Public Transit Funding and Community Infrastructure Needs

Over the past five years, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) has dedicated unprecedented funding to rebuild the nation’s infrastructure. Now, …

Driving Economic Prosperity Through Public-Private Partnerships

In partnership with the Black Economic Alliance Foundation, a team of Urban researchers conducted landscape scans in five cities across four policy domains t…

Five Community Groups Gather Data to Combat Industrial Pollution

Local organizations are working with residents to measure pollution by where they live, work, and play.

Building Dignity and Belonging into Local Programs and Services

Join the Urban Institute’s Upward Mobility Initiative for a virtual workshop exploring how local leaders can foster dignity and belonging in their communities—and why these conditions are essential...

Improving How LLMs Handle Education and Workforce Pathway Data

In a baseline evaluation published in May 2026, we found that large language models (LLMs) often gave low-quality responses to questions about education and …

Are Data Centers Worsening America’s Housing Crisis?

Data centers’ effects on housing vary widely based on location and local market conditions.

Pathways to Automatic Enrollment: Lessons from Children's Development Accounts and Baby Bonds for...

Automatic enrollment has long been considered a best practice in the early wealth-building field, helping increase participation, expand access, and reduce d…

Why “Build It, and They Will Come” Isn’t Enough to Foster Vibrant Public Spaces

To ensure civic assets evolve alongside their communities, they need ongoing investment, programming, maintenance, and resident input and engagement to help …

Evaluating AI Solutions for the Public Sector

Understanding where an AI solution might be falling short and implementing improvements is a core focus of the Urban Institute AI Studio.

Jobs Don’t Pay Enough to Make Most Counties Affordable for Young Families

The average wage isn’t enough to cover basic needs for a single parent and two children in 99 percent of counties.

Building Dignity and Belonging into Local Programs and Services

Join the Urban Institute’s Upward Mobility Initiative for a virtual workshop exploring how local leaders can foster dignity and belonging in their communities—and why these conditions are essential...

The Urban Institute AI Studio

Pathways to Automatic Enrollment: Lessons from Children's Development Accounts and Baby Bonds for...

Automatic enrollment has long been considered a best practice in the early wealth-building field, helping increase participation, expand access, and reduce d…

After Hurricane Isaias, Gulf Coast Officials Will Need to Prioritize Three Likely Health Challenges

The experiences of Gulf Coast residents suggest that health outcomes are shaped by much more than access to medical care.

Explore Disaster Data and Funding Strategies for Tribes and Indigenous Communities

This tool can help tribal and Indigenous communities leverage disaster data to strategically pursue opportunities for federal disaster recovery funding.

Reducing Environmental Hazards In K–12 Schools Can Boost Students’ Lifetime Earnings

Urban Institute analysis of five causal research studies suggests that exposure to environmental hazards can shape student outcomes long beyond childhood.

The Child Care and Development Fund

This brief highlights 25 years of Urban research that has demonstrated the critical role CCDF policies and practices can play, not only in helping parents wo…