IHS invites academic scholars to apply for funding for research that uses the Cost of Living tool in ScholarsEdge. Watch this video to learn more about the tool. 

The Cost of Living tool in ScholarsEdge is an AI-powered research application that aggregates a wide range of economic, social, and environmental data at the ZIP-code level, allowing scholars to quickly analyze and compare local conditions across the United States. By integrating dozens of authoritative data sources, including housing, income, taxes, energy, health care, education, crime, and environmental indicators, the tool provides a comprehensive and highly granular view of what it actually costs to live in a given area. Users can navigate the data through an interactive map or by entering specific ZIP codes, and each data point is clearly labeled with its level of granularity and linked directly to its original source, maintaining transparency and ensuring reliability.

The real value of the tool lies in its ability to enable natural experiments and cross-dataset insights. Scholars can compare locations and explore how different variables correlate with variations in cost of living. When combined with other ScholarsEdge datasets—such as policy data or energy grid information—the tool becomes even more powerful, allowing researchers to quickly uncover relationships that would otherwise be difficult to detect. In this way, the Cost of Living tool not only streamlines data collection, but also serves as a force multiplier for research, helping scholars generate faster, more robust, and more impactful insights.

We are especially interested in proposals that bridge disciplines. Research deliverables can include peer-reviewed publications, policy white papers, or shareable research databases.

Grants for accepted projects will vary in size based on need.

Awardees will be expected to participate in an online workshop with other awardees and the ScholarsEdge team.

Please Note: IHS grants cannot support institutional overhead or indirect costs