Overview
The Census Bureau QWI API requires a free API key. Register with your name and email address at the Census API key signup page, and a key will be emailed to you immediately at no cost. Without a key, requests are still allowed but are subject to a 500 requests/day per IP limit.
Setup guide
Get your API key
- Visit https://api.census.gov/data/key_signup.html
- Enter your organization name and email address in the registration form
- Submit the form
- Check your email for the API key (delivered immediately)
Add it to Ingest
In the Ingest UI under Connectors → Census Bureau QWI (Quarterly Workforce Indicators), paste the key. Ingest stores it in AWS Secrets Manager under the key api_key.
Mind the limits
With an API key, the Census Bureau allows 25 requests per second. Without a key, you are limited to 500 requests per day per IP address. HTTP 401 and 403 errors are fatal; 429, 500, 502, 503, and 504 errors trigger automatic retries.
Supported streams
3 endpoints are available out of the box. Each endpoint syncs into its own Iceberg table in Snowflake.
| Endpoint | Description | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| qwi_race_by_ethnicity qwi_race_by_ethnicity | – | |
| qwi_sex_by_age qwi_sex_by_age | – | |
| qwi_sex_by_education qwi_sex_by_education | – |
Authentication
- Auth type
- query_param
- Provider docs
- api.census.gov ↗
Performance & limits
- Rate limit
- 25 requests/second with key; 500 requests/day without key