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 Big Isn't Always Bad: School District Size, Poverty, and Standards-Based Reform
This paper reports results of the first systematic analysis of the progress of standards-based reform in U.S. school districts. Using data from a recent national survey of school districts and a companion national survey of schools, we find that not only do districts appear to play an important role
Research Report Health Policy 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 Alabama
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 Texas
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 Helping At-Risk Youth
Common sense and years of research suggest that community-based collaboratives are the best hope for helping at-risk youth. This report, drawn from evaluations of the Communities in Schools and SafeFuture initiatives, offers a wealth of hands-on advice and real-life examples to help program leaders
Research Report Transportation Issues in Welfare Reform
For all workers who are employed outside their home, getting to work is an obvious and important dimension of their employment. For those workers without easy access to transportation and/or long commutes, this logistic becomes increasingly important. As states are attempting to aggressively move
Research Report Number and Cost of Immigrants on Medicaid, The
Under welfare reform law, with certain exceptions, noncitizen immigrants who arrived in the United States after August 1996 were barred from Medicaid benefits, although they may still be covered for emergency services. Assessing the effects of this change has been problematic, because few data are
Research Report Fiscal Policy: Alive and Well
Senior Fellow Eugene Steuerle discusses the state of fiscal policy. He notes that the conventional wisdom is that politicians have tired of thinking about fine-tuning the economy through tax and expenditure policy, while economists often argue that the nation's macroeconomic position should be