A command line interface to the US Census Bureau's public api
To install, you'll need
- ruby, probably 1.9+; it's untested on earlier versions
- curl
- an api key (get one here)
- bundler (optional)
clone this repository
git clone git@github.com:ckw/cb-cli.git
cd cb-cli
if you have bundler, then
bundle install
if you don't
gem install cli_utils
put a symlink to the script in your path, e.g.,
sudo ln -s ~/cb-cli/cb-cli.rb /usr/local/bin/cb-cli
take a look at the help
cb-cli
Try an example command from the help, (list the number of householders age 25-44 with income above $200,000 in Washington State, by congressional district)
cb-cli acs1-2012 "NAME,B19037_035E" "congressional+district:*" --in "state:53"
At the first invocation of a command requiring an api key you will be prompted for one. To change the key later, edit the config file
cb-cli edit-config
At the moment, it should look like
defaults:
api_key: your_key_goes_here###Notes
-
Most commands are automatically generated with the use of the discovery file
-
Command arguments should be wrapped in quotes, as there are a number of characters which appear frequently in arguments that interact poorly with shells. e.g., *
-
Variable and geography files for each dataset are cached locally, lazily.
-
To update the commands, in the event that the CB adds more datasets, run
cb-cli update-commands
- To update the commands as well as all other files, run
cb-cli refresh-all-caches
- To get a detailed description of each autogenerated command, run
cb-cli describe-command <name_of_command>
For example, cb-cli dc acs1-2012 will output something similar to
The American Community Survey (ACS) is a nationwide survey designed to provide communities a fresh look at how they are changing. The ACS replaced the decennial census long form in 2010 and thereafter by collecting long form type information throughout the decade rather than only once every 10 years. Questionnaires are mailed to a sample of addresses to obtain information about households -- that is, about each person and the housing unit itself. The American Community Survey produces demographic, social, housing and economic estimates in the form of 1-year, 3-year and 5-year estimates based on population thresholds. The strength of the ACS is in estimating population and housing characteristics. It produces estimates for small areas, including census tracts and population subgroups. Although the ACS produces population, demographic and housing unit estimates,it is the Census Bureau's Population Estimates Program that produces and disseminates the official estimates of the population for the nation, states, counties, cities and towns, and estimates of housing units for states and counties. For 2010 and other decennial census years, the Decennial Census provides the official counts of population and housing units.