Residential Mobility Among the Rural Poor1

Abstract This article explores frequent, short-distance residential movement, an underrecognized and little studied aspect of rural poverty. In recent field research in high-poverty communities of upstate New York, residential movement was studied through institutional records and staff interviews as well as unstructured interviews and residential histories in low-income families. Overall, residential mobility is driven by the shortfall between household income and housing costs, and by changes in personal situations and partnering relationships. Higher frequency movement is associated with younger age, fewer children, and weaker social support networks but most moves were not job-related. Utilizing an abbreviated version of the same methodology, scoping research was conducted in high-poverty areas of nine other states; some differences and also some similarities span diverse regional, economic, and ethnic settings. For developing policy and programs to reduce mobility and minimize its negative consequences, more research on this phenomenon is needed.