{"id":1273,"slug":"census-business-builder","title":"Census Business Builder — free US Census tool; pick business type + location → demographics, consumer spending, competition","kind":"reference","scope":"business","status":"current","audiences":["kevin","smb-owner","candid-team"],"topics":["open-data","data-infrastructure"],"reference_body":"**Claim:** The US Census Bureau publishes a free SMB-facing tool — **Census Business Builder** — that lets an owner pick a business type and location and view demographics, consumer spending, and competition.\n\n**Source:** https://www.census.gov/topics/business-economy/small-business/about/powerful-data.html\n\n**Confidence:** Verified.\n\n**Why this matters for Candid:** Worked example of free, well-built government data products. For US-side Candid work this is the answer to \"where should we open the second location\" before any paid demographic tool. (Canadian Statistics Canada equivalents exist but are less SMB-friendly out of the box.)","rationale_body":null,"metadata":null,"links":{"outgoing":[{"slug":"acs-margins-of-error-false-positives","title":"ACS 5-Year Estimates carry margins of error that produce \"false positives\" in small/rural areas if ignored","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"relates-to"}],"incoming":[{"slug":"research-brief-data-driven-tools-smb-june-2026","title":"Research brief: live data and data-driven tools for SMBs — when it's an edge, when it's overkill (June 2026)","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"relates-to"},{"slug":"rule-rent-or-use-free-for-data-about-the-world","title":"R1 — Rent (or use free) for data ABOUT THE OUTSIDE WORLD; you will never out-collect the Census Bureau","kind":"rule","scope":"business","link_type":"depends-on"}]},"created_at":"2026-06-20T16:57:38.860Z","updated_at":"2026-06-20T16:57:38.860Z"}