Name: census-mcp-server
Author: cyanheads

@cyanheads/census-mcp-server

Query U.S. Census Bureau data, variables, and geography via MCP. STDIO or Streamable HTTP.

7 Tools

Public Hosted Server: https://census.caseyjhand.com/mcp

7 tools covering the full Census data workflow — from dataset discovery and variable search through geography resolution and ranked comparisons:

Tool	Description
`census_list_datasets`	Browse available Census Bureau datasets (ACS5, ACS1, Population Estimates, Decennial) with vintage years and dataset codes.
`census_list_geographies`	List the geography levels supported by a dataset and year, with parent requirements and example FIPS values.
`census_search_variables`	Keyword search across variable labels and concept groups. Returns estimate and margin-of-error codes together.
`census_get_variable`	Fetch full metadata for one or more variable codes — label, concept, predicate type, universe, MOE sibling.
`census_resolve_geography`	Convert place names (e.g., "King County, WA") or street addresses to Census FIPS identifiers via TIGERweb and Census Geocoder.
`census_query_data`	Query a Census dataset for variables at a specific geography. Returns estimates with MOE, suppression codes resolved to readable reasons.
`census_compare_geographies`	Rank and compare variables across multiple geographies — all counties in a state, all states nationally, or a named set. Sorted table output.

Browse available Census Bureau datasets.

Returns dataset codes, names, descriptions, and available vintage years
Covers ACS5, ACS5 Data Profiles, ACS5 Subject Tables, ACS1, ACS1 Data Profiles, Population Estimates, Decennial Redistricting (P.L. 94-171), and Decennial DHC
Accepts an optional keyword filter
Dataset codes (e.g., acs/acs5) are the values to pass to other tools

Search Census variables by keyword.

Full-text search across label and concept fields with relevance scoring (exact concept match > label match > partial)
Returns estimate (E suffix) and margin-of-error (M suffix) codes together so both can be requested in one query
Configurable limit (default 20, max 100); total_matches indicates how many matched before the limit
Cache-backed: variables.json is fetched once per dataset+year with a configurable TTL (default 24h)

Convert place names and addresses to Census FIPS identifiers.