Internal Migration in the United States: Rates, Selection, and Destination Choice, 1850–1940

Ariell Zimran

The Journal of Economic History, 2024, vol. 84, issue 3, 727-766

Abstract: I study native-born white men’s internal migration in the United States over all possible 10- and 20-year periods between 1850 and 1940. Inter-county migration rates—after implementing a new method to correct for errors in linkage—were stable over time. Migrant selection on the basis of occupational status was neutral or slightly negative and also largely stable. But the orientation of internal migration changed over time, declining in distance and increasingly driving urbanization. In the 1930s, migration became less common and less urban oriented. These results provide a clearer understanding of historic U.S. internal migration than previously possible.

Date: 2024
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/ ... type/journal_article link to article abstract page (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:cup:jechis:v:84:y:2024:i:3:p:727-766_3

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in The Journal of Economic History from Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press, UPH, Shaftesbury Road, Cambridge CB2 8BS UK.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Kirk Stebbing ().