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.

US Census Bureau Data