The migration of young adults from non-metropolitan counties

This article examines young adult migration from non-metropolitan counties to either different non-metropolitan counties or to metropolitan areas. The results show that expected gains in initial earnings provide young entrants to tilt: labor force with a marked incentive to migrate from their non-metropolitan counties of origin. Initial earnings gains stem, ill part, from higher returns to schooling in both metropolitan areas and other non-metropolitan counties. The propensity to migrate is also sensitive to the costs of migration, which, in turn, are correlated with paternal education and the local presence of extended family.