Warehouses and Lakes
Others

How to load data from US Census to Firebolt

Learn how to use Airbyte to synchronize your US Census data into Firebolt within minutes.

TL;DR

This can be done by building a data pipeline manually, usually a Python script (you can leverage a tool as Apache Airflow for this). This process can take more than a full week of development. Or it can be done in minutes on Airbyte in three easy steps:

  1. set up US Census as a source connector (using Auth, or usually an API key)
  2. set up Firebolt as a destination connector
  3. define which data you want to transfer and how frequently

You can choose to self-host the pipeline using Airbyte Open Source or have it managed for you with Airbyte Cloud.

This tutorial’s purpose is to show you how.

What is US Census

The U.S. Census Bureau takes the pulse of the country’s economy. Producing economic data monthly, quarterly, yearly, and at five-year intervals requires high-tech solutions. The U.S. Census Bureau, in response to this need, has built an its first ever iPhone application, aimed at providing users with important economic statistics quickly and easily directly from an iPhone: the America’s Economy application.

What is Firebolt

Firebolt is a high-performance cloud-native data warehouse platform designed for massive-scale data analytics. It enables organizations to harness the power of big data with lightning-fast query speeds and unlimited scalability. Firebolt.io utilizes a unique indexing technology and a highly parallelized architecture to optimize data processing and reduce query latency. With its cloud-native approach, users can easily integrate and analyze diverse data sources while benefiting from automatic scalability and cost optimization. Firebolt.io empowers businesses to derive actionable insights from their data at unprecedented speed and efficiency, accelerating data-driven decision-making and unlocking the full potential of big data analytics.

Integrate US Census with Firebolt in minutes

Try for free now

Prerequisites

  1. A US Census account to transfer your customer data automatically from.
  2. A Firebolt account.
  3. An active Airbyte Cloud account, or you can also choose to use Airbyte Open Source locally. You can follow the instructions to set up Airbyte on your system using docker-compose.

Airbyte is an open-source data integration platform that consolidates and streamlines the process of extracting and loading data from multiple data sources to data warehouses. It offers pre-built connectors, including US Census and Firebolt, for seamless data migration.

When using Airbyte to move data from US Census to Firebolt, it extracts data from US Census using the source connector, converts it into a format Firebolt can ingest using the provided schema, and then loads it into Firebolt via the destination connector. This allows businesses to leverage their US Census data for advanced analytics and insights within Firebolt, simplifying the ETL process and saving significant time and resources.

Step 1: Set up US Census as a source connector

1. Open the Airbyte platform and navigate to the "Sources" tab on the left-hand side of the screen.
2. Scroll down until you find the "US Census" source connector and click on it.
3. Click on the "Create Connection" button to begin setting up your connection to the US Census data source.
4. In the "Connection Configuration" page, enter a name for your connection and provide your API key in the "API Key" field.
5. Click on the "Test Connection" button to ensure that your credentials are correct and that the connection is working properly.
6. Once the connection has been successfully tested, click on the "Create" button to save your connection settings.
7. You can now use this connection to extract data from the US Census data source by creating a new pipeline and selecting the US Census source connector as your source.
8. Follow the prompts to configure your pipeline and select the data you want to extract from the US Census data source.
9. Once your pipeline is configured, you can run it to extract data from the US Census data source and load it into your destination data warehouse or data lake.

Step 2: Set up Firebolt as a destination connector

1. First, navigate to the Firebolt destination connector on Airbyte.
2. Click on the "Create a new connection" button.
3. Enter a name for your connection.
4. Enter your Firebolt API key and secret.
5. Enter the name of the Firebolt database you want to connect to.
6. Enter the name of the schema you want to use.
7. Choose the tables you want to replicate.
8. Configure any additional settings, such as the replication frequency and the maximum number of rows to replicate.
9. Test the connection to ensure that it is working properly.
10. Save the connection and start the replication process.
Note: It is important to have a basic understanding of Firebolt and its API before attempting to connect it to Airbyte. Additionally, it is recommended to consult the Airbyte documentation for more detailed instructions and troubleshooting tips.

Step 3: Set up a connection to sync your US Census data to Firebolt

Once you've successfully connected US Census as a data source and Firebolt as a destination in Airbyte, you can set up a data pipeline between them with the following steps:

  1. Create a new connection: On the Airbyte dashboard, navigate to the 'Connections' tab and click the '+ New Connection' button.
  2. Choose your source: Select US Census from the dropdown list of your configured sources.
  3. Select your destination: Choose Firebolt from the dropdown list of your configured destinations.
  4. Configure your sync: Define the frequency of your data syncs based on your business needs. Airbyte allows both manual and automatic scheduling for your data refreshes.
  5. Select the data to sync: Choose the specific US Census objects you want to import data from towards Firebolt. You can sync all data or select specific tables and fields.
  6. Select the sync mode for your streams: Choose between full refreshes or incremental syncs (with deduplication if you want), and this for all streams or at the stream level. Incremental is only available for streams that have a primary cursor.
  7. Test your connection: Click the 'Test Connection' button to make sure that your setup works. If the connection test is successful, save your configuration.
  8. Start the sync: If the test passes, click 'Set Up Connection'. Airbyte will start moving data from US Census to Firebolt according to your settings.

Remember, Airbyte keeps your data in sync at the frequency you determine, ensuring your Firebolt data warehouse is always up-to-date with your US Census data.

