CDC Data — Free US Public Health Statistics API (No Key)

TL;DR

The CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) publishes hundreds of public health datasets through the Socrata open data platform, accessible via a REST API. Data includes chronic disease indicators, immunization coverage, mortality statistics, behavioral risk factors (BRFSS), infectious disease surveillance, and environmental health data. Each dataset has a unique 4-character identifier and supports SoQL (Socrata Query Language) for filtering, aggregation, and sorting.

Quick start: https://data.cdc.gov/resource/hk9y-quqm.json

No API key needed — just make a request!

How to Use This API

1. Query a Dataset

The example dataset hk9y-quqm is a CDC health measure:

https://data.cdc.gov/resource/hk9y-quqm.json?$limit=5

2. Filter by Year

https://data.cdc.gov/resource/hk9y-quqm.json?year=2020&$limit=5

3. JavaScript — Get CDC Data

fetch('https://data.cdc.gov/resource/hk9y-quqm.json?$limit=10')
  .then(r => r.json())
  .then(d => {
    d.forEach(row => {
      console.log(JSON.stringify(row));
    });
  });

4. Python — Aggregate Query

import requests

# Example: query CDC datasets
# First list available datasets
resp = requests.get('https://data.cdc.gov/data.json')
catalog = resp.json()
for ds in catalog['dataset'][:5]:
    print(ds['title'], '-', ds.get('identifier', 'No ID'))

# Then query a specific dataset by its identifier
# Replace with actual dataset ID from catalog search

Try it: https://data.cdc.gov/resource/hk9y-quqm.json?$limit=3

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API Details

API URL: https://data.cdc.gov/resource
Documentation: dev.socrata.com
Category: Health
Authentication: Not Required
Geographic Coverage: USA

Frequently Asked Questions

What types of datasets does the CDC publish?: Over 400 datasets covering chronic diseases, infectious diseases, immunization, injury, environmental health, reproductive health, and health statistics.
How do I find dataset IDs?: Browse data.cdc.gov and note the 4-character identifier in the URL (e.g., hk9y-quqm).
What is SoQL?: Socrata Query Language supports $select, $where, $order, $group, $limit, $offset, and $q for full-text search. It is similar to SQL.
Can I get data in CSV format?: Yes, add .csv instead of .json to the dataset URL for CSV download.
Is there geographic data?: Many datasets include state, county, or census tract identifiers. Some include latitude/longitude for point data.

What You Can Build

Public health trend dashboard by state and year
Chronic disease prevalence map for grant research
Immunization rate tracker for school districts
Mortality statistics analyzer for epidemiology
Health policy data visualization tool