| Abstract: | Abstract In this paper, we examine the demographic and socioeconomic characteristics of migration streams between metropolitan and nonmetropolitan areas for four different years over the period 1975–1993. During this period, there have been three shifts in the direction of net metro-nonmetro migration. Through nonmetro net in-migration, the “nonmetropolitan turnaround” of the 1970s reversed historical patterns of nonmetro loss of human resources, with gains and increased retention of the young and better-educated. The 1980s, however, again saw net-migration loss, including large shifts from gain to loss, especially among the young and better-educated and for workers in white collar occupations. In the 1990s, the overall pattern is again one of nonmetro net-migration gain or reduced loss, with the greatest increases among those higher status groups which experienced the greatest declines during the 1980s. The latest pattern is due largely to increased population retention, whereas previous research has shown the migration turnaround of the 1970s was due about equally to increasing retention and in-migration. |
