NYS Federal Impacts Dashboard
How the federal changes since January 2025 are reaching New York: jobs, the federal workforce, federal grants, assistance and contracts, nonprofits and early warning signs in every county and region, updated every week.
Policy research and data tools since 2020
Public data for a high road economy.
High Road Policy turns public data into evidence that people can act on. We publish briefs, fact sheets and interactive tools on wages, housing, care and democracy in Buffalo, Rochester and across Upstate New York, so that the people who make and move policy can see what is happening in their own communities and what would change it.
New data tool
The Wage Atlas, rebuilt
52.8%of New York workers earn a living wage for their family typeCensus Bureau survey, 2020 to 2024
The Atlas matches each worker in the Census Bureau's American Community Survey to the MIT living wage for where they live and their family type, then shows who earns enough to live on and who doesn't.
- Map who earns a living wage in every part of the state
- See which occupations and industries pay enough to live on
- Test what a higher minimum wage would change
- Estimate the chance that a worker with a given profile earns a living wage
Data tools
All 17 tools →Look up your community
NYS Evictions Dashboard
Eviction filings in New York's courts month by month since 2018, for counties, cities and towns, ZIP codes and legislative districts, with who has a lawyer, the back rent at stake and the shortfall of subsidized homes.
ECLC Commuter Flow Map
Where the people who work at any New York workplace live, by ZIP code, town and county, with nearby child care programs and major roads.
What we do
Evidence for the people who make and move policy
Policy briefs
Original analysis of a specific bill, budget or campaign.
Data tools
Look up indicators for your council district, county or legislative district.
Fact sheets
A finding, ready to carry into a hearing, a coalition meeting or a newsroom.
Rapid analysis and testimony
Fast, data-backed answers when a policy window opens.
Policy memo series
All publications →Latest publications
Vol. 4, No. 1
Analyzing the Turnout Gap Between Tenants and Homeowners in the 2022 New York State General Election
Likely renters voted at rates 31 points below likely homeowners in 2022. Where candidates backed Good Cause eviction, the gap was closer to 18 points.
Vol. 3, Nos. 1–3
Crisis of Care
A special triple issue on Erie County's childcare system. It finds the system is not broken but working as a market is designed to, and calls for a New York Care Act.
Vol. 2, No. 4
Back to the Future of Local Elections
Non-citizen residents once voted in local elections across the United States. This issue makes the historical, legal and data case for restoring that right in Buffalo.
Write for High Road Policy
We welcome pitches on policies, campaigns and governance strategies for a more democratic economy, especially from people working in Upstate New York.