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
Outside image of the United State's Department of Labor.
The nation’s data collection agencies are critical to producing better evidence-based public policy, but the firing of Commissioner McEntarfer destabilizes them.
Woman wearing a mask at a reception desk.
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act will likely make it more difficult to apply for and maintain Medicaid, which could make it harder for young adults to successfully transition to adulthood.
Brief Subclinical Mental Health Needs
Using 2022–2023 data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, this brief finds that nearly 30 percent of Medicaid enrollees with unmet demand for mental health treatment have subclinical needs, compared with 23 percent of those with Medicare or other public coverage and 16 percent of
young woman shops at a grocery store
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act will likely make it more difficult to apply for and maintain SNAP benefits, which could make it harder for young adults to successfully transition to adulthood.
An image of the Milwaukee skyline with houses, buildings and trees
Milwaukee’s Reclaiming Our Neighborhoods coalition is using community-driven data to identify housing needs, hold absentee landlords accountable, and advocate for equitable investment—one parcel at a time.
A parent with a backpack and child with a skateboard cross the road on the way to school.
To reduce the number of students experiencing homelessness and promote upward mobility for children and young people, local leaders should focus on the root causes of homelessness and expand housing opportunities for people with low incomes.
Two people running through a park in San Francisco with apartment buildings and other housing types in the background.
The Bay Area already faces well-documented housing affordability challenges, and the loss of federal housing support would likely have devastating effects for many of its communities.
A toddler in a fuzzy blue sweater and red sneakers sits, holding and inspecting an orange, next to a couple bunches of bananas, a pomegranate, and a couple more oranges in a grocery cart pushed by a woman in a blue puffer jacket through an aisle of a grocery store lined on one side with crates of oranges.
President Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act will cut spending and support for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which could cause millions of American families to lose eligibility and face food insecurity.