U.S. Census Bureau Data
The U.S. Census Bureau Data API MCP connects AI Assistants with official Census Bureau statistics.
What is U.S. Census Bureau Data?
U.S. Census Bureau Data is a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that allows AI assistants like Claude, Cursor, and VS Code to u.s. census bureau data api mcp connects ai assistants with official census bureau statistics.
The U.S. Census Bureau Data API MCP connects AI Assistants with official Census Bureau statistics.
This server falls under the Search & Data Extraction category on MCPgee, the world's largest MCP server directory with 33,000+ servers.
Features
- The U.S. Census Bureau Data API MCP connects AI Assistants w
Use Cases
Maintainer
Works with
Installation
Manual Installation
npx us-census-bureau-data-apiConfiguration
Configuration Details
claude_desktop_config.json
Performance
Response Metrics
Resource Usage
How to Set Up and Use U.S. Census Bureau Data
The U.S. Census Bureau Data API MCP server connects AI assistants to official Census Bureau statistics through a Docker-based setup backed by a PostgreSQL database. It exposes tools to discover available Census datasets, query aggregate demographic and economic data with geographic filters, resolve geography names to FIPS codes, and fetch population statistics by location. Government analysts, data scientists, and researchers can use it to query authoritative U.S. population, housing, economic, and social data through natural language without writing raw API calls.
Prerequisites
- Node.js 18 or later installed
- Docker Desktop installed and running
- A free Census Bureau API key from https://api.census.gov/data/key_signup.html
- An MCP-compatible client such as Claude Desktop
Get a Census Bureau API key
Request a free API key at https://api.census.gov/data/key_signup.html. The key will be emailed to you and is required for all Census API requests.
Clone the repository
Clone the official Census Bureau MCP server repository from GitHub.
git clone https://github.com/uscensusbureau/us-census-bureau-data-api-mcp.git
cd us-census-bureau-data-api-mcpInitialize the database
Use Docker Compose to run the database migrations and seed the metadata database required by the MCP server.
docker compose --profile prod run --rm census-mcp-db-init sh -c "npm run migrate:up && npm run seed"Configure your MCP client
Add the Census MCP server to your claude_desktop_config.json using the provided connect script and set your CENSUS_API_KEY.
{
"mcpServers": {
"mcp-census-api": {
"command": "bash",
"args": ["/path/to/us-census-bureau-data-api-mcp/scripts/mcp-connect.sh"],
"env": {
"CENSUS_API_KEY": "your_census_api_key_here"
}
}
}
}Restart your MCP client and query Census data
Restart Claude Desktop. The server exposes tools to list datasets, fetch geography levels, query aggregate data, and resolve geography FIPS codes for any U.S. location.
U.S. Census Bureau Data Examples
Client configuration
Claude Desktop configuration for the U.S. Census Bureau MCP server using the Docker-backed connect script.
{
"mcpServers": {
"mcp-census-api": {
"command": "bash",
"args": ["/path/to/us-census-bureau-data-api-mcp/scripts/mcp-connect.sh"],
"env": {
"CENSUS_API_KEY": "your_census_api_key_here"
}
}
}
}Prompts to try
Example prompts for querying U.S. Census Bureau data through the MCP server.
- "What is the population of Travis County, Texas?"
- "List all available Census Bureau datasets"
- "Get the median household income for California from the American Community Survey"
- "What is the FIPS code for Cook County, Illinois?"
- "Show me population data by state from the 2020 Decennial Census"Troubleshooting U.S. Census Bureau Data
Docker Compose database initialization fails
Ensure Docker Desktop is running before executing the docker compose command. If the postgres container fails to start, check for port conflicts on port 5432 and ensure no other PostgreSQL instance is running locally.
API key error: Census API returns 403 or key not found
New Census API keys can take up to 24 hours to activate after registration. Ensure the CENSUS_API_KEY environment variable contains the exact key from the activation email with no extra whitespace.
mcp-connect.sh script not found or not executable
Ensure the repository was cloned completely and the scripts directory exists. Run 'chmod +x scripts/mcp-connect.sh' to make the script executable, and use the absolute path to the script in your MCP configuration.
Frequently Asked Questions about U.S. Census Bureau Data
What is U.S. Census Bureau Data?
U.S. Census Bureau Data is a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that u.s. census bureau data api mcp connects ai assistants with official census bureau statistics. It connects AI assistants to external tools and data sources through a standardized interface.
How do I install U.S. Census Bureau Data?
Follow the installation instructions on the U.S. Census Bureau Data GitHub repository. Clone the repo, install dependencies, and add the server config to your AI client.
Which AI clients work with U.S. Census Bureau Data?
U.S. Census Bureau Data works with all major MCP-compatible AI clients including Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Cursor, VS Code (GitHub Copilot), Windsurf, and Cline.
Is U.S. Census Bureau Data free to use?
Yes, U.S. Census Bureau Data is open source and available under the CC0-1.0 license. You can use it freely in both personal and commercial projects.
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