The Urban Institute

The Urban Institute, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit research organization, is a prime contractor delivering applied policy research, program evaluation, data analytics, and technical assistance to federal agencies on a full-and-open competitive basis, with recent prime awards spanning 1,008 contracts, grants, and IDVs across 108 federal customer agencies.

The institute operates as a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) research organization, competing without SBA set-aside designations across its federal footprint. Its capability portfolio spans policy research and microsimulation modeling, program and policy evaluation, survey administration and data collection, social science data analytics, technical assistance and capacity building, and research-to-practice translation. Representative work includes a $4.965 million time-and-materials delivery order from the Administration for Children and Families for a Welfare Rules Database through 2031; an $11.933 million HHS delivery order for microsimulation modeling and flexible technical assistance on health, safety, and economic policy impact analysis through 2030; a $2.237 million IRS definitive contract for development of synthetic public use files and validation methodology through 2029; and a $3.528 million labor-hours BPA call from the Department of Labor Employment and Training Administration for Registered Apprenticeship Programs support services (completed February 2025). The institute also conducts federal grant research: NIJ awarded it a $849,383 project grant for a 48-month mixed-methods study on detection and disruption technologies for contraband wireless devices in correctional facilities; the Bureau of Justice Assistance funded a $3.387 million cooperative agreement for the Prison Rape Elimination Act Strategic Support program providing microgrants and technical assistance to 25 confinement agencies; and the Office on Violence Against Women awarded a $1 million cooperative agreement for the Restorative Practices in Tribal Communities Project.

Customer concentration anchors on HHS, which accounts for the largest share by potential value. The Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Assistant Secretary for Administration leads with 123 awards valued at $805.3 million combined potential value, followed by HHS Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services with 31 awards worth $356.2 million. The top five customer agencies by potential-value concentration—HHS ASA, HHS CMS, USAID, Department of Labor, and Department of Housing and Urban Development—represent 54% of combined potential value across all awards. By award count, HHS ASA, HUD, and USAID dominate, accounting for 33% of awards; the Department of Justice National Institute of Justice places fifth by count (45 awards, $2.2 million combined potential value), signaling high-volume smaller grants in criminal justice research. The Urban Institute serves a broad landscape: 33% of awards are concentrated in the top five agencies, meaning the remaining 67% distribute across 103 customer agencies, reflecting a diversified federal footprint.

The Urban Institute holds multiple indefinite delivery vehicles. The GSA Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) anchors 38 task orders worth $227.8 million combined potential value across various customer agencies. Within customer-specific IDVs, a December 2023 single-award $20.1 million BPA with the Administration for Children and Families for survey administration and Medicaid data linking services is active through December 2025 and has issued multiple task orders (the ASR 2025 call alone reached $2.534 million). A September 2023 $99 million single-award BPA with the Department of Labor's Chief Evaluation Office for program evaluations and policy analysis is performing through September 2028. A November 2023 $9.943 million single-award SSA BPA for social science and vocational research runs through November 2028. The institute's GSA Schedule labor portfolio spans 16 categories, ranging from Research/Policy Assistant at $81.95/hour (bachelor's, no experience required) through Senior Director/Associate Vice President at $382.46/hour (PhD, 12 years experience), with no security-cleared roles offered.

Activity has remained relatively stable year over year across the recent five-year window: 25 awards in 2022, 30 in 2023, 33 in 2024, declining to 22 in 2025, and 7 recorded through mid-2026 (a partial-year snapshot). SCI-reported invoicing for federal service contracts above the $150,000 threshold declined from $20.4 million (31.1 FTEs) in FY2022 to $8.9 million (23.4 FTEs) in FY2025, signaling either reduced headcount deployment or shifting work mix toward grant activity and non-SCI-reportable engagements. Across SCI-reportable prime contracts, median government-paid rates ran around $178.74/hour, with senior labor pricing reaching $328.37/hour at the 90th percentile. The institute faces a modest recompete cliff: 15 awards with ultimate completion dates in the next twenty-four months carry combined potential value of $7.1 million.

The Urban Institute operates primarily as a self-performing prime—97% of awards are prime contracts and grants—with selective subcontractor engagement. Across SCI-reportable prime contracts, subcontractors performed approximately 15% of total contractor hours on average, with 52 distinct named subcontractors appearing across the portfolio. Named subs include SSRS (AUS Marketing Research Systems, Inc.), a Pennsylvania-based survey research firm subcontracted on Annual Survey of Refugees and related data collection work; MEF Associates LLC on Head Start program research and TANF policy analysis; The Moss Group on the Bureau of Justice Assistance Prison Rape Elimination Act microgrant program; NORC at the University of Chicago on elder abuse prevention evaluation and census of prosecutor offices; and academic partners including the RAND Corporation (on validation server development for tax data) and Florida State University (on synthetic data and privacy methods). A small volume of sub-award activity reflects the institute's role as a subcontractor: the institute subcontracts to larger research primes including the RAND Corporation (on HHS policy analysis and technical assistance), Research Triangle Institute (on child and adolescent well-being evaluation and bureau of prisons reentry programs evaluation), ICF Incorporated (on early care and education research), and ABT Global (on the Community Choice Demonstration evaluation). The institute's grant sub-recipient footprint includes partnerships with university research centers, nonprofits, and national associations (National Opinion Research Center, Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Violence Solutions, Georgetown University, University of Oklahoma, Chapin Hall Center for Children) in evaluations spanning justice reform, child care policy, economic development, and social services.

The Urban Institute's federal grant portfolio spans civilian research agencies with substantial concentration in the Office of Justice Programs (National Institute of Justice, Bureau of Justice Assistance) and the Department of Health and Human Services (Office of Planning Research and Evaluation, Office of Child Care). Recent multi-year cooperative agreements and project grants include criminal justice research (restorative justice, hate crime task forces, credible messenger mentoring evaluation, human trafficking screening and survivor outcomes), child care and early childhood policy (Head Start cost studies, infant and toddler access, wage enhancement program evaluation), housing research (lead hazard reduction, neighborhood rental database), social services program evaluation (child welfare, refugee services, TANF policy), and workforce development (registered apprenticeship, paid leave microsimulation). Grant recipients subcontract research components to academic institutions and specialized research firms, positioning the institute as a convening and lead-research organization rather than a sole-performer on large multi-year federally funded research initiatives.