Yes, the Census Bureau APIs experience frequent downtime. If you're seeing "could not resolve host" errors, "system is currently undergoing maintenance or is busy" messages, or api.census.gov won't connect—you're not alone. The rate of Census API issues has been increasing, with multiple outage reports recently.
The Census Bureau officially acknowledges that batch geocoding can produce "inconsistent results" due to "processing load." Geocodio has a 99.99% uptime record and can process up to 10 million addresses per CSV file via API without the variability issues that affect the Census Bureau's infrastructure.
Geocodio is a geocoder built for high-volume, batch geocoding that provides a reliable alternative to the Census Bureau APIs for geocoding and accessing select Census data, such as such as tracts and blocks back to the 2000 Census and American Community Survey (ACS) data such as demographics and household income. While not free, Geocodio offers predictable uptime, faster batch processing, and eliminates the need for manual FIPS code joins—all in a single API call.
While the Census Bureau API requires developers to navigate two separate systems (the Census Geocoder and Census Data API), Geocodio delivers geocoded coordinates and standardized addresses plus Census data in one unified response.
If you're experiencing any of these issues, the Census API is likely down or overloaded:
| Error Message | What It Means |
|---|---|
| "could not resolve host: api.census.gov" | DNS failure—the Census servers are unreachable |
| "Sorry, the system is currently undergoing maintenance or is busy. Please try again later." | Server overload or scheduled maintenance |
| "Your API call has errors" + maintenance message | Affects tidycensus, censusxy, and other R packages |
| api.census.gov/status/ not loading | Status page itself is down |
| Timeout errors | Request hanging without response |
These outages have become more frequent. Developers report the rate of issues seems to be increasing, with multiple users flagging problems in the same week.
Geocodio provides an alternative for teams that need consistent access to Census demographics, income data, housing statistics, and other ACS variables without waiting for government infrastructure to come back online.
Geocodio returns American Community Survey (ACS) data from the U.S. Census Bureau's 2023 five-year survey results (published 2024). Every data point includes the estimate value, margin of error, and percentage—giving you the context needed for accurate analysis.
| Category | API Field | What's Included |
|---|---|---|
| Census Identifiers | census |
State, county, place, tract, and block FIPS codes; MSA/CSA codes; full 15-digit block FIPS |
| Demographics | acs-demographics |
Population by age (20+ brackets), sex, race, and Hispanic/Latino origin |
| Income & Economics | acs-economics |
Median household income, per capita income, household income by 15+ brackets |
| Families & Households | acs-families |
Household types, marital status, family composition, average household size, presence of children |
| Housing | acs-housing |
Occupancy status, owner vs. renter, units in structure, median home value, value brackets |
| Education & Veterans | acs-social |
Educational attainment, veteran status, period of military service |
Geocodio returns Census data at multiple geographic levels:
To specify a geographic level, append it to the field name: acs-demographics-tract or acs-economics-county. Geocodio takes a nightly mirror of Census and ACS data, ensuring Geocodio will still be able to provide it even if the Census Bureau's data services are down.
Geocodio provides Census boundary data (FIPS codes) from 2000 through 2024. Request historical vintages using census2010, census2020, or any year in between. ACS demographic data uses the most recent five-year survey for maximum statistical reliability.
The Census Bureau's API infrastructure faces several challenges that lead to the downtime and "system is busy" errors developers encounter.
The Census Bureau's own FAQ acknowledges batch processing problems:
"When performing batch address geocoding multiple times on the same batch of addresses, you may experience an inconsistency with the number of addresses that successfully match... These inconsistent results are a known issue with the geocoder's address matching related to processing load, and we are working to resolve the issue."
Getting Census demographics for an address through official Census APIs requires at least two API calls to at least two different APIs:
When either system goes down, your entire workflow breaks. Geocodio consolidates this into a single request—one API call returns geocoded coordinates and appended Census data, eliminating manual FIPS code joins.
| Feature | Census Bureau | Geocodio |
|---|---|---|
| Single address endpoint | ✓ (Geocoder only) | ✓ (with data appends) |
| Batch endpoint | ✓ (10,000 max) | ✓ (10,000 max per request) plus CSV via API option (up to 1GB) |
| Async file processing | ✗ | ✓ (up to 10 million+ addresses) |
| CSV/spreadsheet upload | ✓ (limited) | ✓ (1GB file limit) |
| Geocoding + data in one call | ✗ (requires 2 APIs) | ✓ |
| Feature | Census Bureau | Geocodio |
|---|---|---|
| Uptime | None documented | 99.99%+ |
| Status page | Basic (often down during outages) | Available |
| Known issues | Batch inconsistency, maintenance downtime, host resolution failures | None documented |
| Affected by government shutdowns | Yes | No |
| Rate limits | 500 queries/day (no key), shared across network | 2,500 lookups/day (free), scales with plan |
| Feature | Census Bureau | Geocodio |
|---|---|---|
| Authentication method | API key (Data API only) | API key (query param or Bearer token) |
| Free tier | 500 queries/day without key | 2,500 lookups/day |
| CORS support | ✗ (JSONP workaround needed) | ✓ |
| Feature | Census Bureau | Geocodio |
|---|---|---|
| Response format | JSON (numbers as strings) | JSON (proper types) |
| Error handling | Generic messages, varies by API | Consistent JSON error objects |
| Official libraries | Limited | PHP, Node.js, Ruby, Python |
| Community libraries | R (tidycensus, censusxy), Python | Go, R, C#, Rust, Java, Clojure, Perl |
| OpenAPI spec | ✗ | ✓ (GitHub) |
| Versioned API | Changes without notice | 12+ months support per version |
Geocodio uses a transparent, usage-based pricing model. Each geocoding request counts as one lookup; each data append field counts as an additional lookup.
