Migration Behaviors and Educational Attainment of Metro and Non‐Metro Youth^☆

Abstract

While research has consistently demonstrated a positive relationship between migration from rural areas and educational attainment, it is unclear whether migration is the driver of educational attainment or merely a mediator. The "rural brain drain" perspective suggests that young people leave rural areas if they have greater academic potential than their peers. A "migration gain" perspective implies that people, regardless of prior achievements, may move to invest in human capital, thereby gaining more education than those who do not move. This article uses data from the National Longitudinal Study of Youth 97 to test these competing predictions with multilevel/mixed-effects models. Consistent with previous research, the study found that youth attained the least education if they stayed in non-metro areas. By contrast, they gained more education if they moved not just from but also to non-metro areas, consistent with the "migration gain" hypothesis. Academic performance alone did not explain the association between education and migration, contradicting the "rural brain drain" theory. However, academic performance and college enrollment, which are also influenced by available educational opportunities, together explain the association between migration and education significantly, suggesting that the educational outcomes of migrants are influenced by a combination of individual and institutional characteristics.

Migration Across Metro‐Nonmetro Boundaries and Hourly Wages☆

“…Rural residents may therefore earn less than nonrural residents due to lower education (Marré 2017). Yet other work finds that people attain higher education if they left either metro or nonmetro areas than if they did not (Li 2022). Migration can, therefore, be considered a human capital investment (Sjaastad 1962).…”

“…Scholars have explored the causes and consequences of this migration, finding that leaving nonmetro places may lead to better socioeconomic outcomes. According to previous research, young people attained higher education if they moved to metro areas than if they did not (Li 2022). They also benefitted from migrating in their later work lives since they migrated to access better job opportunities (Domina 2009;Guo 2009;Mykerezi et al 2014).…”

“…Scholars have paid relatively less attention to those who moved from metro to nonmetro places. Yet metro youth also attained better educational outcomes if they moved to nonmetro areas than if they did not (Li 2022). Adults earned higher income if their families moved to nonmetro counties when they were young than if their families did not move (Chetty and Hendren 2018).…”