Migration of the young and college-educated to the nation’s largest cities has surged by nearly 40 percent since the Great Recession, according to “Talent on the Move,” a new report from Portland State University.
The research findings, released today, are part of PSU’s America on the Move project, which tracks migration trends across the largest U.S. metro areas. PSU professors Jason Jurjevich and Greg Schrock and doctoral student Jihye Kang found that in 2012-2014, the top 10 destinations for migrants ages 25-39 with at least a bachelor’s degree were:
1. Houston
2. Austin
3. Seattle
4. San Francisco-Oakland
5. Atlanta
6. Portland, Ore.
7. San Jose
8. Denver-Boulder
9. Phoenix
10. Dallas-Fort Worth
The net number of young adults with college degrees who migrated to the largest 50 U.S. metro areas ballooned from 225,000 during the recession in 2008-10 to more than 315,000 by 2012-2014, the most recent period available.
Jurjevich said that several factors have led to higher rates of migration since the Great Recession, including robust employment and wage growth in the largest metro areas, as well as pent-up demand to move during and after the Great Recession. But as earlier research also shows, jobs weren’t the only reason they moved to the top cities, he said. They also value public transit, the political environment, and arts and cultural opportunities, and are willing to pay higher rent to live in places they like.
“Our research underscores the continued allure of cities to the young and college-educated,” Schrock said. “While the economic uncertainty of the Great Recession was a significant obstacle to migration for many, for the young and college-educated, economic opportunity and quality of life serve as an unmistakable draw to the nation’s largest metro areas – one that undoubtedly benefits those regions economically.”
It is the first time in the researchers’ study of migration trends back to 1980 that a Texas city has topped the list, and that all of the top destinations were in the South and West. While many of the top destinations like Seattle and Portland have remained at the top for many years, a few “comeback metros” such as Birmingham, Ala. and Detroit have had a resurgence of migration of the young and college-educated since the recession. The full reports, along with regionally specific reports, are available at the America on the Move website: http://www.americamoves.org.
About America on the Move
The America on the Move project contains both qualitative and quantitative data that aims to better understand how human migration is changing the face of cities across the U.S. In 2012, Professors Jurjevich and Schrock began examining migration patterns of young, college-educated individuals to the nation’s largest 50 U.S. metros, from 1980 to today. By incorporating and accounting for changes in census geography for the nation’s largest metro areas, America on the Move research provides one-of-a-kind longitudinal analysis of regional migration patterns in the United States.
The next research release, scheduled for September 2016, will examine migration patterns by race and ethnicity across U.S. regions, as well as findings from a survey and interviews with young, college-educated individuals about why they moved to Portland.