Is census.gov legit?

85
/ 100
Trusted
Industry: Government

census.gov is a highly trusted government website, essential for official data. While it boasts strong foundational security and transparency, a notable concern is the high number of external scripts which could pose a minor security risk, and a small gap in its legal pages.

Government average: 80/100 · based on 33 sites

Checked: April 18, 2026 at 7:59 AM UTC · Refresh

Is census.gov a scam? Here's what we found.

Security 80/100

The site has a robust security posture with a valid SSL certificate, strong TLS version, HSTS, and Content Security Policy, indicating a commitment to user data protection. The clean Google Web Risk report is another strong positive, although the large number of external scripts presents a moderate, albeit common, area for concern in potential third-party vulnerabilities.

Identity 95/100

With a domain aged nearly 29 years and registered through get.gov, the site's identity is clearly legitimate and deeply established. The branded presence further solidifies its official standing, as expected from a government entity.

Reputation 95/100

As a highly-ranked and historically significant government website, its reputation is impeccable. The clean DNS blacklist status and comprehensive sitemap reinforce its standing as a reliable source of information.

Transparency 90/100

The site provides clear contact information and actively engages across five social media platforms, demonstrating a strong commitment to public accessibility and open communication, fitting for a government agency.

Compliance 80/100

While the site has strong email authentication (SPF, DMARC), a minor but present gap in its legal pages (missing either a privacy policy or terms of service) means it hasn't fully met best practices for digital compliance, though this is often viewed differently for government sites.

Infrastructure 95/100

The underlying infrastructure is solid, featuring DNSSEC, multiple IP resolutions, and dedicated mail servers, all contributing to a stable and resilient online presence. Its robust robots.txt and sitemap management further reflect a well-maintained digital environment.

Signals Detected

[+]
Tranco Rank: Rank #2263

This is a well-known, high-traffic website

[?]
Structured Data: None found

No structured data markup found

[?]
Trustpilot: No Trustpilot profile

This business has no Trustpilot presence — not unusual for smaller or newer companies

[~]
External Scripts: 38 scripts

Excessive number of external scripts — may indicate malicious injection

[+]
robots.txt: Present

robots.txt has 45 directives and references a sitemap

[+]
DNS Blacklists: Clean

Not found on any DNS blacklists

[+]
SSL Certificate: Valid

Valid certificate, expires in 160 days

[?]
Certificate Issuer: DigiCert Inc

Certificate issued by DigiCert Inc

[+]
TLS Version: TLS 1.2

Connection uses TLS 1.2

[+]
HSTS Header: Present

Site enforces HTTPS via HSTS

[+]
Content Security Policy: Present

Site has Content Security Policy configured

[+]
Clickjacking Protection: Present

X-Frame-Options: sameorigin

[?]
Server: cloudflare

Web server: cloudflare

[+]
Google Web Risk: Clean

No threats detected by Google Web Risk

[+]
Branding: Complete

Site has custom branding and social media metadata

[+]
Domain Age: 28 years, 11 months

Domain created 1997-10-02T01:29:21Z (28 years, 11 months ago)

[?]
Registrar: get.gov

Registered through get.gov

[+]
Domain Expiry: 2026-09-02T15:01:11Z

Expires in 137 days

[+]
DNSSEC: signedDelegation

DNSSEC status from WHOIS

[+]
Sitemap: 5408 pages

Site maintains a proper sitemap with 5408 indexed pages

[+]
DNS Resolution: 2 IP(s)

Resolves to: 2610:20:2010:a05:1000:0:9481:4ba6, 148.129.75.166

[+]
Email (MX Records): 2 record(s)

Mail servers: mail2.census.gov., mail1.census.gov.

[+]
SPF Record: Present

Domain has SPF email authentication configured

[+]
DMARC Record: Present

Domain has DMARC email authentication configured

[?]
Name Servers: 2 server(s)

DNS providers: ns2e.census.gov., ns1e.census.gov.

[+]
Website Status: Online

Website is live and responding

[+]
Contact Info: Found

Website appears to have contact information

[~]
Legal Pages: Partial

Website is missing either privacy policy or terms of service

[+]
Social Media Presence: 5 platforms

Website links to multiple social media platforms

[?]
Web Archive: Unable to check

Could not query Wayback Machine

[?]
Certificate Transparency: Unable to check

Could not query certificate transparency logs

[?]
Page Load Time: 1095ms

Average page load time

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The U.S. Census Bureau's official website, census.gov, stands as a cornerstone for government data and information. When evaluating its trustworthiness, it's crucial to understand what makes a government site legitimate. For a domain like census.gov, a long operational history is paramount, and its nearly 29-year domain age is a strong indicator of stability and official status. This isn't a fly-by-night operation; it's a deeply entrenched federal institution. Unlike an e-commerce store, a government site's primary function is information dissemination and public service. This means its security measures should be top-tier to protect sensitive government data and ensure public access without interference. Census.gov demonstrates this with advanced security features like HSTS and a Content Security Policy, critical for preventing common web exploits. While the number of external scripts is higher than ideal for any site, for a large government entity integrating various services, this isn't uncommon and is likely managed with strict internal protocols, though it's always an area to monitor. Transparency is also key for government. Census.gov's comprehensive contact information and active social media presence show it's committed to public engagement, which is exactly what you'd expect from a trusted federal resource. The minor legal page discrepancy (missing one of the standard legal documents) is something to note, but for a government site, operational guidelines and statutes often supersede typical commercial terms of service. Overall, the evidence overwhelmingly points to census.gov as a highly reliable and legitimate source for official U.S. government data.