Use Cases to transfer your US Census data to Firebolt

Integrating data from US Census to Firebolt provides several benefits. Here are a few use cases:

  1. Advanced Analytics: Firebolt’s powerful data processing capabilities enable you to perform complex queries and data analysis on your US Census data, extracting insights that wouldn't be possible within US Census alone.
  2. Data Consolidation: If you're using multiple other sources along with US Census, syncing to Firebolt allows you to centralize your data for a holistic view of your operations, and to set up a change data capture process so you never have any discrepancies in your data again.
  3. Historical Data Analysis: US Census has limits on historical data. Syncing data to Firebolt allows for long-term data retention and analysis of historical trends over time.
  4. Data Security and Compliance: Firebolt provides robust data security features. Syncing US Census data to Firebolt ensures your data is secured and allows for advanced data governance and compliance management.
  5. Scalability: Firebolt can handle large volumes of data without affecting performance, providing an ideal solution for growing businesses with expanding US Census data.
  6. Data Science and Machine Learning: By having US Census data in Firebolt, you can apply machine learning models to your data for predictive analytics, customer segmentation, and more.
  7. Reporting and Visualization: While US Census provides reporting tools, data visualization tools like Tableau, PowerBI, Looker (Google Data Studio) can connect to Firebolt, providing more advanced business intelligence options. If you have a US Census table that needs to be converted to a Firebolt table, Airbyte can do that automatically.

Wrapping Up

To summarize, this tutorial has shown you how to:

  1. Configure a US Census account as an Airbyte data source connector.
  2. Configure Firebolt as a data destination connector.
  3. Create an Airbyte data pipeline that will automatically be moving data directly from US Census to Firebolt after you set a schedule

With Airbyte, creating data pipelines take minutes, and the data integration possibilities are endless. Airbyte supports the largest catalog of API tools, databases, and files, among other sources. Airbyte's connectors are open-source, so you can add any custom objects to the connector, or even build a new connector from scratch without any local dev environment or any data engineer within 10 minutes with the no-code connector builder.

We look forward to seeing you make use of it! We invite you to join the conversation on our community Slack Channel, or sign up for our newsletter. You should also check out other Airbyte tutorials, and Airbyte’s content hub!

What should you do next?

Hope you enjoyed the reading. Here are the 3 ways we can help you in your data journey:

flag icon
Easily address your data movement needs with Airbyte Cloud
Take the first step towards extensible data movement infrastructure that will give a ton of time back to your data team. 
Get started with Airbyte for free
high five icon
Talk to a data infrastructure expert
Get a free consultation with an Airbyte expert to significantly improve your data movement infrastructure. 
Talk to sales
stars sparkling
Improve your data infrastructure knowledge
Subscribe to our monthly newsletter and get the community’s new enlightening content along with Airbyte’s progress in their mission to solve data integration once and for all.
Subscribe to newsletter

Connectors Used

What should you do next?

Hope you enjoyed the reading. Here are the 3 ways we can help you in your data journey:

flag icon
Easily address your data movement needs with Airbyte Cloud
Take the first step towards extensible data movement infrastructure that will give a ton of time back to your data team. 
Get started with Airbyte for free
high five icon
Talk to a data infrastructure expert
Get a free consultation with an Airbyte expert to significantly improve your data movement infrastructure. 
Talk to sales
stars sparkling
Improve your data infrastructure knowledge
Subscribe to our monthly newsletter and get the community’s new enlightening content along with Airbyte’s progress in their mission to solve data integration once and for all.
Subscribe to newsletter

Should you build or buy your data pipelines?

Download our free guide and discover the best approach for your needs, whether it's building your ELT solution in-house or opting for Airbyte Open Source or Airbyte Cloud.

Download now

Connectors Used

Frequently Asked Questions

What data can you extract from US Census?

The US Census Bureau's API provides access to a wide range of data related to the United States population and economy. The following are the categories of data that can be accessed through the API:  

1. Demographic data: This includes information on population size, age, gender, race, ethnicity, and household characteristics.  
2. Economic data: This includes data on employment, income, poverty, and industry.  
3. Housing data: This includes data on housing units, occupancy, and characteristics of housing units.  
4. Education data: This includes data on educational attainment, enrollment, and school districts.  
5. Geographic data: This includes data on boundaries, locations, and maps.  
6. Health data: This includes data on health insurance coverage, disability, and healthcare facilities.  
7. Transportation data: This includes data on commuting patterns, modes of transportation, and traffic.  
8. Business data: This includes data on businesses, employment, and revenue.  
9. Agriculture data: This includes data on crops, livestock, and farms.  
10. International data: This includes data on international trade, migration, and foreign-born population.

What data can you transfer to Firebolt?

You can transfer a wide variety of data to Firebolt. This usually includes structured, semi-structured, and unstructured data like transaction records, log files, JSON data, CSV files, and more, allowing robust, scalable data integration and analysis.

What are top ETL tools to transfer data from US Census to Firebolt?

The most prominent ETL tools to transfer data from US Census to Firebolt include:

  • Airbyte
  • Fivetran
  • Stitch
  • Matillion
  • Talend Data Integration

These tools help in extracting data from US Census and various sources (APIs, databases, and more), transforming it efficiently, and loading it into Firebolt and other databases, data warehouses and data lakes, enhancing data management capabilities.