shouldiuse.io

VERDICT

Should I use Census Reporter: Making Census Data Easy to Use?

Census Reporter provides useful facts about every place in America. Compare places using tables and maps, download data, and embed charts on your site! - censusreporter.org

Worth it. Buy it if you're a journalist, researcher, or planner needing quick US census facts — it's free and purpose-built for exactly that. Skip it if you need historical trend comparisons, non-census data, or any vendor support.

Confidence

Medium. Based on ~50 public sources; mostly citations in reports and papers, no formal user review platforms.

Ratings

  • Value for money
  • Ease of use
  • Feature depth
  • Support qualityNo support evidence in sources
  • Security postureNo security page; no incidents found

Pricing

Free

Census Reporter

ModelNot disclosed
Monthly feesNot disclosed
HardwareNot disclosed
Free tierYes

Best for

  • Journalists needing quick census facts
  • Grant writers citing local demographics
  • Urban planners and public-health researchers
  • Sites embedding census charts

Not for

  • Anyone needing historical trend comparisons — the interface wasn't designed for it
  • Teams wanting SLAs, uptime guarantees, or vendor support
  • Businesses needing market data beyond US census demographics
  • Non-US market research

Gotchas - check before you buy

medium

Donation-funded nonprofit: no uptime guarantees; if it folds, no migration path

medium

Historical comparisons were never designed in — plan for.gov or NHGIS instead

low

No published security page; fine for lookups, not sensitive workflows

Pros and cons

Pros

  • Free and open-source; runs on donations
  • Useful facts about every place in America
  • Compare places with tables and maps; download data
  • Built specifically to make census data easy for reporters
  • Widely cited by county agencies and academic research

Cons

  • No satisfying historical data comparison interface
  • Census-only scope; no other datasets
  • Independent project, not an official Census Bureau product
  • Donation-funded; no SLA or paid support tier

Sources & method

Analyzed 9/20/2026 - 8 sources - No known vulnerabilities found in the sources reviewed.

official x2review x4security x1news x1

Key stats

  • Value for money: 5/5

    Rating

  • Free

    Starting price

  • 8

    Sources

  • Analyzed

  • Value for money: 5/5. Free and open source, hard to beat
  • Ease of use: 4/5. Purpose-built to simplify census data
  • Feature depth: 3/5. Maps, tables, embeds; no historical comparisons
  • Support quality. No support evidence in sources
  • Security posture. No security page; no incidents found
  • $0 Price Free, open-source project
  • Yes Free tier No paid plans found
  • 2014 Launched Knight News Challenge-funded
  • Every US place Coverage Tables, maps, downloads, embeds

Pricing

Census Reporter

Free

  • Compare places with tables and maps
  • Download data, embed charts
  • Open source, donation-funded

Security

No known vulnerabilities found in the sources reviewed.

What users say

No formal user reviews found, but the tool is cited across dozens of government, academic, and journalistic works as a go-to census source.

Alternatives

Compare Census Reporter: Making Census Data Easy to Use with each alternative.

  • Raw Census CSVs in a spreadsheet

    Basic need? Download tables once, skip the tool entirely

Companies that use it

  • Fairfax County, VA⁷
  • SFMTA
  • Perry County Ohio Health Department
  • University of Utah
  • University of Virginia Library
Full analysis

Based on ~50 public sources; mostly citations in reports and papers, no formal user review platforms.

Free, open-source census data tool built for journalists. Great quick US demographics; no historical trends or support.

Methodology

Based on ~50 public sources; mostly citations in reports and papers, no formal user review platforms.

Sources

  1. Census Reporter homepagecensusreporter.org
    official
  2. Census Reporter on GitHubgithub.com
    official
  3. Census Reporter site makes it easier for reporters to use dataicfj.org
    news
  4. Review of The Census Reporteratcoordinates.info
    review
  5. Historical data comparison questioncensusreporter.uservoice.com
    review
  6. Finding Federal Data guideguides.hshsl.umaryland.edu
    review
  7. Fairfax County Needs Assessment 2022fairfaxcounty.gov
    review
  8. Security page checkcensusreporter.org
    security

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