# Craigslist Scraper: Jobs, Housing & For Sale Listings (`primeparse/craigslist-scraper`) Actor Extract Craigslist jobs, housing rentals, for sale items & more from any US city. Multi-category scraper with keyword filtering. No proxy required. Ideal for leads, real estate, job monitoring. - **URL**: https://apify.com/primeparse/craigslist-scraper.md - **Developed by:** [PrimeParse](https://apify.com/primeparse) (community) - **Categories:** Lead generation, Jobs, E-commerce - **Stats:** 52 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 1 bookmarks - **User rating**: 5.00 out of 5 stars ## Pricing from $1.00 / 1,000 results This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events. Since this Actor supports Apify Store discounts, the price gets lower the higher subscription plan you have. Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/platform/actors/running/actors-in-store#pay-per-event ## What's an Apify Actor? Actors are a software tools running on the Apify platform, for all kinds of web data extraction and automation use cases. In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours, and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store. In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server. Actors are written with capital "A". ## How to integrate an Actor? If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects. You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready. The best way to integrate Actors is as follows. In JavaScript/TypeScript projects, use official [JavaScript/TypeScript client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js.md): ```bash npm install apify-client ``` In Python projects, use official [Python client library](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python.md): ```bash pip install apify-client ``` In shell scripts, use [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): ````bash # MacOS / Linux curl -fsSL https://apify.com/install-cli.sh | bash # Windows irm https://apify.com/install-cli.ps1 | iex ```bash In AI frameworks, you might use the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/mcp.md). If your project is in a different language, use the [REST API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2.md). For usage examples, see the [API](#api) section below. For more details, see Apify documentation as [Markdown index](https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt) and [Markdown full-text](https://docs.apify.com/llms-full.txt). # README ## 🏠 Craigslist Scraper: Multi-Category Listings Extractor Enterprise-grade Craigslist scraper that automatically extracts listings from multiple categories — For Sale, Jobs, Housing, Services, and more — clean, structured, and ready for market research, job tracking, or data analysis. **High-quality Craigslist Web Scraper for Researchers, Analysts, and Data Teams** Automatically collects listings from any Craigslist city and category — clean, structured, ready for analysis or integration. **Built for:** - Market researchers & analysts - Real estate professionals tracking housing trends - Job market analysts monitoring employment opportunities - Data scientists building market intelligence systems - Researchers tracking local economy trends ✅ **Multi-category scraping** (For Sale, Jobs, Housing, Services, etc.) ✅ **City-based filtering** (any Craigslist city) ✅ **Smart search query filtering** ✅ **Rich metadata** (title, price, location, date posted, URL) ✅ **Automatic pagination handling** ✅ **Rate limiting & respectful crawling** 👉 **Runs on Apify • No code required • Pay only for compute used** ### 🚀 Why This Scraper ✔ **Multi-Category Support** Scrape multiple categories simultaneously (For Sale + Jobs + Housing) in a single run. ✔ **City Flexibility** Works with any Craigslist city (newyork, losangeles, chicago, sanfrancisco, etc.). ✔ **Smart Search Filtering** Optional search queries to filter listings by keywords (e.g., "iphone", "developer", "apartment"). ✔ **Clean & Structured Output** Consistent JSON format with title, price, location, date posted, and direct URLs. ✔ **Respectful Crawling** Built-in delays between requests and pages to avoid overloading servers. ✔ **Fast & Efficient** Powered by Python + BeautifulSoup + httpx — optimized for static HTML content. ✔ **Safe & Controlled** Automatic pagination limits, request throttling, and configurable max listings. ### 💼 Use Cases - **Market Research** — Track pricing trends across cities and categories - **Job Market Analysis** — Monitor