Interstate return migration: Regional differences and implications

Abstract

This study examines the regional differences in 1975–1980 return migration patterns for states within the United States based on two return migration variables; (1) the percentage of in-migrants to a state who are returnees, and (2) the number of returnees as a share of those who are “at risk” of returning. States exhibit widely disparate return characteristics for each variable. The percentage of in-migrants who were return migrants ranged from just 3.2 percent in Nevada to 33.9 percent for West Virginia, while the share of returnees from the at risk pool ranged from 31.6 per thousand in South Dakota to 116.5 per thousand in California. The percentage of return migrants is not significantly correlated with the at risk to return variable. Thus, states have very different levels of dependence on return migration when both variables are taken into account. Some states such as West Virginia have a high percentage of returnees among in-migrants but a low at risk return rate, while other states like California receive a large share of at risk returnees but exhibit a low percentage return among all in-migrants. A typology is developed to classify states according to their return characteristics and the implications of the different return patterns are discussed. Significant regional variance in the volume of return migration, and major differences in migration motives and migrant characteristics between returnees and non-returnees suggest a need to decompose interstate migration flows when modeling patterns of human movement at a national scale.