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

Ariell Zimran

No 30384, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: I study the internal migration of native-born white men in the United States using linked census data covering all possible 10- and 20-year periods 1850--1940. Inter-county migration rates were stable over time. Selection into migration on the basis of occupational status was also largely stable and was neutral or slightly negative. But the orientation of internal migration changed, declining in distance, becoming more directed towards the west, and increasingly driving urbanization. These patterns changed in the 1930s as migration became less common and less urban oriented. These results provide a clearer understanding of historic US internal migration than previously possible.

JEL-codes: J61 N31 N32 O15 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022-08
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-dem, nep-his, nep-lab, nep-mig and nep-ure
Note: DAE LS
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