CDC & HealthData.gov Data API

recordType	row
datasetId	9bhg-hcku
datasetName	Provisional COVID-19 Deaths by Sex and Age

How it will work: 3 steps

Follow us on ApifyThe tool is built and waits in the queue for the Apify Store. Apify is the cloud platform where our tools run.
Paste your input and press StartNo code needed: you fill in a form (the input). It already has a working example. For example: data.cdc.gov in Portals. Each start is one run.
Download the resultsWhen the run ends, the results are in a table (the dataset). Open Output, press Export and pick Excel or CSV. JSON and the API are there too.

This tool is an Apify Actor: a small program that runs on Apify. You can also run it on a schedule, for example every Monday. New to it? Read how it works, step by step and the 8 words you need first.

Made by Cliqto Media, an independent digital media company. We made this tool. About us

What it does

Search the open data portals of the CDC (data.cdc.gov) and HealthData.gov by keyword or dataset ID, and export the rows of the dataset as clean JSON, CSV or Excel.

Data rows mode (default): give a dataset ID or a search query. The Actor finds the dataset, reads its rows page by page and saves each row with every source column, plus the dataset ID, dataset name, portal, last update of the data and the time of reading.
Dataset search mode: list the datasets that match your keywords, with name, category, last update, licence, columns, page views and the API endpoint. No rows.
Search: both portals are searched separately and the matches are merged (alternating by relevance: CDC first, then HealthData.gov; or newest first, exact for up to 100 datasets). With the default maxDatasets: 1, rows come from the top CDC match; for a HealthData.gov table set domains to ["healthdata.gov"] or pick its ID in Dataset search mode.

Good for

Export a CDC table (COVID-19 deaths, vaccinations, measles, wastewater, overdose and many more) to CSV or Excel with a filter, without writing code.
Feed health statistics to a database, a notebook or an AI agent through the Apify API, with the same field names as the source.
Find which CDC or HHS dataset holds the numbers you need, and how fresh it is.

Not a good fit

Only data.cdc.gov and healthdata.gov. Other Socrata portals (cities, states) are not searched.
The Actor returns what the portal publishes. It does not fix, merge or interpret the numbers. Many CDC datasets are provisional or no longer updated; check datasetUpdatedAt.
Some HealthData.gov entries are only links to files on other websites. They have no rows in the API; you get a free status row instead.
Up to 50,000 rows per run. Very wide or slow datasets can stop earlier (see Pricing and limits).

Who uses it

Health researchers

Export a CDC table to Excel with a filter, without code.

Data engineers

Send health numbers to a database with the source field names.

Journalists

Find which dataset holds the numbers you need and how fresh it is.

Price

Prices will be shown after release.

Questions

Do I need a login or an API key?

No. Both portals are public. A Socrata app token is optional.

Why are some numbers null?

The source has no value there. The tool never turns a missing value into 0.

Is the data up to date?

It reads the portal live. How fresh it is depends on the dataset.

Does it search other city or state portals?

No. It searches data.cdc.gov and healthdata.gov only.

Can I get the same output as the website export?

The column names are the API field names, which can differ from the titles on the website. The values are the same; numbers are typed unless you set typedValues: false.

Details

Step by step on Apify

Open the Input tab.
Type keywords in Search query (searchQuery), for example covid vaccinations. Or paste a dataset ID such as 9bhg-hcku into Dataset IDs or URLs (datasetIds).
Keep Max results (maxRows) at the prefilled 20, or set up to 50,000.
Click Start.
Open the Output tab. Check datasetName on the first row: it tells you which dataset matched your words.

Use cases

Task	Input	You get	Key fields	Next step
Export one known CDC table with a filter	`datasetIds` + `where`	data row	source columns, `datasetName`, `datasetUpdatedAt`	CSV / Excel download, API
Quick look at data on a topic	`searchQuery`	data row	source columns, `datasetName`	Dataset view, API
Find the right dataset first	`mode: datasets` + `searchQuery`	dataset record	`datasetId`, `datasetName`, `datasetUpdatedAt`, `columns`, `apiEndpoint`	then run Data rows mode with that `datasetId`
Totals without downloading rows	`datasetIds` + `select` with `count(*)`, `sum(...)`	one data row	your aggregate columns	API, AI agent

Tips for better results

Use dataset search mode first to find the right dataset.
Check the last update date of a dataset. Some datasets are old.
Set domains to healthdata.gov when you want a HealthData.gov table.

