Census Bureau MCP server

Connect Census Bureau to Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor, Claude Code, Codex, Gemini, GitHub Copilot and any other MCP client, for your whole team. Metorial adds security, governance, and tracing, and gives everyone one Magic MCP URL to connect.

What you can do with the Census Bureau MCP server

Ask your agent in plain language. Each of these maps to a real tool on the server.

  • Use the query geographic boundaries tool in Census Bureau
  • Use the lookup variables tool in Census Bureau
  • Use the get geocoder options tool in Census Bureau
  • Use the discover datasets tool in Census Bureau
  • Use the get supported geographies tool in Census Bureau
  • Use the query census data tool in Census Bureau

Supported Tools

query_geographic_boundaries

Query Geographic Boundaries

Query Census geographic boundaries and shapes from the TIGERweb GeoServices REST API. Retrieve boundary features for states, counties, tracts, and other Census geographic areas by FIPS code or spatial location. Common service names: - **TIGERweb/tigerWMS_Current** — Current TIGER/Line boundaries - **TIGERweb/tigerWMS_ACS2022** — ACS 2022 vintage boundaries - **TIGERweb/tigerWMS_Census2020** — Census 2020 boundaries Layer IDs vary by service and vintage. Use Get Boundary Layers to discover the correct layer ID and available attribute fields.

lookup_variables

Lookup Variables

Look up available variables and variable groups for a Census Bureau dataset. Returns variable names, labels, and metadata needed to construct data queries. Use this to find the correct variable names before querying census data. You can list all variables, search by keyword, list variable groups (tables), or get all variables in a specific group.

get_geocoder_options

Get Geocoder Options

Discover available Census Geocoder address benchmarks and, for a selected benchmark, compatible geography vintages. Use the returned names or IDs with Geocode Address.

discover_datasets

Discover Datasets

Search and browse available Census Bureau datasets. Returns dataset metadata including titles, descriptions, paths, and vintage years. Use this tool to find the correct dataset path and vintage year before querying data. You can filter by vintage year and/or keyword to narrow results.

get_supported_geographies

Get Supported Geographies

Get the supported geography levels and their hierarchy for a Census Bureau dataset. Returns which geographic levels (state, county, tract, block group, etc.) are available for querying, along with the required parent geographies. Use this to understand how to construct the `forGeography` and `inGeography` parameters for the Query Census Data tool.

query_census_data

Query Census Data

Query statistical data from the Census Bureau Data API. Retrieves variables (e.g., population, income, housing characteristics) from a specific dataset, filtered by geographic area using FIPS codes. Common datasets include: - **acs/acs5** — American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates - **acs/acs1** — American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates - **dec/pl** — Decennial Census Redistricting Data - **dec/dhc** — Decennial Census Demographic and Housing Characteristics - **pep/population** — Population Estimates - **timeseries/poverty/saipe** — Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates - **timeseries/healthins/sahie** — Small Area Health Insurance Estimates Geography is specified using the `for` and `in` clause format, e.g., `county:*` for all counties, `state:06` for California.

get_boundary_layers

Get Boundary Layers

Discover geographic layers in a Census TIGERweb map service. Optionally inspect a layer to find its attribute fields, geometry type, maximum record count, and pagination support before querying boundaries.

geocode_address

Geocode Address

Convert a street address to geographic coordinates (latitude/longitude) and optionally identify which Census geographic areas it falls within (state, county, tract, block group, etc.). Supports structured address input (street, city, state, zip) or a single-line address string. Coordinates can identify containing Census geographies; coordinate lookup does not return a street address.

Connect Census Bureau to your AI client

Every client uses the same Magic MCP URL, and so does any other MCP client. Add it once and sign in with SSO.

  1. Enable Census Bureau in Metorial. In your Metorial portal, enable the Census Bureau MCP server and sign in with the account that owns the data. Access stays governed by your team policies.
  2. Add a custom connector. Open Customize, then Connectors. Select Add, then Custom, then Web.
  3. Paste your Metorial MCP URL. Name it Metorial, paste your Magic MCP URL (<your-magic-mcp-url>) and continue.
  4. Sign in. Select Add and sign in to load Census Bureau tools.

Run Census Bureau through the Metorial gateway

One governed layer for every app your agents reach, not a separate connector per tool.

  • Give Census Bureau and every other app to your whole team through one MCP gateway, behind your SSO.
  • Scope which teams and agents can use Census Bureau tools with role-based access control, and trace every call.
  • Prefer to run it yourself? Metorial is open source and self-hostable.

