CommunityScale Public Data

This folder contains public data files that can be accessed directly via raw GitHub URLs.

Using Raw GitHub Content

To reference these data files in web applications, use the raw GitHub URL format:

https://raw.githubusercontent.com/CommunityScale/public/refs/heads/main/data/{path-to-file}

Available Data Files

File	Description	Raw URL
US/USA_CTs_251222.json	US Census Tract data	https://raw.githubusercontent.com/CommunityScale/public/refs/heads/main/data/US/USA_CTs_251222.json
US/USA_zips_251222.json	US ZIP code data	https://raw.githubusercontent.com/CommunityScale/public/refs/heads/main/data/US/USA_zips_251222.json

Example Usage

JavaScript fetch:

const DATA_URL = 'https://raw.githubusercontent.com/CommunityScale/public/refs/heads/main/data/US/USA_CTs_251222.json';

fetch(DATA_URL)
    .then(response => response.json())
    .then(data => {
        console.log('Loaded', data.length, 'records');
    });

Why Use Raw GitHub URLs?

• No CORS issues: Raw GitHub content is served with appropriate headers for cross-origin requests
• CDN-backed: GitHub's raw content is served via a CDN for fast global access
• Version control: Reference specific branches or commits for stability

URL Formats

Format	Example
Main branch	https://raw.githubusercontent.com/{owner}/{repo}/refs/heads/main/{path}
Specific branch	https://raw.githubusercontent.com/{owner}/{repo}/refs/heads/{branch}/{path}
Specific commit	https://raw.githubusercontent.com/{owner}/{repo}/{commit-sha}/{path}

Rate Limits

GitHub raw content has rate limits. For high-traffic applications, consider:

• Caching responses in your application
• Using a CDN like jsDelivr: https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/gh/CommunityScale/public@main/data/US/USA_CTs_251222.json