Jon Schwabish

Senior Researcher and Data Visualization Expert, Urban Institute

Washington, D.C.

Jonathan Schwabish is a Senior Research Associate in The Urban Institute’s Income and Benefits Policy Center. He is also a member of the Institute’s Communication team, specializing in data visualization and presentation design. He spent the previous 9 years as a Principal Analyst at the Congressional Budget Office. His economics research focuses on earnings and income inequality, disability insurance, and retirement security. He has explored the well-being of families receiving food stamps, disability insurance, and earnings volatility.

Dr. Schwabish is also considered a leader in the data visualization field. He has written on various aspects of best ways to visualize data including technical aspects of creation and design best practices. His work and his techniques have been featured on various websites, including Visualizing.org, Visual.ly, and SlideShare.net. Named a "visualization thought leader" by AllAnalytics in 2012, Schwabish—largely self-taught as a data visualizer—conducts workshops about data visualization and presentation techniques and blogs on his website, PolicyViz.com. He founded and moderates the HelpMeViz.com website, which provides a forum for people to help others with their data visualization challenges.