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Census adds CSV output and descriptive variable parameter to its API
Summary
The Census API now supports a case-sensitive &output.format=CSV parameter to auto-download CSVs and &descriptive=true to include variable labels; the webinar also highlighted the API button on tables and multi-geo request options.
In a webinar Q&A session, U.S. Census Bureau staff announced recent improvements to the Census API intended to simplify programmatic access to table data.
Tyson Weister, who works on the communications team in the Center for Enterprise Dissemination, said the Bureau recently released a parameter to request CSV output directly from API calls. “Within the last few months, we released a new parameter. You’ll put ampersand output format equals CSV, and do know that it’s case sensitive,” he said, demonstrating that adding &output.format=CSV will cause the API to return a CSV file automatically.
Weister also described a descriptive parameter to include human-readable variable labels in API output: adding &descriptive=true returns variable descriptions alongside raw names, which helps users who otherwise would need to look up long variable codes (for example, variable names like B19013_001E). He noted the API button on data.census.gov tables will provide a full-table API link for the table and selected geographies, though the site does not currently create a copy-paste-ready API call for arbitrary variable subsets.
Other API tips
• Multi-geo requests: list FIPS codes separated by commas or use the UCGID parameter to include fully qualified geo IDs; UCGID lets a single request include multiple summary levels (for example, state and county).
• Time series: most API time series require separate queries per year unless the dataset is explicitly time-series (some datasets support &time= for periods, e.g., Quarterly Workforce Indicators).
Documentation and support: Weister pointed to the API user guide on census.gov and to help/feedback links on data.census.gov; follow-up questions may be sent to census.data@census.gov.