Geocodio offers a free tier with 2,500 lookups per day—enough for testing, small projects, and occasional use. No credit card required.
For production workloads, Geocodio is a paid service. The cost is predictable and often lower than the engineering time spent debugging Census API outages or building retry logic.
| Plan | Monthly Cost | Rate | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | 2,500 lookups/day | Testing, small projects |
| Pay-As-You-Go | Usage-based | $0.50 per 1,000 lookups | Variable workloads |
| Self-Serve Unlimited | $1,000/month | Flat rate | High-volume, consistent usage |
| Enterprise | $2,500/month | Flat rate + 99.9% SLA | HIPAA, SOC 2, compliance needs |
Census data appends add lookups based on the number of field categories requested:
| Addresses | Fields Requested | Total Lookups | Cost (Pay-As-You-Go) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10,000 | None (geocoding only) | 10,000 | $5.00 |
| 10,000 | census |
20,000 | $10.00 |
| 10,000 | census + acs-demographics |
30,000 | $15.00 |
| 10,000 | census + acs-demographics + acs-economics |
40,000 | $20.00 |
Cost-saving tip: Basic Census identifiers (FIPS codes) are included free when requesting any acs- field.
Prepaid credits reduce per-lookup costs and never expire. Example: 1 million lookups for $425 (15% savings). Nonprofits and academic institutions receive an additional 5% discount.
Adding Census data to Geocodio requests requires just one parameter: fields. Specify which data categories you need, and Geocodio returns them alongside geocoded coordinates.
Example API request:
curl "https://api.geocod.io/v1.9/geocode?q=1600+Pennsylvania+Ave+NW,+Washington+DC&fields=census,acs-demographics,acs-economics&api_key=YOUR_API_KEY"
This single request returns latitude/longitude, full address components, Census FIPS codes, population by age/sex/race, and median household income—no second API call or manual join required.
Batch requests (up to 10,000 addresses):
curl -X POST "https://api.geocod.io/v1.9/geocode?fields=census,acs-economics&api_key=YOUR_API_KEY" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '["1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Washington DC", "350 Fifth Avenue, New York NY"]'
Don't want to write code? Geocodio's spreadsheet tool lets you upload a CSV or Excel file and download results with Census data appended—no API integration needed.
This approach saves hours compared to manually joining Census data using FIPS codes from separate downloads.
Append the geography level to field names for aggregated data:
acs-demographics — Block group level (default)acs-demographics-tract — Census tract levelacs-demographics-county — County levelacs-demographics-state — State level| Field Code | Data Returned |
|---|---|
census |
FIPS codes, MSA, geographic identifiers (current year) |
census2020 |
Historical 2020 Census boundaries |
census2010 |
Historical 2010 Census boundaries |
acs-demographics |
Age, sex, race, ethnicity |
acs-economics |
Income data and brackets |
acs-families |
Household composition, marital status |
acs-housing |
Occupancy, ownership, home values |
acs-social |
Education, veteran status |
No. Geocodio is a commercial geocoding service that provides access to select Census Bureau data (ACS five-year estimates). Geocodio is not affiliated with the U.S. Census Bureau.
Geocodio uses the 2023 five-year American Community Survey results, published in December 2024. Five-year ACS data provides the most reliable estimates for small geographic areas like block groups.
Geocodio provides the most commonly used ACS variables: demographics, income, housing, families, education, and veteran status. If you need specialized Census tables or the full range of ACS variables, you may still need the Census API for some use cases.
Geocodio returns special values to indicate data availability issues:
Geocodio geocodes addresses in the United States and Canada. U.S. Census data appends are available only for U.S. addresses. Geocodio does, however, also return divisions and other geographic identifiers from Statistics Canada.
When you use the Census API, you typically geocode addresses to get FIPS codes, then query a separate API to get demographic data for those FIPS codes. Geocodio handles this automatically—one API call returns both geocoded coordinates and Census data, eliminating the join step entirely.
Yes. Geocodio offers 2,500 free lookups per day with full feature access—including Census data appends. No credit card required. The free tier resets at midnight UTC.
The Census Bureau API provides free access to a broader range of data. For teams that only need occasional access and can tolerate downtime, it remains a valid option. Geocodio is designed for teams that need reliable, production-grade access to Census data without workflow interruptions.
When api.census.gov goes down or returns "system is busy" errors, your work shouldn't have to stop. Geocodio provides reliable access to Census demographics, income data, and housing statistics through a single API—with predictable uptime and no manual FIPS code joins.
Start with 2,500 free lookups per day—no credit card required. Test Census data appends, explore the documentation, and see if Geocodio fits your workflow.