# Craigslist Scraper - Jobs, Housing, Cars & More (`thirdwatch/craigslist-scraper`) Actor

Scrape Craigslist listings across any city and category: jobs, apartments, cars, services. Get title, price, location, neighborhood, description, and posting date. Works with all Craigslist cities.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/thirdwatch/craigslist-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [Thirdwatch](https://apify.com/thirdwatch) (community)
- **Categories:** Lead generation, Real estate
- **Stats:** 12 total users, 4 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $0.90 / 1,000 results

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.
Since this Actor supports Apify Store discounts, the price gets lower the higher subscription plan you have.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

An Actor is a serverless cloud program that runs on the Apify platform. It has two run modes.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.

Apify vocabulary and the platform model are defined once, in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md.

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.

Do not guess an integration path. Every one of them is in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md: the Apify MCP server, Agent Skills with the Apify CLI, the JavaScript and Python clients, the REST API, and the account-free path for an agent with no human to sign in. It also carries the rule on stating cost before the first paid run.

For examples already wired to this Actor's own input schema, see the [API](#api) section below.

Each client library has reference documentation the quickstart does not restate: [JavaScript/TypeScript](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md) (`npm install apify-client`) and [Python](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md) (`pip install apify-client`).

# README

## Craigslist Scraper

> **Thirdwatch portfolio:** 8,800+ users across 140+ public Actors, 2M+ records delivered, >95% run success. [Explore all Thirdwatch Actors](https://apify.com/thirdwatch).

> Scrape Craigslist listings across any US city and category — jobs, apartments, cars, services. Get titles, prices, locations, neighborhoods, descriptions, and posting dates.

### What you get

Search Craigslist for jobs, apartments, cars, services, or any other category in any Craigslist city. Returns structured listing data including title, price, location, neighborhood, description, and posting date. Pass a city subdomain (`sfbay`, `newyork`, `chicago`, ...) and a category code (`sof` for software jobs, `apa` for apartments, `cta` for cars, ...).

### Output fields

| Field | Description |
|-------|-------------|
| `title` | Listing title |
| `price` | Listed price (formatted with currency) |
| `location` | City or region |
| `neighborhood` | Neighborhood within the city |
| `description` | Full listing description |
| `posted_date` | Date the listing was posted |
| `category` | Listing category |
| `url` | Craigslist listing URL |

### Example output

```json
{
    "title": "2BR Apartment in Downtown - Renovated",
    "price": "$2,200",
    "location": "San Francisco",
    "neighborhood": "Downtown / Financial District",
    "description": "Beautiful renovated 2-bedroom apartment...",
    "posted_date": "2026-04-08",
    "category": "apa",
    "url": "https://sfbay.craigslist.org/sfc/apa/..."
}
```

### Input parameters

| Parameter | Required | Description |
|-----------|----------|-------------|
| `city` | No | Craigslist city subdomain (e.g., `sfbay`, `newyork`, `losangeles`, `chicago`, `seattle`, `austin`). Default `sfbay`. |
| `cities` | No | Optional list of additional city subdomains to search in the same run — use this when you need more listings than a single city currently has. |
| `category` | Yes | Category code (e.g., `sof` software jobs, `jjj` all jobs, `apa` apartments, `cta` cars/trucks). Default `sof`. |
| `query` | No | Optional keyword search within the category. |
| `maxResults` | No | Maximum listings to extract. Default `10`, max `1000`. |

### Use cases

- **Job seekers**: Pull local job listings and track new posts daily.
- **Real estate analysts**: Track rental prices by neighborhood and city.
- **Used-car dealers**: Spot pricing trends on specific makes and models in your market.
- **Market researchers**: Analyze pricing trends for goods and services by region.
- **AI agents**: Feed an agent live "what's for sale/rent in city X" data.

### Limitations

- Category codes differ slightly from city to city; a small number of local-only categories may return empty.
- Listings are user-generated so field quality varies (price may be missing, neighborhood may be absent).
- Craigslist listings expire — historical listings may no longer resolve.
- Craigslist covers mostly the US with limited international city coverage.

### Compared to alternatives

- **vs. Craigslist RSS feeds**: RSS feeds are limited to the most recent 100 items, no search within category, no price/neighborhood fields. This actor returns the full structured dataset.
- **vs. other Apify Store scrapers**: One of the more affordably priced Craigslist scrapers on the Store, billed per result so empty searches cost nothing.

Pairs well with [Zillow Suite Scraper](https://apify.com/thirdwatch/zillow-suite-scraper?fpr=9m2cd6) for complete US rental and for-sale housing coverage alongside Craigslist's apartment listings.

### FAQ

**How do I find the right city code?**
Look at the subdomain of the Craigslist city URL. For example, `sfbay.craigslist.org` uses the code `sfbay`; `newyork.craigslist.org` uses `newyork`.

**How do I find the right category code?**
Craigslist uses 3-letter category codes (e.g., `sof` software jobs, `apa` apartments, `cta` cars/trucks). Pull up the Craigslist category page — the code is in the URL.

**Can I search by keyword?**
Yes — pass a `query` string to filter within the category.

**How fresh is the data?**
Pulled live from Craigslist at run time.

Last verified: 2026-05

More scrapers at [thirdwatch.dev](https://thirdwatch.dev).

# Actor input Schema

## `city` (type: `string`):

Craigslist city subdomain (e.g. sfbay, newyork, losangeles, chicago, seattle, austin).

## `cities` (type: `array`):

Optional Craigslist city area identifiers. Supply several when requesting more listings than one city currently contains.

## `category` (type: `string`):

Craigslist category code: sof (software jobs), jjj (all jobs), apa (apartments), cta (cars/trucks), etc.

## `query` (type: `string`):

Optional keyword search within the category.

## `maxResults` (type: `integer`):

Maximum number of listings to scrape.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "city": "sfbay",
  "cities": [],
  "category": "sof",
  "maxResults": 30
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `results` (type: `string`):

No description

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "city": "sfbay",
    "category": "sof",
    "maxResults": 30
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("thirdwatch/craigslist-scraper").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = {
    "city": "sfbay",
    "category": "sof",
    "maxResults": 30,
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("thirdwatch/craigslist-scraper").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "city": "sfbay",
  "category": "sof",
  "maxResults": 30
}' |
apify call thirdwatch/craigslist-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,thirdwatch/craigslist-scraper"
        }
    }
}
```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/pO2Qw03mlSUWV1zFL/builds/wo78abcuituwvasll/openapi.json