API Documentation

Complete guide to integrating with the Government Data Mirror API

Authentication

All API requests require authentication using an API key. Include your key in the Authorization header: 

Authorization: Bearer gov_YOUR_API_KEY_HERE

Getting Your API Key

  1. Sign up for an account at govdata.com
  2. Navigate to your dashboard
  3. Click "Create New Key"
  4. Copy your API key (it will only be shown once!)

Rate Limits

Rate limits are applied monthly based on your plan:

Plan Requests/Month
Free 10,000
Startup 100,000
Growth 1,000,000
Enterprise Unlimited

When you exceed your limit, you'll receive a 429 Too Many Requests response.

Census ACS Data

Get Full ACS Data

Retrieve complete American Community Survey data for a geography 

GET /api/v1/census/acs/{geography}?year={year}

Parameters

  • geography (required): Geography ID (e.g., "06001" for Alameda County, CA)
  • year (optional): Year of data, default 2023

Example Response

{
  "geography": "06001",
  "year": 2023,
  "data": {
    "NAME": "Alameda County, California",
    "B01001_001E": "1671329",
    "B19013_001E": "107716"
  },
  "source": "api",
  "status": "fresh"
}

Get Population

GET /api/v1/census/acs/{geography}/population?year={year}

Get Median Income

GET /api/v1/census/acs/{geography}/income?year={year}

Data Sources

We provide access to data from multiple government agencies:

  • Census ACS: American Community Survey (demographics, income, housing)
  • Census Decennial: Official decennial census counts
  • BLS: Bureau of Labor Statistics (employment, inflation)
  • Congress.gov: Legislative information and voting records

Error Codes

Code Description
400 Bad Request - Invalid parameters
401 Unauthorized - Invalid or missing API key
429 Too Many Requests - Rate limit exceeded
503 Service Unavailable - Data temporarily unavailable

Code Examples

Python

import requests

headers = {
    "Authorization": "Bearer gov_YOUR_API_KEY"
}

response = requests.get(
    "https://api.govdata.com/api/v1/census/acs/06001?year=2023",
    headers=headers
)

data = response.json()
print(data["data"]["B01001_001E"])  # Population

JavaScript

const response = await fetch(
  'https://api.govdata.com/api/v1/census/acs/06001?year=2023',
  {
    headers: {
      'Authorization': 'Bearer gov_YOUR_API_KEY'
    }
  }
);

const data = await response.json();
console.log(data.data.B01001_001E);  # Population

Interactive API Explorer

Explore the API using our interactive Swagger UI:

Open API Explorer