US Census Bureau

The U.S. Census Bureau, a sub-agency of the Department of Commerce, acquires IT systems, data services, logistics platforms, and field operations support to conduct decennial censuses, maintain business and address registries, and execute ongoing surveys. The Bureau transacts primarily through open competitive contracts; grant-making plays a minimal role in its portfolio.

The Bureau has awarded 17,573 federal contracts cumulatively since 1978, with a combined potential value of $18.86 billion and $17.83 billion obligated to date. Over the last five years, the Bureau issued 282 awards in 2022, 342 in 2023, 320 in 2024, 175 in 2025, and 220 year-to-date in 2026. The most recently recorded award closed on September 30, 2026. The competitive landscape is highly fragmented: the top five primes by award count account for 16 percent of recent awards, led by Thundercat Technology LLC (61 awards, $58.1 million combined potential value) and Blue TECH Inc. (59 awards, $53.7 million). By potential value, Vidoori Inc. ($96 million combined across 21 awards) and Dell Federal Systems L.P. ($81.3 million across 33 awards) rank highest among recent transactors, though the top five by value represent only 2 percent of combined potential value — a structural marker that the Bureau transacts heavily through Schedule task orders, BPA calls, and modifications where individual award values remain low and cumulative volume disperses across a deep vendor base of 3,306 distinct primes. Eighty-two percent of awards carry no set-aside designation; 12 percent are total small-business set-asides, 3 percent are 8(a) sole-source, and remaining categories (HUBZone, SDVOSB, WOSB) represent less than 1 percent each.

Grant activity is negligible: the Bureau has awarded only 10 grants cumulatively since 2005, obligating $27.9 million in federal dollars. The most recent grant award closed September 1, 2021. All grant recipients are academic or research institutions, with nine cooperative agreements and one project grant in the portfolio. This block is effectively inactive for business development purposes.

Open contract opportunities posted in recent weeks target Census Transformation and Application Modernization (CenTAM) framework initiatives, data augmentation services, warehouse inventory management system integration with RFID technology, legislative outreach platforms, and business contact and firmographics data refresh. Sources-sought notices (pre-solicitations and market research RFIs) for Address List Field Augmentation Data (due November 6, 2026) and Enterprise RFID Technology Integration (due November 4, 2026) indicate small-business set-aside and unrestricted bidding respectively. Special Notices for Business Contact and Firmographics Data (due November 19, 2026) and CenTAM Acquisition Update (due November 6, 2026) signal upcoming competitive releases. A definitive solicitation for Census Decennial as a Service (D-X) Baseline Performance Objectives targeting 2028 and 2030 decennial operations closed October 15, 2026.

The U.S. Census Bureau provides data about the nation's people and economy.