Why you should care about the new Census API

Dan Seitz Contributing Writer, Tech

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The United States Census is seemingly really freaking boring. And that’s because, individually, it is. In aggregate, though, it’s actually pretty fascinating: a snapshot of what Americans are doing, making, living, and thinking every ten years. And now it wants to incorporate that data into an app. And that app will get you laid.

2012 Census

More specifically, it’s incorporated the 2010 Census and its 2006-2010 data into an application programming interface, or API. Basically this means that anybody who wants to access that data can just plug in some code from the Census bureau, fool around with it, and start including statistics. Yes, I am incredibly oversimplifying it.

Here, however, is why it’s important: it means you’ll be able to better understand where you live with the touch of a finger. There’s stuff governments care about, and then there’s stuff you want to know. How many single women are in your county? What’s the male to female ratio? How many of them are divorcees? What’s the average age? How many of them are single moms? You’ll be able to pick the ideal town to actually get some action, and it’s all thanks to your Census.

Beyond the jokes, pretty much every smartphone will soon be using this API. It puts useful information at your fingertips. And also insane trivia. Your tax dollars at work!

Developer Page [US Census]