census.

Connect any MCP-compatible client (Claude Desktop, Cursor, Cline, etc.) to retrieve demographic and economic statistics.

Tools

Tool	Description
get_census_data	Retrieve data with variable aliases (population, median_income, etc.)
search_datasets	Search available Census datasets by keyword
get_variables	Explore variables available in a specific dataset
get_geographies	List available geography levels for a dataset

Connect via MCP

Claude Desktop / Cursor

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "us-census": {
      "url": "https://aligned-kettledrum--us-census-mcp-server.apify.actor/mcp",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN"
      }
    }
  }
}

Using mcp-remote (npx)

npx mcp-remote https://aligned-kettledrum--us-census-mcp-server.apify.actor/mcp \
  --header "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN"

Example Queries

Once connected, ask your AI assistant:

• "What is the population of each US state?"
• "Compare median household income across California counties"
• "Show poverty rates by state from the ACS 2022"
• "What Census datasets are available about housing?"

Variable Aliases

Common variables have simple aliases — no need to memorize Census codes:

Alias	Census Variable	Description
population	B01001_001E	Total population
median_income	B19013_001E	Median household income
median_age	B01002_001E	Median age
total_housing	B25001_001E	Total housing units
median_home_value	B25077_001E	Median home value
poverty_total	B17001_001E	Population for poverty status
bachelor_degree	B15003_022E	Bachelor's degree holders

Data Source

All data comes from the official US Census Bureau Data API. Supports ACS 5-Year, ACS 1-Year, Decennial Census, and 1,700+ other datasets. State abbreviations (CA, NY) are automatically converted to FIPS codes.

No API key required. Free access.

FAQ

Q: What datasets are available? A: Over 1,700 datasets including ACS 5-Year (most popular), ACS 1-Year, Decennial Census 2020/2010, Population Estimates, Business Patterns, and more.

Q: How do I know what variables to request? A: Use get_variables to search within a dataset, or use the built-in aliases (population, median_income, etc.).

Q: What geographies can I query? A: States, counties, census tracts, zip codes, congressional districts, metropolitan areas, and 80+ other geography levels. Use get_geographies to explore.

Q: Can I use state abbreviations? A: Yes. "CA" is automatically converted to FIPS code "06", "NY" to "36", etc.

Batch Processing

For large-scale data extraction, use the US Census Data Actor which supports bulk downloads with pagination.