More people moved from nonmetro to metro areas than in the opposite direction during 1999-2000. Only the Midwest saw nonmetro growth. Nonmetro outmigration is concentrated among young adults leaving for college and jobs in cities, while inmigration among the college-educated dropped to near zero. Migration decisions of baby boomers will determine…

A quarter of nonmetro counties lost population in the 1990s, but population loss was not related to poverty rate or low educational levels, perhaps because low-skill workers can no longer expect better wages in urban areas. Population loss was related to low population density and remoteness (which decrease access to services), lack of natural…

In attempts to forestall problems inherent in too-rapid urbanization, China has instituted a migration policy designed to strictly control changes in permanent residence from rural areas or small urban places to larger cities and to encourage the development of small cities and towns. The policy is enforced through the household registration…