Census (ACS by ZIP) vs Census MCP Server

In-depth architectural comparison of the Census (ACS by ZIP) and Census MCP Server MCP servers. Compare execution transports, security boundaries, tool capabilities, quality scores, and ready-to-paste client installation snippets for Claude, Cursor, Windsurf, and VS Code.

Which MCP Server Should You Choose?

Choose Census (ACS by ZIP) when:

• You need dedicated capabilities in the Developer Tools domain.
• You prefer local stdio subprocess transport architecture.
• Your security boundary fits: No auth required (Free / Open Source).

Explore Census (ACS by ZIP) Details

Choose Census MCP Server when:

• You need dedicated capabilities in the Developer Tools domain.
• You prefer local stdio subprocess transport architecture.
• Your security boundary fits: No auth required (Free / Open Source).

Explore Census MCP Server Details

Feature & Specification Comparison

Specification	Census (ACS by ZIP) Developer Tools	Census MCP Server Developer Tools
Summary	U.S. Census (ACS) data by ZIP: income, demographics, housing, education, from a local store.	Query U.S. Census Bureau data, variables, and geography via MCP.
Category & Scope	Developer Tools	Developer Tools

Tools & Capabilities Breakdown

Ready-to-Paste Client Configurations

Paste either (or both) of these JSON server blocks into your client config file (e.g. claude_desktop_config.json or ~/.cursor/mcp.json).

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "census-acs-by-zip": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": [
        "mcpwright-census"
      ]
    }
  }
}

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "census-mcp-server": {
      "command": "bunx",
      "args": [
        "@cyanheads/census-mcp-server@latest"
      ]
    }
  }
}

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