In an effort to better understand existing capacity for research on urban sustainability, researchers from the Center for Sustainability at USC conducted a survey of urban sustainability centers at U.S. universities. This analysis is the first phase of a larger project geared towards identifying a research agenda and developing common performance metrics to support federal sustainability initiatives. Results of the survey of 25 sustainability centers indicate that they are unevenly distributed throughout the country, operate on relatively low budgets, and face challenges securing funds for interdisciplinary sustainability research. A survey of current research activities suggests needed synthesis projects and framing papers on an array of sustainability topics.