Skip to main content

Address → Census block API

Turn any address into its Census block — in one API call

AddressCanvas returns the 15-digit 2020 Census block GEOID (and tract, block group, and county FIPS) for US addresses: 99.9% of the addresses we serve carry one, and 83.9% resolve to a rooftop. Skip the flaky federal batch geocoder and the PostGIS pipeline. One POST, one JSON response, results you own.

The problem

HMDA reporting, CRA analysis, fair-lending review, demographic enrichment, public-health research — all need addresses tied to Census geographies. Today that means the Census Bureau's geocoder (slow, rate-limited, down at filing season), a home-grown PostGIS + TIGER pipeline you maintain forever, or Google/Mapbox (which don't return Census geography at all, and you can't store what they do return).

The fix

The 15-digit block GEOID on 99.9% of rooftop/parcel results — state (2) + county (3) + tract (6) + block (4). Slice it for tract or block group; the county FIPS is right there in fips. Rooftop accuracy, production reliability, and results you can store in your warehouse indefinitely.

curl -X POST "https://addresscanvas.com/api/v1/geocode" \
  -H "X-API-Key: gck_your_api_key" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"address": "1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Washington, DC 20500"}'
{
  "standardizedAddress": "1600 PENNSYLVANIA AVE NW, WASHINGTON, DC 20500",
  "lat": 38.89594,
  "lon": -77.037419,
  "fips": "11001",
  "censusBlock": "110019800001034",
  "locationCode": "ROOFTOP"
}

Why AddressCanvas for Census geocoding

  • Census block on 99.9% of rooftop/parcel results. Not a paid add-on, not a separate call.
  • Rooftop accuracy. Block assignment is only as good as the point — we place at the rooftop, not the street centroid.
  • You own the output. No caching restrictions — store GEOIDs in your warehouse indefinitely.
  • Enrich in the same place. /api/v1/demographics returns 2020 Census + ACS data for the same address on credits.

Built for the compliance use case

HMDA and fair-lending workflows need the tract/block for every application address, reproducibly, at filing volume. AddressCanvas gives you a stable, storable GEOID per address and a clear audit trail (matchCode, pointReason) for how each point was resolved. Informational geocoding for analysis and enrichment — confirm suitability for your specific regulatory filing requirements.

Start free — Census block included

5,000 geocodes/month, no card. Address matches carry the block GEOID; city- and ZIP-level fallbacks don't.

Get your API key — 150 free credits