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.

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Explore our work by state
Research Report Welfare Reform and Interstate Welfare Competition
This paper evaluates the evidence in favor of a downward bias in benefits created by moving from federal matching grants to block grants. The evidence is mixed. Benefit levels in nearby states appear to affect a given state's benefit choice. Policymakers act as if welfare migration is a significant
Research Report Income Support and Social Services for Low-Income People in Mississippi
The state reports describe the safety net and health care programs in place for low-income people on the eve of welfare reform. The reports also analyze the particular circumstances that are shaping the state's response to the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA)
Research Report Income Support and Social Services for Low-Income People in Wisconsin
The state reports describe the safety net and health care programs in place for low-income people on the eve of welfare reform. The reports also analyze the particular circumstances that are shaping the state's response to the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA)
Research Report Needs-based Targeting without Knowing Household Incomes
[© Urban Studies] Proxy means tests are often suggested for use in countries where tighter targeting of benefits of social programmes are desired but verification of household incomes is difficult. This paper reports on simulations of the use of two types of proxy means test in determining
Brief Financial Future is Brighter for Women
[ Bridge News] Urban Institute researcher, Richard W. Johnson, discusses Social Security reform, and especially how it affects single women over 65 a group that is one of the poorest in the country.
Research Report The Individual AMT: More Than a Small Fix Is Needed
Senior Fellow Eugene Steuerle examines the factors that have made the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) one of the more complicating influences on the tax code. He concludes that the individual AMT is in need of a good fix or outright elimination, and that simply indexing it is not enough.
Research Report Will the Single Business Tax Catch On?
Senior Fellow Eugene Steuerle considers the future of the single business tax--it could unwind only over a long period of time. He suggests that any expansion is likely to go hand-in-hand with a reduced reliance on other taxes. It could give states more elastic and stable tax sources. At the same
Research Report Social Security Reform: The Budget Debate All Over Again
Senior Fellow Eugene Steuerle comments on what makes Social security and Medicare reform suffer from the same problem that for so long made budget reform difficult. He argues that the reform efforts measure gains and losses, winners and losers, from a base of a system that is imbalanced and whose