More integrations teams use with Census Bureau

GitHub

Manage repositories, issues, and pull requests. Create and configure branches, star repositories, review code, and merge changes. Automate CI/CD workflows with GitHub Actions, manage workflow runs, secrets, and artifacts. Track issues with labels, milestones, and assignees. Search across code, repositories, issues, and users. Manage organizations, teams, and memberships. Create and manage projects, gists, packages, deployments, and environments. Access security alerts including code scanning, secret scanning, and Dependabot alerts. Read and write file contents in repositories. Manage webhooks, notifications, and codespaces.

Salesforce

Manage CRM data including Accounts, Contacts, Leads, Opportunities, Cases, and custom objects. Create, read, update, and delete records. Query data using SOQL and search across objects using SOSL. Perform bulk data operations for large-scale imports, exports, and migrations. Execute composite requests to batch multiple operations in a single API call. Access analytics, reports, and dashboards. Manage files and attachments associated with records. Interact with Chatter feeds, posts, and groups for social collaboration. Manage org metadata including custom objects, fields, layouts, and workflows. Query data using GraphQL for precise data retrieval across related objects.

Sharepoint

Manage SharePoint sites, document libraries, lists, and files. Create, read, update, and delete lists and list items with custom columns. Resolve site users to numeric Person/Group LookupId values. Upload, download, move, copy, and version files in document libraries. Search across sites, files, folders, lists, and list items using Microsoft Search. Manage permissions at site, list, and item levels with granular access control. Define and manage content types and site columns. Retrieve site properties and search for sites across Microsoft 365.

Airtable

Create, read, update, and delete records in Airtable bases and tables. Manage base schemas including creating tables and fields. Filter records using formulas, sort by fields, and scope queries to specific views. Upsert records to find, create, or update in a single call. Upload attachments to records, read and write record comments, list accessible bases, and receive real-time base change events through webhooks.

Sentry

Track, manage, and resolve application errors and performance issues. List, query, and bulk-update issues and error events with filters like status, assignment, and tags. Create and manage releases, associate commits, and upload source maps. Configure issue alert rules and metric alert rules with notification actions. Set up cron monitors to detect missed or failed scheduled jobs. Build custom dashboards with configurable widgets. Run ad-hoc Discover queries across errors and transactions for performance analysis. Manage organizations, teams, projects, and members. Provision users via SCIM. Access session replay data.

Bitbucket

Manage Git repositories, pull requests, and CI/CD pipelines on Bitbucket Cloud. Create, fork, and configure repositories within workspaces and projects. Create, review, approve, merge, and decline pull requests with inline code comments. Browse source code, list commits, and manage branches and tags. Trigger, monitor, and manage Bitbucket Pipelines. List workspace members, configure repository default reviewers and branch restrictions, create and manage repository webhooks, and search code across repositories.

Technical notes for Census Bureau

Query raw statistical data from U.S. Census Bureau programs, including demographic, economic, housing, and geographic datasets. Retrieve population, income, housing characteristics, and other variables filtered by geographic area (state, county, tract, block group, etc.) and vintage year. Discover available datasets, variables, and supported geographies. Geocode addresses to latitude/longitude coordinates and identify Census geographic areas. Access geographic boundary shapes via TIGERweb. Query microdata for individual-level survey responses. Retrieve international demographic indicators for countries worldwide. Access economic time series data covering construction, trade, manufacturing, and more.

Frequently asked questions

Common questions about connecting Census Bureau to AI agents with Metorial.

  1. How many tools does the Census Bureau MCP server have?
    The Census Bureau MCP server exposes 8 tools, including Query Geographic Boundaries, Lookup Variables, Get Geocoder Options. Each one is governed and traced through Metorial.
  2. Census Bureau exposes tools your agents call on demand; it does not publish event triggers yet. Everything still runs through one governed MCP URL.
  3. Any MCP client, including VS Code, Windsurf, Zed, OpenCode and Grok. Each one reaches the Census Bureau MCP server through the same Metorial URL.
  4. Use role-based access control to decide which teams, users, and agents can use Census Bureau and which of its tools they can call.
  5. Yes. Metorial is open source, so you can run the Census Bureau MCP server yourself or use the hosted gateway.

Connect Census Bureau to production AI agents

See how Metorial gives your team governed access to Census Bureau, with tracing and security controls built in.