Recent Age-Specific Net Migration Patterns in the United States

Kenneth M. Johnson, Loyola University Chicago
Glenn V. Fuguitt, University of Wisconsin at Madison
Roger B. Hammer, University of Wisconsin at Madison

As fertility differentials in the U.S. diminish, population redistribution trends are increasing dependent on migration. This research uses newly developed county-level age-specific net migration estimates to examine migration patterns between 1990 and 2000. This will be supplemented by longitudinal analysis of age specific migration trends over the past fifty years. If selective deconcentration is now underway (as recent research suggests), we would expect the distribution of net rates by age to change as persons in different age groups responded to new incentives or disincentives to move. However, such age based migration variation is likely to be tempered by location specific county characteristics. This research enhances our knowledge of how migration processes are differentiated by age and functional type of county as well as how they have changed in response to the macro forces impacting America during the past several decades.