U.S. Census ACS - Demographics, Income, Housing & Population Data by Geography

Query the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey (ACS) for population, income, housing, education, employment, and demographic data — at any geographic level from national down to census tract. Four built-in presets cover the most common use cases, or specify any Census variable codes directly. Covers all 50 states, 3,200+ counties, 33,000+ ZIP codes, 29,000+ cities and places, and 85,000+ census tracts.

Data is sourced from the official Census Bureau API. No API key required.

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Output Fields

Field	Type	Description
name	string	Geography name (e.g. Los Angeles County, California)
geoLevel	string	Geography level (state, county, zip, place, tract, etc.)
stateFIPS	string	2-digit state FIPS code
countyFIPS	string	3-digit county FIPS code
data	object	Key-value map of Census variable codes to values

The data object contains the actual Census variable values. When using a preset, fields are labeled with readable names. When using custom variables, keys are the raw Census codes (e.g. B01001_001E).

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Use Cases

• Market sizing and site selection — Pull median household income, population density, and age distribution for any ZIP code or county before opening a location or launching a campaign.
• Real estate and mortgage analytics — Get median home values, rental rates, occupancy, and housing stock data by census tract for underwriting or investment screening.
• Public health and nonprofit grant writing — Retrieve poverty rates, uninsured rates, and educational attainment by county to support grant applications.
• Political and academic research — Analyze demographic shifts, income inequality, or language diversity across congressional districts or metro areas.
• Lead generation and territory planning — Segment geographies by income, age, or household composition to prioritize sales territories or ad targeting.

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How to Use

Choose a preset (or leave blank for custom variables), select a geography level, and optionally filter by state or county FIPS code.

Example input — demographics for all U.S. states:

{
  "preset": "demographics",
  "geoLevel": "state",
  "year": 2022,
  "maxResults": 52
}

Example input — economic data for all counties in Texas:

{
  "preset": "economics",
  "geoLevel": "county",
  "stateFIPS": "48",
  "year": 2022,
  "maxResults": 300
}

Example input — housing data for ZIP codes in California:

{
  "preset": "housing",
  "geoLevel": "zip",
  "stateFIPS": "06",
  "year": 2022,
  "maxResults": 2000
}

Example input — custom variables for a specific city:

{
  "preset": "",
  "geoLevel": "place",
  "stateFIPS": "36",
  "variables": ["B01001_001E", "B19013_001E", "B25077_001E"],
  "year": 2022,
  "maxResults": 100
}

Data Presets

Preset	Variables Included
demographics	Total population, median age, sex, race, Hispanic origin
economics	Median household income, per capita income, poverty rate, employment
housing	Median home value, median gross rent, occupancy status, housing units
social	Educational attainment, language spoken at home, household size

Geography Levels

Level	Description
us	United States (single national row)
state	All 50 states + DC
county	Counties (requires stateFIPS for state filter)
place	Cities and places
zip	ZIP Code Tabulation Areas (ZCTAs)
tract	Census tracts (requires stateFIPS and countyFIPS)
congressional_district	Congressional districts
metro	Metropolitan statistical areas

Find FIPS codes at www.census.gov/geographies/reference-files and variable codes at api.census.gov/data/2022/acs/acs5/variables.html.

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Cost

Approximately $0.10 per run (platform start fee) plus minimal compute. Most runs complete in under 30 seconds.

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Output Formats

Results are available as JSON, CSV, and Excel from the Apify dataset interface. The data field in JSON contains the full variable map for each geography.

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FAQ

Does this require a Census API key? No. The actor uses the Census Bureau public API without authentication.

What is ACS 5-Year vs 1-Year data? The 5-year ACS (default) pools 5 years of survey responses for stable estimates at small geographies like ZIP codes and tracts. The 1-year ACS has more recent data but only covers geographies with 65,000+ population.

What year should I use? ACS 2022 5-year data (the default) is the most recent widely available release. Use the year field to access earlier vintages back to 2009.

What FIPS codes do I need? State FIPS codes are 2 digits (e.g. 06 for California, 48 for Texas, 36 for New York). County FIPS codes are 3 digits and used within a state (e.g. 037 for Los Angeles County). Leading zeros are required.

How do I find Census variable codes? Browse the full variable list at api.census.gov for the dataset and year you want. Common examples: B01001_001E (total population), B19013_001E (median household income), B25077_001E (median home value).