variables.json: List dataset variables

API: census.gov:census-data-api
Endpoint: /data/{year}/{dataset}/variables.json
Response format: application/json
Auth: unknown
Method: GET
Last Status: 404
Latency: 1855ms

Description

Provides comprehensive metadata for every variable including labels, concepts (descriptions), predicate types, and the group they belong to. Variables include estimates (E), margins of error (M), and annotations (A/MA). Use this to find specific variable codes needed for data queries and understand what each variable represents.

From spec: Returns all available variables (data fields) for a specific dataset. Each variable includes a description, concept, and metadata. Variable codes ending in 'E' are estimates, 'M' are margins of error.

Usage Tips

- Variables ending in 'E' are estimates, 'M' are margins of error - 'predicateType' indicates data type (int, float, string, fips-for/in) - 'predicateOnly' variables like 'for' and 'in' are for geographic filtering only - 'group' links variables to their parent table/group - Variables starting with '_' like '_GEOCOMP' are internal fields

Parameters (2)

dataset (string, path, required)

Dataset path. Common values: 'acs/acs5' (ACS 5-year), 'acs/acs1' (ACS 1-year), 'dec/sf1' (Decennial Summary File 1), 'cbp' (County Business Patterns)

year (string, path, required)

Vintage (year) of the dataset. Examples: 2022, 2020, 2010

Constraints: {'pattern': '^\\d{4}$'}

Examples (2)

List all variables for 2022 ACS 5-Year data probe-gate

Demonstrates retrieving comprehensive variable metadata including labels, concepts, groups, and data types for all available data fields.

curl 'https://api.census.gov/data/2022/acs/acs5/variables.json'

import requests

resp = requests.get("https://api.census.gov/data/2022/acs/acs5/variables.json")
data = resp.json()

import zingu_apis

api = zingu_apis.api("census-data")
result = api.fetch("data/{year}/{dataset}/variables.json")

for item in result:
    print(item)

const resp = await fetch("https://api.census.gov/data/2022/acs/acs5/variables.json");
const data = await resp.json();

Truncate

Auto Table Raw

List variables for 2020 Decennial Census probe-gate

Shows variable metadata structure for decennial census data, including population counts by race and ethnicity.

curl 'https://api.census.gov/data/2020/dec/dpsx/variables.json'

import requests

resp = requests.get("https://api.census.gov/data/2020/dec/dpsx/variables.json")
data = resp.json()

import zingu_apis

api = zingu_apis.api("census-data")
result = api.fetch("data/{year}/{dataset}/variables.json")

for item in result:
    print(item)

const resp = await fetch("https://api.census.gov/data/2020/dec/dpsx/variables.json");
const data = await resp.json();

Truncate

Auto Table Raw

Probe History

Latency

Status Codes

Time	Status	Latency	Size
2026-04-16 17:52:38.410206	404	1855ms
2026-04-16 16:56:19.124771	200	495ms	0.7MB
2026-04-16 03:07:18.178026	200	977ms	0.7MB
2026-04-16 00:46:56.247433	404	464ms
2026-04-15 03:55:52.422575	404	471ms
2026-04-15 02:05:29.821121	200	593ms	0.7MB
2026-04-14 00:14:29.450746	404	481ms
2026-04-14 00:09:37.719458	200	1526ms	0.7MB
2026-04-12 16:18:53.207748	404	531ms
2026-04-12 13:56:09.804939	200	572ms	0.7MB
2026-04-10 03:21:25.813745	404	444ms
2026-04-10 02:25:51.567046	200	1448ms	0.7MB