Is census.gov legit?
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
This is a well-known, high-traffic website
No structured data markup found
This business has no Trustpilot presence — not unusual for smaller or newer companies
Excessive number of external scripts — may indicate malicious injection
robots.txt has 45 directives and references a sitemap
Not found on any DNS blacklists
Valid certificate, expires in 160 days
Certificate issued by DigiCert Inc
Connection uses TLS 1.2
Site enforces HTTPS via HSTS
Site has Content Security Policy configured
X-Frame-Options: sameorigin
Web server: cloudflare
No threats detected by Google Web Risk
Site has custom branding and social media metadata
Domain created 1997-10-02T01:29:21Z (28 years, 11 months ago)
Registered through get.gov
Expires in 137 days
DNSSEC status from WHOIS
Site maintains a proper sitemap with 5408 indexed pages
Resolves to: 2610:20:2010:a05:1000:0:9481:4ba6, 148.129.75.166
Mail servers: mail2.census.gov., mail1.census.gov.
Domain has SPF email authentication configured
Domain has DMARC email authentication configured
DNS providers: ns2e.census.gov., ns1e.census.gov.
Website is live and responding
Website appears to have contact information
Website is missing either privacy policy or terms of service
Website links to multiple social media platforms
Could not query Wayback Machine
Could not query certificate transparency logs
Average page load time
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