tidycensus is an R package that enables users to easily interface with several U.S. Census APIs to pull data in a tidy-ready format. In this intermediate workshop, participants will learn how to use tidycensus to call the available Census APIs, and import and work with Census data in R. We will also learn how to utilize Census data for data visualization in R, and will look at several other R packages for calling government data APIs as well.  

Participants should have a basic understanding of R, RStudio, and the tidyverse, and should request a Census API key (https://api.census.gov/data/key_signup.html) prior to the session. If you want to learn the basics of using R, please see the full list of introductory R workshops hosted by CSCU. 

By the end of this workshop, participants will be able to:  

• Understand the function of the tidycensus R package and how to utilize it to interact with the Census API.  

• Make an API request using the tidycensus package.  

• Utilize Census data for statistical analysis and data visualization  

• Understand how to locate and utilize R packages for other government data APIs, such as the Bureau of Labor Statistics. 

Instructor: Whitney Kramer, Interim Head of Research & Learning Services