About the United States Census Bureau Data Repository

U S Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census
Source

The United States Census Bureau Data Repository preserves and disseminates survey instruments, specifications, data dictionaries, codebooks, and other materials provided by the U.S. Census Bureau. ICPSR, the host of this data repository, has also listed additional Census-related data collections from its larger holdings.

The repository helps fulfill key recommendations made by the 2017 "Report of the Commission on Evidence-Based Policymaking." Specifically, the repository improves transparency by establishing a "searchable inventory, through which the public can learn about the data that government collects." The robust metadata also enables "researchers inside and outside government...[to] be better able to identify which data are needed and useful for answering policy questions, conducting program evaluations, and reducing inefficient and unnecessary data requests."

Please note some highly restricted Census data that must be accessed and used only within a Federal Statistical Research Data Center are listed only in the ResearchDataGov (RDG) portal and are not cross-listed in the United States Census Bureau Data Repository.