After 12 years of exponential growth, new data suggest that — in the population as a whole — overdose rates were relatively stable in 2022 and 2023. Yet the upward trend is continuing in some communities who have been racially marginalized due to historic and ongoing systemic oppression. See here for the blog and infographic.
Our new infographic uses platform data from 2010 to 2022 and documents lives lost due to synthetic drugs which are cheap and rapidly produced and available on streets across big cities. See our infographic and our blog post advocating for treating drug use and dependence as a health and social issue, and strengthening surveillance and early warning systems.
The Big Cities Health Coalition and Drexel University’s Urban Health Collaborative held a webinar on Tuesday July 1, 2025. Speakers talked of the many ways that local health departments are using this data platform. Click here for a recording of this event.
The data platform was recently updated to include available data for all metrics spanning 2010–2023. Three new metrics related to the social determinants of health (youth not in school and not working, internet access, and cost of rent) were added. Learn more here.
Our platform was recently updated with data from CDC-funded childhood lead poisoning surveillance programs. A blog and infographic show wide disparities in lead poisoning across the cities and highlights factors that underlie the highest rates.
The data platform was recently updated to include available data for all metrics spanning 2010–2022. Four new climate metrics were added that illustrate how extreme heat and disasters are impacting big cities. Learn more here.
In BCHC cities, rates of people experiencing homelessness plummeted when pandemic-era housing safety net programs and policies were in effect but – after those phased out – rates of people experiencing homelessness rose to record levels. Learn more here.
Platform data from 2021 showed that only 50% of older aged residents living in the nation’s largest cities received a flu vaccine. Among older aged Black residence, it was only 30%. Learn more here.
In BCHC cities, lives lost to gun deaths rose 65% in the past twelve years, with huge increases during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Gun violence disproportionately claimed the lives of Black people and was highest in cities with higher poverty, unemployment, and racial segregation. Learn more from our blog post, infographic, and data brief.
