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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Explore our work by state
Students in a classroom
A new analysis conducted as part of the National Governors Association’s Let’s Get Ready initiative reveals that while most states use college and career readiness indicators in accountability systems, wide variation in their design, benchmarks, and transparency limits their effectiveness in
Students walking down a hallway.
A review of over 100 studies examined whether high school readiness measures—such as AP/IB enrollment, dual enrollment, FAFSA completion, and CTE credentials—have a causal link to economic mobility, identifying seven with the strongest evidence connecting them to improved college enrollment
An aerial shot of a severely flooded neighborhood, where water has reached the roofs of several homes and the leafy tops of trees. Water has completely submerged several smaller structures, including a fenced-in backyard with patio furniture.
Following the devastating flooding in Texas, Andrew Rumbach, a climate and communities expert at the Urban Institute, points to land-use and zoning laws that enable Texans to live in high-risk areas, often in vulnerable structures, like RVs and manufactured homes.
A close-up of an American Social Security Card fanned between an American $5, $100, and two $20 bills.
Richard Johnson, a senior fellow for the Tax and Income Supports Division at the Urban Institute, spoke on NightSide News about how more people are claiming their Social Security benefits before full retirement age.
Research Report Building on the Affordable Care Act to Achieve Universal Coverage
In this report, we propose eight incremental reforms that would expand upon the Affordable Care Act. For each of the eight steps, we introduce policies that would increase insurance coverage, improve affordability, and contain health care costs. These steps would be politically challenging, as most
Brief Labor Markets and Economic Insecurity
The US economy is positioned at a critical moment for workers. The recovery from the pandemic recession to date has been strong by traditional measures, providing steady job growth and rising real wages. But growing policy uncertainty, combined with disruptive social and economic forces such as the
Brief Variation in Fair Chance Housing Laws
To understand the early impacts of Fair Chance housing laws, we conducted 10 interviews with legal advocates, landlords, and administrators involved with the design and implementation of these laws in two cities (Seattle, Washington, and Portland, Oregon) and two states (Oregon and New Jersey).