# Craigslist Scraper - Jobs, Housing, Cars & More (`thirdwatch/craigslist-scraper`) Actor

Scrape Craigslist listings across any city and category: jobs, apartments, cars, services. Extracts title, price, location, neighborhood, description, posting date. Works with all Craigslist cities and categories.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/thirdwatch/craigslist-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [Thirdwatch](https://apify.com/thirdwatch) (community)
- **Categories:** Lead generation, Real estate
- **Stats:** 11 total users, 3 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $0.90 / 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/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

Actors are web data automations that power AI and operations. They run on the Apify platform to scrape websites, process data, connect APIs, and automate workflows.
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.

- **AI agents and MCP clients** — the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/integrations/mcp.md) at `https://mcp.apify.com` (remote, streamable HTTP, OAuth on first use).
- **Agentic workflows and local Actor development** — [Agent Skills](https://apify.com/.well-known/agent-skills/index.json) with the [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): `npm install -g apify-cli`, then `apify login`.
- **JavaScript/TypeScript projects** — the official [JS/TS client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md): `npm install apify-client`.
- **Python projects** — the official [Python client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md): `pip install apify-client`.
- **Any other language** — 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

> **Thirdwatch portfolio:** 5K users across 88 public Actors, 2M+ records delivered, and >99% run success. [Explore all Thirdwatch Actors](https://apify.com/thirdwatch).

> Scrape Craigslist listings across any US city and category — jobs, apartments, cars, services. Get titles, prices, locations, neighborhoods, descriptions, and posting dates.

### What you get

Search Craigslist for jobs, apartments, cars, services, or any other category in any Craigslist city. Returns structured listing data including title, price, location, neighborhood, description, and posting date. Pass a city subdomain (`sfbay`, `newyork`, `chicago`, ...) and a category code (`sof` for software jobs, `apa` for apartments, `cta` for cars, ...).

### Output fields

| Field | Description |
|-------|-------------|
| `title` | Listing title |
| `price` | Listed price (formatted with currency) |
| `location` | City or region |
| `neighborhood` | Neighborhood within the city |
| `description` | Full listing description |
| `posted_date` | Date the listing was posted |
| `category` | Listing category |
| `url` | Craigslist listing URL |

### Example output

```json
{
    "title": "2BR Apartment in Downtown - Renovated",
    "price": "$2,200",
    "location": "San Francisco",
    "neighborhood": "Downtown / Financial District",
    "description": "Beautiful renovated 2-bedroom apartment...",
    "posted_date": "2026-04-08",
    "category": "apa",
    "url": "https://sfbay.craigslist.org/sfc/apa/..."
}
```

### Input parameters

| Parameter | Required | Description |
|-----------|----------|-------------|
| `city` | Yes | Craigslist city subdomain (e.g., `sfbay`, `newyork`, `losangeles`, `chicago`, `seattle`, `austin`). Default `sfbay`. |
| `category` | Yes | Category code (e.g., `sof` software jobs, `jjj` all jobs, `apa` apartments, `cta` cars/trucks). Default `sof`. |
| `query` | No | Optional keyword search within the category. |
| `maxResults` | No | Maximum listings to extract. Default `30`, max `500`. |

### Use cases

- **Job seekers**: Pull local job listings and track new posts daily.
- **Real estate analysts**: Track rental prices by neighborhood and city.
- **Used-car dealers**: Spot pricing trends on specific makes and models in your market.
- **Market researchers**: Analyze pricing trends for goods and services by region.
- **AI agents**: Feed an agent live "what's for sale/rent in city X" data.

### Limitations

- Category codes differ slightly from city to city; a small number of local-only categories may return empty.
- Listings are user-generated so field quality varies (price may be missing, neighborhood may be absent).
- Craigslist listings expire — historical listings may no longer resolve.
- Craigslist covers mostly the US with limited international city coverage.

### Compared to alternatives

- **vs. Craigslist RSS feeds**: RSS feeds are limited to the most recent 100 items, no search within category, no price/neighborhood fields. This actor returns the full structured dataset.
- **vs. other Apify Store scrapers**: One of the cheapest Craigslist scrapers at $0.00085 per result on the GOLD tier.

Pairs well with [Google Maps Scraper](https://apify.com/thirdwatch/google-maps-scraper?fpr=9m2cd6) and [Zillow Scraper](https://apify.com/thirdwatch/zillow-scraper?fpr=9m2cd6) for complete local-market coverage.

### FAQ

**How do I find the right city code?**
Look at the subdomain of the Craigslist city URL. For example, `sfbay.craigslist.org` uses the code `sfbay`; `newyork.craigslist.org` uses `newyork`.

**How do I find the right category code?**
Craigslist uses 3-letter category codes (e.g., `sof` software jobs, `apa` apartments, `cta` cars/trucks). Pull up the Craigslist category page — the code is in the URL.

**Can I search by keyword?**
Yes — pass a `query` string to filter within the category.

**How fresh is the data?**
Pulled live from Craigslist at run time.

Last verified: 2026-05

More scrapers at [thirdwatch.dev](https://thirdwatch.dev).

# Actor input Schema

## `city` (type: `string`):

Craigslist city subdomain (e.g. sfbay, newyork, losangeles, chicago, seattle, austin).

## `cities` (type: `array`):

Optional Craigslist city area identifiers. Supply several when requesting more listings than one city currently contains.

## `category` (type: `string`):

Craigslist category code: sof (software jobs), jjj (all jobs), apa (apartments), cta (cars/trucks), etc.

## `query` (type: `string`):

Optional keyword search within the category.

## `maxResults` (type: `integer`):

Maximum number of listings to scrape.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "city": "sfbay",
  "cities": [],
  "category": "sof",
  "maxResults": 30
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `results` (type: `string`):

No description

# 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 '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "city": "sfbay",
    "category": "sof",
    "maxResults": 30
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("thirdwatch/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 '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = {
    "city": "sfbay",
    "category": "sof",
    "maxResults": 30,
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("thirdwatch/craigslist-scraper").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).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": "sfbay",
  "category": "sof",
  "maxResults": 30
}' |
apify call thirdwatch/craigslist-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,thirdwatch/craigslist-scraper"
        }
    }
}

```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/pO2Qw03mlSUWV1zFL/builds/cYfWgIKW8t2vGUMhq/openapi.json