Limits and good to know

Up to 50,000 rows per run (tested on an earlier build with the same row reader: 50,000 rows of a CDC dataset in 32 seconds)
The Actor stops reading the source 250 seconds after the start, so a run fits the default 5-minute timeout. Very wide or slow datasets can stop earlier: a 135-column HealthData.gov dataset needed 204 seconds for 20,000 rows, so a bigger request on it reaches the limit. Then the run ends with CAPPED, and the dataset's outcome in RUN_SUMMARY is stopped with DEADLINE_REACHED; run again with a where filter on a date or ID to get the next part
Up to 20 dataset IDs and 20 datasets from a search per run
The source has no published quota. If it answers HTTP 429, the Actor waits and retries; your own free Socrata app token (appToken) raises the limit

For developers

Sample result

One result from a real test run, in JSON. Real values change from run to run. In Excel or CSV each field is a column.

one result · JSON

{
  "recordType": "row",
  "status": "ok",
  "datasetId": "9bhg-hcku",
  "datasetName": "Provisional COVID-19 Deaths by Sex and Age",
  "domain": "data.cdc.gov",
  "datasetUpdatedAt": "2023-09-27T14:43:31.000Z",
  "rowNumber": 1,
  "sourceUrl": "https://data.cdc.gov/resource/9bhg-hcku.json?%24where=state+%3D+%27California%27&%24order=%3Aid&%24limit=21&%24offset=0",
  "fetchedAt": "2026-10-17T13:26:07.250Z",
  "data_as_of": "2023-09-27T00:00:00.000",
  "start_date": "2020-01-01T00:00:00.000",
  "end_date": "2023-09-23T00:00:00.000",
  "group": "By Total",
  "year": null,
  "month": null,
  "state": "California",
  "sex": "All Sexes",
  "age_group": "All Ages",
  "covid_19_deaths": 109248,
  "total_deaths": 1178346,
  "pneumonia_deaths": 125177,
  "influenza_deaths": 1753,
  "footnote": null
}

Data fields (28)

Field	Type	Meaning
`recordType`	string	row = one data row of a dataset; dataset = one catalog record (Dataset search mode); status = free not_found / no_rows / error row.
`status`	string	ok for data rows and dataset records; not_found, no_rows or error for status rows.
`statusCode`	string	Machine code on status rows, e.g. DATASET_NOT_FOUND, INVALID_DATASET_ID, SOURCE_BAD_REQUEST, RATE_LIMITED.
`statusReason`	string	Plain-English reason on status rows.
`input`	string	Your dataset ID or URL as given (status rows).
`datasetId`	string	Socrata 4x4 dataset ID, e.g. 3rge-nu2a.
`datasetName`	string	Dataset title on the portal.
`domain`	string	Portal: data.cdc.gov or healthdata.gov.
`datasetUpdatedAt`	string	When the dataset rows were last updated by the publisher (ISO 8601); null if the portal does not say.
`rowNumber`	integer	Position of the row in this export, from 1 (data rows).
`sourceUrl`	string	API URL the row or record was read from.
`fetchedAt`	string	When the Actor read the data (ISO 8601).
`metadataUpdatedAt`	string	When the dataset description or columns last changed (ISO 8601).
`category`	string	Portal category, e.g. Vaccinations.
`license`	string	Dataset licence as published, e.g. Public Domain U.S. Government.
`attribution`	string	Publisher named by the portal, e.g. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
`permalink`	string	Human page of the dataset on the portal.
`description`	string	Dataset description (Dataset search mode).
`createdAt`	string	When the dataset was created (ISO 8601).
`tags`	array	Portal tags.
`columns`	array	Columns: name, fieldName (use it in where/select), dataType, description.
`columnCount`	integer	Number of data columns.
`apiEndpoint`	string	SODA endpoint of the dataset rows, e.g. https://data.cdc.gov/resource/3rge-nu2a.json.
`searchQuery`	string	The search query that found this dataset.
`searchRank`	integer	Position in the search results, from 1.
`pageViewsLastMonth`	integer	Portal page views last month, as reported by the catalog.
`pageViewsTotal`	integer	Portal page views in total.
`downloadCount`	integer	Downloads, as reported by the catalog.

Input settings (12)

The main fields of the input form. With the API you send them as JSON.

Setting	Name in the API	Type	Example value
Search query	`searchQuery`	string	`"covid vaccinations"`
Dataset IDs or URLs	`datasetIds`	array
Mode	`mode`	string	`"rows"`
Max results	`maxRows`	integer	`20`
Filter rows (SoQL where)	`where`	string
Columns (SoQL select)	`select`	string
Sort rows (SoQL order)	`order`	string
Datasets to export from a search	`maxDatasets`	integer	`1`
Portals	`domains`	array	`["data.cdc.gov", "healthdata.gov"]`
Rank datasets by	`sortDatasetsBy`	string	`"relevance"`
Typed numbers and booleans	`typedValues`	boolean	`true`
Socrata app token (optional)	`appToken`	string

US Health Data: CDC & HealthData.gov API

How it will work: 3 steps