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
Explore our work by state
Research Report Central Louisiana in Focus 2024
This research, prepared for The Rapides Foundation, provides an overview of the nonprofits and congregations in Central Louisiana and each of its nine parishes: Allen, Avoyelles, Catahoula, Grant, LaSalle, Natchitoches, Rapides, Vernon, and Winn. It provides information on nonprofits and
Research Report Housing Finance at a Glance: A Monthly Chartbook, August 2025
Housing Finance at a Glance is a monthly reference guide for mortgage and housing market data. It includes over 80 curated and updated figures describing current trends in the US housing finance market, including housing affordability, credit availability, serious delinquency rates, and mortgage
Brief Engaging Employers on Youth Apprenticeships
This brief examines how the Urban Institute and the Institute for Workplace Skills and Innovation America supported employers in designing and launching youth apprenticeship programs, drawing on five years of experience as federally funded intermediaries.
A hotel worker making a bed.
Every Labor Day, millions of workers get up and go to work to perform the essential functions of the American economy. But without stable and flexible scheduling, these workers lack options to take care of responsibilities outside of their jobs.
A single family home.
Federal policymakers can take steps to ensure a strong program rollout, but legislative fixes and clear guidance from the VA are needed to increase the program’s impact and effectiveness.
Research Report Revenue Growth Uneven across States as Fiscal Challenges Loom
Since the COVID-19 pandemic, state revenues have grown more volatile, driven by shifts in economic activity, federal aid, and tax policy changes. Current federal actions—including potential spending cuts, trade and workforce policies, and new provisions in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act—are expected
An image of a building on a busy street.
Insights from an evaluation of Denver’s All In Mile High Initiative evaluation highlight five strategies other communities could adopt to reduce the number of residents enduring homelessness.