Urban across the Country

Urban’s researchers partner with state and local leaders to provide the evidence, tools, and support they need to improve lives and strengthen communities. This work includes strategic advising to translate research into action, program evaluations to measure effectiveness, and research and data analysis to inform decisionmaking. Our experts develop custom data tools and modeling to support equitable resource allocation and lead community-engaged research and convenings to ensure policies reflect local priorities.

Use this page to explore Urban’s work. Search by region to see examples of our research, and filter by evidence and products to narrow results by topic or type of work.

Dive deeper into your state and community with our data tools. View highlighted tools below, select “Data tools” under “Filter by Product Types,” or head directly to our data tools page.

Get Involved
State and community data tools
Explore our work by state
Brief For Social Security, Solvency is Irrelevant
[ Investor's Business Daily] Urban Institute Senior Fellow, Rudolph Penner, comments on the Clinton plan to "save" Social Security, and questions equating the health of the entitlement with the solvency of the trust fund.
Research Report Report to The Human Services Faith-Based Organizations Task Force
Although welfare reform has placed a renewed spotlight on addressing social issues through local institutions, the mechanisms for achieving new public-private partnerships, particularly with faith-based organizations, are still being developed. This report presents the findings of a study conducted
Research Report Health Policy for Low-Income People in Georgia
There are two Highlights for each state. The Highlights that focus on health cover Medicaid, other public insurance programs, the health care marketplace, and the role of public providers. The Highlights capture policies in place and planned in 1996 and early 1997.
Research Report CHAC Section 8 Program: Barriers to Successful Leasing Up
This project was designed to identify the barriers preventing Section 8 holders in Chicago from successfully locating housing. At the request of CHAC Inc., which runs the Section 8 program for the city, the Urban Institute conducted six focus groups of participants who had been unable to find units
Research Report State Child Welfare Spending at a Glance
This supplement to the main report The Cost of Protecting Vulnerable Children: Understanding Federal, State, and Local Child Welfare Spending (Occasional Paper 20) provides state-by-state data on spending for child welfare services in state fiscal year 1996. Charts detail sources of funding for
Research Report Partnerships for Parks
This report, part of an ongoing evaluation being conducted by the Urban Institute, in Washington, D.C., looks at partnerships between public agencies and nonprofit groups, a key feature in the design and implementation of 12 improvement projects the Fund supported during the first phase of its parks