The Census Bureau strives to disseminate the maximum amount of information about the nation's people and economy while fully meeting Census Bureau quality standards as well as our legal and ethical obligation to protect the confidentiality of respondents and the information they provide.

Available Statistics

The Census Bureau publishes geographically aggregated census, sample survey, and research data in a variety of readily usable and easily discoverable formats. These statistics are available at data.census.gov and via the Census Data API Discovery Tool.

See the Resources page for help using the statistics on data.census.gov and via the API tool, such as video tutorials, newsletters, “how-to” materials, and information about past and upcoming related events.

Available Microdata

The Census Bureau produces publicly available microdata on individual persons, families, and households that are disclosure-protected so that individuals or housing units cannot be identified.

The following Public Use Microdata Samples (PUMS) are currently available in a variety of readily usable and easily discoverable formats via various Census Bureau tools:

American Community Survey (ACS) PUMS are available via our Microdata Access Tool (MDAT), the Census Data API Discovery Tool, as well as the Census Bureau’s FTP website.
Current Population Survey (CPS) PUMS are available via MDAT and the API Discovery Tool.

See our Resources page for help on using the MDAT and the API tools.

Restricted-Use Data

A wide variety of restricted-use data are available to qualified researchers with approved projects at Federal Statistical Research Data Centers (FSRDC). FSRDCs are partnerships between federal statistical agencies and research institutions. FSRDCs provide secure environments supporting qualified researchers using restricted-use access data while protecting respondent confidentiality.

Information about available datasets can be found on the Census Bureau’s Restricted-Use Data page.

Additional metadata about these datasets can also be found on the federal Standard Application Process portal.

Disclosure Avoidance

The Census Bureau takes seriously its commitment to protecting the confidentiality of our respondents' information. We use a variety of statistical methods to ensure that the statistical products we release do not reveal confidential information about our respondents in the process. These statistical methods are known collectively as Disclosure Avoidance.

Disclosure Avoidance at the Census Bureau is built on years of expertise in designing, applying, and evaluating traditional disclosure avoidance methodologies, supplemented by cutting-edge research and development into new techniques and methods that will enable us to protect respondent confidentiality for years to come.