Internal Migration in the United States

47 Pages Posted: 8 Nov 2011

See all articles by Raven Molloy

Raven Molloy

Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System

Abigail Wozniak

Federal Reserve Banks - Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis; IZA Institute of Labor Economics

Christopher L. Smith

Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System

Multiple version iconThere are 3 versions of this paper

Date Written: May 3, 2011

Abstract

We review patterns in migration within the U.S. over the past thirty years. Internal migration has fallen noticeably since the 1980s, reversing increases from earlier in the century. The decline in migration has been widespread across demographic and socioeconomic groups, as well as for moves of all distances. Although a convincing explanation for the secular decline in migration remains elusive and requires further research, we find only limited roles for the housing market contraction and the economic recession in reducing migration recently. Despite its downward trend, migration within the U.S. remains higher than that within most other developed countries.

Keywords: U.S. migration, homeowner migration, trends in migration, cross-country comparison of migration

JEL Classification: J60, J11

Suggested Citation

Molloy, Raven and Wozniak, Abigail and Smith, Christopher L., Internal Migration in the United States (May 3, 2011). FEDS Working Paper No. 2011-30, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1956677 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1956677

Raven Molloy (Contact Author)

Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System ( email )

20th Street and Constitution Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20551
United States

Abigail Wozniak

Federal Reserve Banks - Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis ( email )

90 Hennepin Avenue
Minneapolis, MN 55480
United States

IZA Institute of Labor Economics

P.O. Box 7240
Bonn, D-53072
Germany

Christopher L. Smith

Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System ( email )

20th Street and Constitution Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20551
United States

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