The U.S. Census Bureau is committed to open government by sharing its public data as open data. Census Bureau data continues to be a key national resource, serving as a catalyst for entrepreneurship, innovation, scientific discovery, and commercial activity. We continuously identify and publish datasets and application programming interfaces (APIs) to data.gov in accordance with the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Memorandum M-10-06, Executive Order 13642 on open data, and the overall principles outlined in the Digital Government Strategy. In accordance with the open data policy, OMB memorandum M-13-13, the Census Bureau publishes its information in machine-readable formats while also safeguarding privacy and security.

The Census Bureau maintains and enhances confidential microdata from its censuses, surveys, linked employer‑employee datasets, graduate‑employer and researcher‑employer linkages, and administrative records to support high‑quality social science research. Information about selected restricted‑use datasets is provided below, and these resources are available to qualified researchers at government agencies, academic institutions, and other approved entities through secure Federal Statistical Research Data Centers (FSRDCs) or, where authorized, via the Remote Access Program. Researchers may apply for access through the Standard Application Process (SAP) Portal at sap.nsf.gov, with additional guidance available on the Census Bureau’s Standard Application Process website.

For more information refer to Restricted-Use Data.

Proper citation ensures that Census Bureau statistical products and research can be discovered, reused, replicated for verification, and credited for recognition to measure usage and impact. 

Guidance on how to cite Census Bureau data can be found at Citing Our Data, Tools, Technical Documents and Research.

The FSRDC program has access to a wide range of restricted-use data—data only provisioned for use in specific, approved projects. While restricted-use data are not publicly available, accurate citations of restricted-use data help others know what data are utilized, potentially find more information about the underlying data, and understand how to access the data. Guidance on how researchers restricted data via an FSRDC can be found at Citations for Restricted-Use Data.