employment opportunities by location - **Real Estate Intelligence** — Track housing availability and pricing - **Competitive Intelligence** — Monitor local business listings - **Academic Research** — Study local economy and market dynamics - **Data Collection** — Build datasets for ML/AI training ### 📊 Supported Categories - **sss** — For Sale (electronics, furniture, vehicles, etc.) - **jjj** — Jobs (full-time, part-time, contract positions) - **hhh** — Housing (apartments, houses, rooms for rent) - **ccc** — Community (activities, events, local news) - **eee** — Events (concerts, festivals, meetups) - **ggg** — Gigs (one-time jobs, freelance work) - **rrr** — Resumes (job seekers) - **bbb** — Services (professional services, business services) ### ⚙️ How It Works 1. Provide city code and select categories 2. Optionally add search query and set limits 3. Run the Actor 4. Download clean, structured listing datasets ### 🧩 Input Configuration #### Example JSON Input ```json { "city": "newyork", "categories": ["sss", "jjj", "hhh"], "searchQuery": "bike", "maxListings": 100, "maxPages": 2, "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": false } } ```` #### Single Category Example ```json { "city": "losangeles", "categories": ["jjj"], "searchQuery": "developer", "maxListings": 50, "maxPages": 1 } ``` #### Multiple Categories Without Search ```json { "city": "chicago", "categories": ["sss", "hhh"], "searchQuery": "", "maxListings": 200, "maxPages": 3 } ``` #### Key Options - **city** — City code for Craigslist (required) - Examples: `newyork`, `losangeles`, `chicago`, `sanfrancisco`, `boston`, `seattle` - Format: lowercase, no spaces (e.g., `newyork` not `new-york`) - **categories** — Array of category codes to scrape (required) - Options: `sss` (For Sale), `jjj` (Jobs), `hhh` (Housing), `ccc` (Community), `eee` (Events), `ggg` (Gigs), `rrr` (Resumes), `bbb` (Services) - Can select multiple: `["sss", "jjj"]` scrapes both For Sale and Jobs - **searchQuery** — Optional search query to filter listings - Examples: `"iphone"`, `"developer"`, `"apartment"`, `"bike"` - Leave empty (`""`) to get all listings in category - **maxListings** — Maximum number of listings to scrape (default: 50, max: 1000) - Applies across all categories combined - Stops when limit is reached - **maxPages** — Maximum number of pages per category (default: 2, max: 10) - Each page contains ~120 listings - Higher values = more data but longer runtime - **proxyConfiguration** — Proxy settings for anti-bot protection - Use Apify Proxy: `{"useApifyProxy": true}` - Custom proxies: `{"proxyUrls": ["http://user:pass@host:port"]}` ### 📂 Output Dataset All listings are saved to a single dataset with the following structure: #### Example Output Record ```json { "title": "Huffy Disney Minnie 12\" Bike Girls Bicycle Two Wheeler$30Staten Island", "price": "$30", "location": "Staten Island", "datePosted": "2024-01-15T12:00:00", "url": "https://newyork.craigslist.org/stn/bik/d/staten-island-huffy-disney-minnie-12/7890496670.html" } ``` #### Field Descriptions - **title** — Full listing title text - **price** — Price if available (e.g., `"$100"`, `"$1,500"`) - **location** — Location/neighborhood if specified - **datePosted** — Date when listing was posted (ISO format when available) - **url** — Direct link to the listing page #### Output Notes - Empty fields (`""`) indicate data not available for that listing - All URLs are absolute and ready to use - Data is deduplicated within each run - Results are sorted by page order (newest first) ### 🏁 Getting Started #### Quick Start on Apify 1. Click **"Try for free"** on the Actor page 2. Enter city code (e.g., `newyork`) 3. Select categories (e.g., `["sss", "jjj"]`) 4. Optionally add search query 5. Set max listings and pages 6. Click **Run** 7. Download your dataset when complete ### 📋 Popular City Codes | City | Code | Example URL | |------|------|-------------| | New York | `newyork` | https://newyork.craigslist.org | | Los Angeles | `losangeles` | https://losangeles.craigslist.org | | Chicago | `chicago` | https://chicago.craigslist.org | | San Francisco | `sanfrancisco` | https://sanfrancisco.craigslist.org | | Boston | `boston` | https://boston.craigslist.org | | Seattle | `seattle` | https://seattle.craigslist.org | | Miami | `miami` | https://miami.craigslist.org | | Dallas | `dallas` | https://dallas.craigslist.org | *Note: Use lowercase, no spaces or hyphens. Check Craigslist for your city's exact code.