census-lookup 0.1.9

Offline address-to-Census data mapping for Python with PL 94-171 and ACS support

census-lookup

A Python library for mapping US addresses to Census 2020 block-level data locally, without relying on rate-limited APIs.

Features

• Fully offline geocoding using TIGER Address Range files (~95% match rate)
• Lazy per-state data downloading - only download data for states you need
• Configurable geographic levels - block, block group, tract, or county
• Two Census data sources:
  • PL 94-171 (Redistricting Data): Population, race, housing counts at block level
  • ACS 5-Year Estimates: Income, education, employment, housing characteristics at tract level
• Efficient batch processing using DuckDB for fast joins
• CLI and Python API - use from command line or in your code

Installation

# Using uv (recommended)
uv add census-lookup

# Using pip
pip install census-lookup

Quick Start

CLI (no install required)

# Look up a single address (auto-downloads data as needed)
uvx census-lookup lookup "123 Main St, Los Angeles, CA 90012" --level block

# Include specific census variables
uvx census-lookup lookup "123 Main St, Los Angeles, CA 90012" -v P1_001N -v H1_001N

# Process a batch file
uvx census-lookup batch input.csv output.csv --address-column addr --level tract

# Pre-download data for states (optional - data downloads automatically)
uvx census-lookup download CA TX NY

# List available census variables
uvx census-lookup variables

# Show cache info
uvx census-lookup info

Example Output

$ uvx census-lookup lookup "1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20500"

{
  "input_address": "1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20500",
  "matched_address": "Pennsylvania Ave NW",
  "latitude": 38.898761,
  "longitude": -77.035117,
  "match_type": "interpolated",
  "match_score": 0.9,
  "geoid": "110010101003014",
  "state_fips": "11",
  "county_fips": "11001",
  "tract": "11001010100",
  "block_group": "110010101003",
  "block": "110010101003014",
  "P1_001N": 19.0
}

With ACS variables (median income, home value):

$ uvx census-lookup lookup "1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20500" \
    -v B19013_001E -v B25077_001E

{
  ...
  "B19013_001E": 72500.0,
  "B25077_001E": 485000.0
}

Python API

from census_lookup import CensusLookup, GeoLevel

# Initialize (first use will download data for the state)
lookup = CensusLookup(
    geo_level=GeoLevel.BLOCK,
    variables=["P1_001N", "H1_001N"],  # Population, Housing units
)

# Single address lookup
result = lookup.geocode("123 Main St, Los Angeles, CA 90012")
print(f"GEOID: {result.geoid}")
print(f"Population: {result.census_data['P1_001N']}")

# Batch processing
import pandas as pd
df = pd.read_csv("addresses.csv")
results = lookup.geocode_batch(df["address"], progress=True)

Geographic Levels

Level	GEOID Length	Example
State	2	06
County	5	06037
Tract	11	06037210100
Block Group	12	060372101001
Block	15	060372101001023

Census Variables

PL 94-171 (Redistricting Data)

Available at block level and above. Includes:

• P1: Race (total population, by race categories)
• P2: Hispanic/Latino by Race
• P3: Race for Population 18+ (voting age)
• P4: Hispanic/Latino 18+
• H1: Housing Units (total, occupied, vacant)

# Use variable groups
lookup = CensusLookup(variable_groups=["population", "housing"])

# Or specify individual variables
lookup = CensusLookup(variables=["P1_001N", "P1_003N", "H1_001N"])

ACS 5-Year Estimates (American Community Survey)

Available at tract level and above. Includes richer demographic data:

Category	Key Variables	Description
Income	B19013_001E, B19301_001E	Median household income, per capita income
Poverty	B17001_001E, B17001_002E	Total population, below poverty level
Education	B15003_022E, B15003_023E	Bachelor's degree, Master's degree
Employment	B23025_004E, B23025_005E	Employed, Unemployed
Housing	B25077_001E, B25064_001E	Median home value, median rent
Tenure	B25003_002E, B25003_003E	Owner-occupied, Renter-occupied
Health	B27010_017E, B27010_050E	Employer insurance, Medicare
Commute	B08301_003E, B08301_010E	Drove alone, Public transit
Internet	B28002_004E, B28002_013E	Broadband access, No internet
Language	B16001_002E, B16001_003E	English only, Spanish

Over 100+ ACS variables available. Run uvx census-lookup variables --acs for the full list

from census_lookup import CensusLookup, GeoLevel, list_acs_variable_groups

# See available ACS variable groups
print(list_acs_variable_groups())

# Use ACS variables with your lookup
lookup = CensusLookup(
    geo_level=GeoLevel.TRACT,
    variables=["P1_001N"],  # PL 94-171 population
    acs_variables=["B19013_001E", "B25077_001E"],  # Median income, home value
    # Or use variable groups:
    # acs_variable_groups=["income", "housing"],
)

result = lookup.geocode("123 Main St, Los Angeles, CA 90012")
print(f"Median Income: ${result.census_data['B19013_001E']:,}")

Note: ACS data is available at tract level and above. When using block-level geocoding with ACS variables, the ACS data is joined at tract level.

Data Storage

Data is cached in ~/.census-lookup/:

~/.census-lookup/
├── catalog.json           # Tracks downloaded data
├── tiger/
│   ├── addrfeat/         # Address range features
│   └── blocks/           # Block polygons
└── census/
    ├── pl94171/          # PL 94-171 data
    └── acs5/             # ACS 5-Year data
        └── tract/        # ACS at tract level

Typical storage per state: 100-300MB (TIGER + PL 94-171), plus ~10-50MB for ACS

How It Works

1. Parse address using the usaddress library
2. Normalize street name for TIGER matching
3. Match to TIGER Address Range segment
4. Interpolate coordinates along the street segment
5. Spatial lookup using rtree index to find containing census block
6. Join census data using DuckDB for efficient queries

Data Sources

All data is downloaded from official US Census Bureau sources:

• TIGER/Line Shapefiles: Geographic boundaries and address ranges

  • https://www.census.gov/geographies/mapping-files/time-series/geo/tiger-line-file.html
  • Address Range Feature files (ADDRFEAT) for geocoding
  • Block shapefiles for spatial lookups

• PL 94-171 Redistricting Data: Population and housing counts

  • https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial-census/about/rdo/summary-files.html
  • Available at block level and above

• American Community Survey (ACS) 5-Year Estimates: Socioeconomic data

  • https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs
  • Available at tract level and above
  • Accessed via Census API: https://api.census.gov

Development

# Clone and install with uv
git clone https://github.com/yolodex-ai/census-lookup.git
cd census-lookup
uv sync --all-extras

# Run unit tests (fast, no network required)
uv run pytest tests/unit -v

# Run functional tests (downloads real data, slower)
uv run pytest tests/functional -v -s

# Run all tests
uv run pytest tests/ -v

# Run linting
uv run ruff check src/

License

MIT