Urban across the Country: Tools, analysis, and insights drawn from communities across the United States

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.

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State and community data tools

photo of woman standing holding child in front of grocery aisle

Data Tool

The American Affordability Tracker

April 2, 2026

Colorful illustration of graphs, pie charts, bar charts, etc

Data Tool

Nonprofit Trends Tracker

March 5, 2026

A family unpacks groceries at the kitchen table. A young girl holds up a bag of oranges.

Data Tool

State of the Safety Net

March 2, 2026

Explore our work by state

Research Report

Weak Revenue Growth, Rising Fiscal Uncertainty

State and local tax revenues grew modestly in real terms in early fiscal year 2026, with overall gains driven largely by personal income taxes and concentrated in a small number of states with progressive tax structures that benefited from strong financial market performance in 2025. Many other

March 26, 2026

Brief

Who Participates in Early Care and Education Registered Apprenticeship Programs?

Registered Apprenticeship Programs offer one way to increase the pipeline of qualified new early care and education (ECE) educators and to build the credentials of the current ECE workforce. This brief presents analyses of the 2023 Registered Apprenticeship Partners Information Database System

March 26, 2026

Brief

Eight Actions Local Lawmakers Can Take to Counter Predatory Policies Amid Growing Economic Insecurity

In this brief, we examine eight common local policies and practices that, while often intended to be neutral or revenue-generating, are implemented in ways that disproportionately burden low- and moderate-income residents (sometimes called “regressive” policies).

March 26, 2026

Brief

Factors That Shape Early Educators' Participation in Professional Learning

This brief presents analyses of the 2019 National Survey of Early Care and Education (NSECE) data describing factors that shape center-based ECE workforce participation in professional learning.

March 26, 2026

Policies that invest in children and help their parents with affordability are key to helping families achieve financial security and be well positioned for upward mobility.

Brief

OBBBA's Six‑Month Redetermination Could Reduce Medicaid Expansion Enrollment by 2.0 to 3.1 Million in 2028

In this paper, we focus on one of the Medicaid provisions: by December 31, 2026, states must start redetermining eligibility for Affordable Care Act (ACA) Medicaid expansion enrollees every six months.

March 25, 2026

Brief

Advancing Vacant Housing Remediation in Baltimore

This brief highlights the challenges facing nonprofit developers in Baltimore neighborhoods, particularly the financial and policy constraints shaping their work.

March 25, 2026