* ### ⚠️ Important Notes #### Legal Disclaimer ⚠️ **This scraper is for educational and personal use only.** Please respect Craigslist's Terms of Service and use responsibly. Craigslist prohibits automated scraping in their Terms of Service, so use this tool at your own discretion. **Best Practices:** - Start with small volumes (default `maxListings: 50`) - Use built-in rate limiting (automatic delays) - Consider using Apify proxies for high-volume runs - Test on specific city/category combinations before scaling - Respect robots.txt and server resources ### 🛠️ Technical Details #### Performance - **Speed:** ~2-5 seconds per page (with delays) - **Throughput:** ~120 listings per page - **Memory:** Low footprint, efficient parsing - **Reliability:** Automatic retries and error handling #### Limitations - Static HTML parsing (no JavaScript rendering) - Rate limiting built-in (2s delay between pages) - Max 1000 listings per run - Max 10 pages per category ### 📧 Support - **Issues:** Use Apify Issues tab on Actor page - **Email**: **kidaxxb@gmail.com** ### 🏷️ Tags `craigslist`, `web-scraping`, `listings`, `market-research`, `real-estate`, `jobs`, `housing`, `data-extraction`, `apify`, `python`, `beautifulsoup`, `market-intelligence`, `local-data`, `classifieds` *** **Built with ❤️ on Apify** # Actor input Schema ## `city` (type: `string`): City code for Craigslist (e.g., 'newyork' for https://newyork.craigslist.org) ## `categories` (type: `array`): Category codes to scrape (e.g., \['sss', 'jjj'] for For Sale and Jobs) ## `searchQuery` (type: `string`): Optional search query to filter listings (e.g., 'iphone') ## `maxListings` (type: `integer`): Maximum number of listings to scrape (default: 50) ## `maxPages` (type: `integer`): Maximum number of pages to scrape (default: 2) ## `proxyConfiguration` (type: `object`): Proxy settings for anti-bot protection ## Actor input object example ```json { "city": "newyork", "categories": [ "sss" ], "searchQuery": "bike", "maxListings": 50, "maxPages": 2, "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": false } } ``` # API You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup. ## JavaScript example ```javascript import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client'; // Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token // Replace the '' with your token const client = new ApifyClient({ token: '', }); // Prepare Actor input const input = { "city": "newyork", "categories": [ "sss" ], "searchQuery": "bike", "maxListings": 50, "maxPages": 2 }; // Run the Actor and wait for it to finish const run = await client.actor("primeparse/craigslist-scraper").call(input); // Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any) console.log('Results from dataset'); console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`); const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems(); items.forEach((item) => { console.dir(item); }); // 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs ``` ## Python example ```python from apify_client import ApifyClient # Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token # Replace '' with your token. client = ApifyClient("") # Prepare the Actor input run_input = { "city": "newyork", "categories": ["sss"], "searchQuery": "bike", "maxListings": 50, "maxPages": 2, } # Run the Actor and wait for it to finish run = client.actor("primeparse/craigslist-scraper").call(run_input=run_input) # Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any) print("💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/" + run["defaultDatasetId"]) for item in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items(): print(item) # 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start ``` ## CLI example ```bash echo '{ "city": "newyork", "categories": [ "sss" ], "searchQuery": "bike", "maxListings": 50, "maxPages": 2 }' | apify call primeparse/craigslist-scraper --silent --output-dataset ``` ## MCP server setup ```json { "mcpServers": { "apify": { "command": "npx", "args": [ "mcp-remote", "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=primeparse/craigslist-scraper", "--header", "Authorization: Bearer " ] } } } ``` ## OpenAPI specification ```json { "openapi": "3.0.1", "info": { "title": "Craigslist Scraper: Jobs, Housing & For Sale Listings", "description": "Extract Craigslist jobs, housing rentals, for sale items & more from any US city. Multi-category scraper with keyword filtering. No proxy required. Ideal for leads, real estate, job monitoring.", "version": "0.0", "x-build-id": "RxoX3jLX6B3GkUzLo" }, "servers": [ { "url": "https://api.apify.com/v2" } ], "paths": { "/acts/primeparse~craigslist-scraper/run-sync-get-dataset-items": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-get-dataset-items-primeparse-craigslist-scraper", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for its completion, and returns Actor's dataset items in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK" } } } }, "/acts/primeparse~craigslist-scraper/runs": { "post": { "operationId": "runs-sync-primeparse-craigslist-scraper", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor and returns information about the initiated run in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK", "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/runsResponseSchema" } } } } } } }, "/acts/primeparse~craigslist-scraper/run-sync": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-primeparse-craigslist-scraper", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for completion, and returns the OUTPUT from Key-value store in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK" } } } } }, "components": { "schemas": { "inputSchema": { "type": "object", "required": [ "city", "categories" ], "properties": { "city": { "title": "City", "type": "string", "description": "City code for Craigslist (e.g., 'newyork' for https://newyork.craigslist.org)", "default": "newyork" }, "categories": { "title": "Categories", "type": "array", "description": "Category codes to scrape (e.g., ['sss', 'jjj'] for For Sale and Jobs)", "items": { "type": "string", "enum": [ "sss", "jjj", "hhh", "ccc", "eee", "ggg", "rrr", "bbb" ], "enumTitles": [ "For Sale", "Jobs", "Housing", "Community", "Events", "Gigs", "Resumes", "Services" ] }, "default": [ "sss" ] }, "searchQuery": { "title": "Search Query", "type": "string", "description": "Optional search query to filter listings (e.g., 'iphone')", "default": "" }, "maxListings": { "title": "Max Listings", "minimum": 1, "maximum": 1000, "type": "integer", "description": "Maximum number of listings to scrape (default: 50)", "default": 50 }, "maxPages": { "title": "Max Pages", "minimum": 1, "maximum": 10, "type": "integer", "description": "Maximum number of pages to scrape (default: 2)", "default": 2 }, "proxyConfiguration": { "title": "Proxy Configuration", "type": "object", "description": "Proxy settings for anti-bot protection", "default": { "useApifyProxy": false } } } }, "runsResponseSchema": { "type": "object", "properties": { "data": { "type": "object", "properties": { "id": { "type": "string" }, "actId": { "type": "string" }, "userId": { "type": "string" }, "startedAt": { "type": "string", "format": "date-time", "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z" }, "finishedAt": { "type": "string", "format": "date-time", "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z" }, "status": { "type": "string", "example": "READY" }, "meta": { "type": "object", "properties": { "origin": { "type": "string", "example": "API" }, "userAgent": { "type": "string" } } }, "stats": { "type": "object", "properties": { "inputBodyLen": { "type": "integer", "example": 2000 }, "rebootCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "restartCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "resurrectCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "computeUnits": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } }, "options": { "type": "object", "properties": { "build": { "type": "string", "example": "latest" }, "timeoutSecs": { "type": "integer", "example": 300 }, "memoryMbytes": { "type": "integer", "example": 1024 }, "diskMbytes": { "type": "integer", "example": 2048 } } }, "buildId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultKeyValueStoreId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultDatasetId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultRequestQueueId": { "type": "string" }, "buildNumber": { "type": "string", "example": "1.0.0" }, "containerUrl": { "type": "string" }, "usage": { "type": "object", "properties": { "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 1 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_SERPS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } }, "usageTotalUsd": { "type": "number", "example": 0.00005 }, "usageUsd": { "type": "object", "properties": { "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": { "type": "number", "example": 0.00005 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_SERPS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } } } } } } } } } ```