Demographic and Socioeconomic Change

in Appalachia

EMERGING PATTERNS OF POPULATION

REDISTRIBUTION AND MIGRATION IN APPALACHIA

by

Daniel T. Lichter, Jillian Garratt, Mary L. Marshall, and Michael Cardella

Ohio State University

April 2005
About This Series

“Demographic and Socioeconomic Change in Appalachia” is a series of reports that examine

demographic, social, and economic levels and trends in the 13-state Appalachian region. Each 

report uses data from the decennial censuses of 1990 and 2000, plus supplemental information from

other data sources.

Reports in the series include:

• “Appalachia at the Millennium: An Overview of Results from Census 2000,” by Kelvin M.

Pollard (June 2003).

• “Housing and Commuting Patterns in Appalachia,” by Mark Mather (March 2004).

• “The Aging of Appalachia,” by John G. Haaga (April 2004).

• “Households and Families in Appalachia,” by Mark Mather (May 2004).

• “Educational Attainment in Appalachia,” by John G. Haaga (May 2004).

• “A ‘New Diversity’: Race and Ethnicity in the Appalachian Region,” by Kelvin M. Pollard

(September 2004).

• “Labor Market Performance, Poverty, and Income Inequality in Appalachia,” by Dan A. Black 

and Seth G. Sanders (September 2004).

• “Population Growth and Distribution in Appalachia: New Realities,” by Kelvin M. Pollard 

(January 2005).

• “Emerging Patterns of Population Redistribution and Migration in Appalachia,” by Daniel T.

Lichter, Jillian Garratt, Mary L. Marshall, and Michael Cardella (April 2005).

• “Changing Patterns of Poverty and Spatial Inequality in Appalachia,” by Daniel T. Lichter and 

Lori Ann Campbell (forthcoming).

You can view and download the reports by visiting either www.prb.org or www.arc.gov.

For more information about the series, please contact either Kelvin Pollard of the Population

Reference Bureau (202-939-5424, kelvinp@prb.org) or Gregory Bischak of the Appalachian 

Regional Commission (202-884-7790, gbischak@arc.gov).

The authors wish to thank the Appalachian Regional Commission for providing the funding for this

series.

Population Reference Bureau

1875 Connecticut Avenue, NW, Suite 520

Washington, DC 20009-3728

The Population Reference Bureau is the leader in providing timely and objective information

on U.S. and international population trends and their implications.

Appalachian Regional Commission

1666 Connecticut Avenue, NW, Suite 700

Washington, DC 20009-1068

The Appalachian Regional Commission’s mission is to be an advocate for and partner with

the people of Appalachia to create opportunities for self-sustaining economic development and

improved quality of life.
1

EMERGING PATTERNS OF POPULATION REDISTRIBUTION AND

MIGRATION IN APPALACHIA

Daniel T. Lichter, Jillian Garratt, Mary L. Marshall, and Michael Cardella

Ohio State University

Introduction

The social and economic history of Appalachia is characterized by illiteracy and

joblessness, persistent poverty, and cultural isolation (Pollard 2003).

1 As the birthplace of

President Lyndon Johnson’s “War on Poverty” in 1964, the Appalachian region’s

fortunes historically have been tied to its declining extractive industries—agriculture,

mining, and timber. Perhaps less well appreciated is that the economic conditions in 

Appalachia overall have improved significantly over the past several decades. The

region’s industrial base has become more diversified. Its physical infrastructure (i.e.,

highways, telecommunications, and other public utilities) has been transformed. Indeed,

poverty and illiteracy among Appalachia’s people have declined significantly since

President Johnson set foot in Martin County, Ky., in April 24, 1964, when he rededicated 

the nation’s efforts to fight persistent poverty and social injustice. The president’s words

ultimately found expression in his “Great Society” and the passage of the Economic

Opportunity Act of 1964.

Appalachia has also become a region marked by substantial and perhaps growing 

economic and cultural diversity. The past three decades or so have told alternately 

hopeful and pessimistic stories of economic winners (mostly urban) and chronic losers

(mostly rural communities). Any optimism gained from Appalachia’s overall improving

 1 The Appalachian region, which remains disproportionately rural compared to the rest of the United

States, covers more than 200,000 square miles, extends from New York State to Mississippi, and is

comprised of 410 counties covering 13 states along the Appalachian mountain range (Appalachian

Regional Commission 2004a).
2

economic conditions must therefore be tempered by apparently growing geographic

disparities within Appalachia and across the nation in terms of poverty, employment, and 

out-migration (McLaughlin et al. 2001; Lichter and McLaughlin 1995). Patterns of inand out-migration have played an unusually large and significant role historically in

perpetuating poverty and spatial inequality in Appalachia. For many decades,

Appalachia’s “best and brightest” have fled rural and poverty-stricken areas for the

region’s burgeoning metropolitan employment centers and beyond. The region’s

unemployed and welfare poor have often remained anchored in place, a stasis that has

reinforced geographic disparities and muted any potential economic benefits from

decades-long infusions of government funding to build Appalachia’s physical

infrastructure (e.g., highways, water and sanitation facilities) and to cultivate its human 

resources.

In this report, we have several specific objectives aimed at elucidating recent

changes in patterns of Appalachian population change and migration. First, we describe

patterns of migration between Appalachia and the rest of the nation during the 1990s and 

early 2000s as an indirect indicator of economic conditions. Is Appalachia losing 

population in its exchange of people, including its most educated and skilled (the socalled “best and brightest”), with other regions of the United States? Second, we evaluate

geographic disparities in flows of population within Appalachia, including migration

flows between Appalachian metropolitan and nonmetropolitan counties classified 

according to the Appalachian Regional Commission’s (ARC) distress code. Third, we

examine patterns of educational selectivity among inter-county migrants—i.e., whether

some kinds of Appalachian counties have lost their young and most highly educated 
3

people while other people have become essentially ghettoized in place. Fourth, we

document some of the dominant migration streams within Appalachia and between 

Appalachia and other regions by using the 2000 county-to-county migration file from the

2000 Census.

The Legacy of Economic Underdevelopment and Out-migration

During the 1980s, the Appalachian population of slightly over 20 million people

increased by a mere 372,000 people (Matthews 1999). The region lost 410,000 more

people to out-migration than it gained through in-migration (i.e., net out-migration) from

the rest of the nation. In fact, without natural increase—the difference between births and 

deaths—Appalachia would have experienced population decline rather than population

growth during the 1980s. Significantly, population growth and net migration over this

period were distributed unevenly over geographic areas and population subgroups. Much 

of the population growth from in-migration was concentrated in the southern tier of

Appalachia counties, especially in the economically prosperous metropolitan areas of

Georgia and the Carolinas; in suburban counties (i.e., those adjacent to metropolitan 

counties with central cities); and in nonmetropolitan counties in close proximity to

growing metropolitan regions. Among others, these counties included areas surrounding 

Atlanta; Asheville and Winston-Salem, N.C.; and Spartanburg, S.C. While the southern 

subregion of Appalachia experienced positive net migration between 1980 and 1990, the

northern and central subregions of Appalachia lost population through out-migration to

other regions in Appalachia and to the rest of the country (Matthews 1999).
4

Not surprisingly, distressed and transitional Appalachia counties experienced 

rapid net out-migration during the 1980s. These counties, as defined by the Appalachian 

Regional Commission, include those with high unemployment rates, low income, and 

poverty rates exceeding 150 percent of the U.S. average (McLaughlin et al. 1999). The

statistical association between economic underdevelopment and out-migration has been 

unmistakable. Among the 363 distressed and transitional Appalachia counties, for

example, only 107 (or 30 percent) experienced net in-migration during the 1980s. Many 

isolated rural counties are located well beyond the economic influence of major

metropolitan employment centers (Matthews 1999). Indeed, only 18 percent of

Appalachia’s completely rural counties that are nonadjacent to metropolitan counties

experienced net in-migration during the 1980s. Migration patterns in the Appalachian 

region have clearly favored metropolitan cities and regions at the expense of smaller

nonmetropolitan counties and rural communities.

In fact, 83 percent of the region’s metropolitan counties located at the fringe of

central city counties of 1 million population or more experienced net in-migration

(Matthews 1999). These economically prosperous Appalachian cities and suburbs no 

longer share the chronically depressed conditions that have plagued many isolated rural

U.S. counties for decades. The statistical evidence of spatial convergence in economic

and social indicators between Appalachia and the rest of the nation, however, can leave

the mistaken impression of widespread economic progress. Optimistic regional averages

hide tremendous variation in economic conditions and associated migration patterns

found throughout Appalachia. Many Appalachia rural counties continue to lose

population through heavy out-migration. These demographic trends largely reflect a
5

continuing lack of economic development and job growth, especially new employment

that pays a living wage. And while Appalachia’s poverty rate was only slightly higher

than the nation’s in the mid-1990s, for the first time on record, the number of distressed 

counties in Appalachia actually grew by nearly 50 percent between 1980 and 1990

(Applied Population Laboratory 2000). Only 21 counties were declassified as

“distressed” counties between 1988 and 1995 (Glasmeier and Fuelhart 2000).

Historically, out-migration from rural America overall has been highly selective

on a number of migrant characteristics, including age and education (Lichter et al. 1995).

During the 1985-90 period, for example, Matthews (1999) showed that Appalachia

experienced modest in-migration of young adults—those in the prime reproductive ages

who help replenish aging populations and provide hope for the future. This new pattern 

of net in-migration of young adults, however, was concentrated almost entirely in the

southern Appalachian subregion and in counties classified as “competitive” and 

“attainment” in ARC distress code. Both northern and central Appalachia lost young

adults and their children to net out-migration, as did counties classified by the

Appalachian Regional Commission as “distressed.” The counties with net out-migration

of young adults also experienced net out-migration of persons with a college education or

more, while attracting more in-migrants with less than a high school education than they 

exported (Matthews 1999).

Such geographic disparities in migration flows and the characteristics of recent

migrants have arguably exacerbated spatial economic inequality in Appalachia. Net outmigration rates in some counties were exceptionally high (Matthews 1999). McDowell

County, W. Va., for example, lost about 25 percent of its young adult population, on 
6

balance, as a result of the surfeit of out-migration over in-migration. The county also 

experienced a net out-migration rate among college-educated persons of 29 percent. At

the other extreme, Gwinnett County, an affluent suburban county outside of Atlanta,

experienced net in-migration of young adults of 41 percent and had a net inflow of more

than 27,000 college-educated persons (or 48.6 per 100 population). These results alone

clearly dramatize the exceptional variability of trends in economic conditions—and 

prospects for the future—within the Appalachian region. The results also have raised 

important policy questions concerning migration patterns in Appalachia over the ensuing 

period of the 1990s, when the nation experienced unprecedented job growth and low

unemployment. Have Appalachia’s historically disadvantaged rural areas experienced a

new economic prosperity that is reflected in greater retention of its young people and the

ability to attract new workers from outside the region?

Appalachia Out-migration in the 1990s: A Period of Transition?

Early results from the 2000 Census indicated that the region’s general patterns of

population in the 1980s continued into the 1990s. For example, as in the 1980s,

Appalachia’s population grew somewhat more slowly (at 9 percent) than the nation as a

whole (at 14 percent) during 1990-2000 (Pollard 2003). Moreover, the southern 

subregion of Appalachia had a rate of population growth (18 percent) that exceeded the

growth rate for the rest of the country. Population growth was especially rapid in

Appalachian Georgia (43 percent), reflecting the economic influence of nearby Atlanta

and Fulton County. Appalachia’s metropolitan counties also grew slightly more rapidly
7

than its nonmetropolitan counties (9.5 versus 8.6 percent), indicating a pattern of

population concentration or continuing urbanization within the region.

Population Change in the 1990s and Beyond. In this report, we build on 

Pollard’s (2003) census analysis of population change in Appalachia by disaggregating

population change into its demographic components—natural increase (i.e., births minus

deaths) and net migration (i.e., in- minus out-migration)—in Appalachia for the 1990-

1999 and 2000-2002 periods. For our purposes, we use annual population estimates

provided by the Census Bureau’s Federal State Cooperative Program for Population

Estimates (see U.S Census Bureau 2004).

2 To make appropriate annual comparisons

between 1990-1999 (a nine-year period) and 2000-2002 (a two- year period), we

calculated annualized population growth rates.

3 These estimates, like other recent

analyses based on decennial census counts, indicate that population increased less rapidly 

in Appalachia (0.74 percent per annum) than in the rest of the nation (1.06 percent per

annum) during the 1990s (see Table 1, page 8). Moreover, the resurgence of population 

growth in Appalachia, first revealed in the 1990s, continued into the early 2000s but at a

slightly lower rate than the preceding decade. During 2000-2002, the Appalachia

 2 Reliable data are not available for the 1999-2000 period because the July 1, 2000 estimates were

benchmarked to the 2000 Census population results, which exceeded counts based on pre-2000 estimates.

(Estimates for previous years during the 1990s had been benchmarked to the 1990 Census population

results.) Our analysis therefore underestimates the absolute level of population change but not comparative

patterns of population change between Appalachia and the rest of the nation. Indeed, for the 1990-1999

period, the Census Bureau’s estimates suggest that population in the United States increased by 23.2

million people. The 2000 Census indicates that population increased by 32.7 million.

3 Annualized net migration rates are calculated as follows:

(net migrationt(1) . . . t(1)+n)/ [(populationt1)(n)]100,

where t(1) is time 1 and n is the number of years. Population changes measured over longer periods are, by

definition, more likely to experience larger population changes, hence the need to standardize the metric for

comparison by annualizing population change.
8

population increased at roughly one-half the growth rate as the rest of the nation (0.62 vs.

1.13 percent per annum).

This analysis of population growth rates provides a first step towards a better

understanding of population redistribution in Appalachia, but it does not reveal much 

information about emerging migration patterns that fuel population growth, the

sociodemographic characteristics of the people who moved into or out of Appalachian 

counties, or the origins and destinations of Appalachia’s recent migrants. We now turn to

these issues.

Demographic Components of Population Change. Population growth reflects

both natural increase and net migration. The vital registration data compiled by the U.S.

Census Bureau’s population estimates and projections program and reported in Table 2 

suggest that the Appalachian population experienced a significant upsurge in population

growth in the 1990s—a growth that continued into the early 2000s (see Table 2, page 9).

Table 1

Population growth and annualized growth rate (percent), United States and

Appalachia, 1990-1999 and 2000-2002

UNITED STATES APPALACHIA NON-APPALACHIAN

U.S. PERIOD

Population

growth Rate

Population

growth Rate

Population

growth Rate

1990-1999 23,226,417 1.03 1,400,474 0.74 21,825,943 1.06

2000-2002 6,144,350 1.09 282,239 0.62 5,862,111 1.13

1990-2002 38,904,302 1.30 2,194,299 0.87 36,710,003 1.34

NOTE: Estimates of 1999-2000 data are not available (see footnote 2).

Source: U.S. Census Bureau.
9

Unlike the 1980s, when the population of Appalachia increased by less than 

400,000 people and experienced net out-migration (McLaughlin et al. 1999), the 1990s

and early 2000s were a period of unprecedented growth. During the first nine years of the

1990s, for example, the Census Bureau’s population estimates indicated that Appalachia

increased by 1.4 million people. It increased by nearly 300,000 between 2000 and 2002.

Moreover, unlike the 1980s, when Appalachia grew only because of natural increase,

population growth in Appalachia during the 1990s and early 2000s was fueled primarily

by in-migration rather than natural increase. Indeed, during the 1990s, over 60 percent of

the growth in Appalachia was due to net in-migration—the excess of in-migrants over

out-migrants.

Figure 1 (page 10) presents the annual components of population change (net

migration and natural increase) in Appalachia for 1990-99. Appalachia grew during each 

year between 1990 and 1999, reaching its peak annual population growth of 194,926

persons during 1992-93. Moreover, net in-migration to the region outstripped natural

increase as a source of population growth each year. The high point for natural increase

was the first year of the decade (1990-91), when Appalachia experienced 83,406 more

Table 2

Components of population change in Appalachia

1990-1999 and 2000-2002

PERIOD NATURAL

INCREASE NET MIGRATION TOTAL CHANGE

1990-1999 535,039 887,772 1,400,474

2000-2002 88,245 198,178 282,239

NOTE: Estimates of 1999-2000 data are not available (see footnote 2).

Source: U.S. Census Bureau.
10

Figure 1

Components of Population Change in Appalachia, 1990-1999

0

50,000

100,000

150,000

200,000

250,000

1990-91 1991-92 1992-93 1993-94 1994-95 1995-96 1996-97 1997-98 1998-99

Net migration Natural increase Total change

Source: U.S. Census Bureau.

births than deaths. Thereafter, the trend in natural increase leveled off at approximately 

50,000 annually from 1995 through 1999. Net migration followed a pattern similar to that

of the total population change, peaking in 1992-93 before slowly declining throughout

the rest of the decade.

To briefly summarize, net migration rates of Appalachia were positive in the

1990s for the first time in decades, reflecting the new balance of in- and out-migration

with the rest of the nation. Moreover, in some additional analysis (not shown), we
11

examined the county-to-county migration flow data from the 2000 Census.

4 Here, intercounty migration is measured using the 5-year retrospective question about place of

residence 5 years ago (i.e., in 1995). By comparing current residence with residence 5 

years ago, we can measure migration flows between counties within Appalachia and 

between Appalachia and counties in the rest of the nation. This analysis indicated that

1.73 million Appalachian residents—almost 10 percent of the region’s population—

moved from the Appalachian region to the non-Appalachian United States. Out-migration 

from the region was offset by 2.06 million in-migrants into Appalachia from the rest of

the nation.

This means that Appalachia experienced a net migrant gain of roughly 330,000 

persons in the exchange of population with the rest of the nation over the 1995-2000 

period.5 This new development is significant and reinforces the results presented earlier

using net migration rates based on the residual approach from vital statistics data (i.e.,

population change minus natural increase over the decade). At the same, Appalachian-tonon-Appalachian in-migration rates continue to exceed non-Appalachia-to-Appalachia

out-migration rates. In fact, of Appalachia’s inter-county movers during 1995-2000, only

a slight majority share moved to a county outside Appalachia rather than to another

Appalachian county (1.73 million versus 1.54 million).

 4 These data are identified as “Census 2000 Migration Data, Census of Population and Housing,” and were

issued by the U.S. Census Bureau in October 2003. The mobility data come from Census 2000 long-form

data on the “residence 5-years-ago” question. Along with gross and net migration data for various levels of

geography, these data also include county-to-county migration flow data for counties by a limited number

of selected characteristics.

5 This estimate is slightly less than one-half the estimate based on the Census Bureau’s annual estimates for

1990-99 (see Table 1).
12

New Patterns of Migration. During the 1990s, the annual net migration rate in

Appalachia was 0.47 percent, or 4.7 persons per 1,000 population per annum. This rate

exceeded the net migration rate for the rest of the nation, even though the nation’s

population growth rate in the 1990s was more rapid than in Appalachia. During the first

two years of the 2000s, however, Appalachia returned to the familiar pattern of net

migration rates that were lower than the rest of the nation (see Table 3).

The new in-migration to Appalachia has not been limited to a narrow segment of

Appalachia’s most prosperous subregions or counties. During the 1980s, the large

majority of Appalachia counties experienced net out-migration (McLaughlin et al. 1999).

But this pattern dramatically reversed itself during the 1990s, when roughly four out of

every five Appalachian counties experienced population growth, and three-quarters

experienced net in-migration (see Table 4, page 13). Although these percentages declined 

modestly in the early 2000s, nearly two-thirds of all Appalachian counties still grew or

increased through positive net migration. Obviously, if the upsurge in population growth

Table 3

Net migration and annualized net migration rate (percent), United States and

Appalachia, 1990-1999 and 2000-2002

UNITED STATES APPALACHIA NON-APPALACHIAN U.S

PERIOD Net

migration

Rate

Net

migration

Rate

Net

migration

Rate

1990-1999 7,306,765 0.33 887,772 0.47 6,418,993 0.31

2000-2002 2,905,530 0.51 198,178 0.43 3,055,792 0.52

NOTE: Estimates of 1999-2000 data are not available (see footnote 2). U.S. net migration reflects only international

migration; Appalachian and non-Appalachian figures reflect both net domestic and international migration.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau.
13

and migration rates is our guide, then recent demographic trends in Appalachia are cause

for new optimism about Appalachia’s future.

Finally, immigration has been an important source of population growth in the

United States over the past 25 years (Kritz and Gurak 2004). But this dynamic is arguably 

less true of Appalachia. Data presented in Figure 2 (page 14) clearly show that a shift

from net out-migration to net in-migration largely reflects in-migration from outside the

Appalachia region rather than from abroad. Throughout the 1990s, immigration rates into

Appalachia were much lower than for the rest of the nation. Immigrants, especially 

Asians and those of Mexican origin, continued to be concentrated largely in so-called 

“gateway cities” such as New York City, Los Angeles, Miami, and other large

metropolitan areas. Appalachia historically has not been a major regional destination for

new immigrants (although some parts of the Carolinas and northern Georgia are

exceptions), and there is little evidence that this pattern changed significantly in the

1990s. In fact, the foreign-born population in Appalachia in 2000 represented only 2.7 

percent of its population (data not shown). This percentage falls far short of the

Table 4

Number and percent of counties experiencing positive growth

and net in-migration in Appalachia, 1990-1999 and 2000-2002

1990-1999 2000-2002

Number of

counties

Percent Number of

counties

Percent

Population growth 329 80.2 263 64.1

Net in-migration 307 74.9 261 63.7

NOTE: There are 410 counties in Appalachia. Estimates of 1999-2000 data are not

available (see footnote 2).

Source: U.S. Census Bureau.
14

Figure 2

Net international migration rate (percent), United States, Appalachia, and nonAppalachian United States, 1990-1999

0.00

0.05

0.10

0.15

0.20

0.25

0.30

0.35

0.40

0.45

1990-91 1991-92 1992-93 1993-94 1994-95 1995-96 1996-97 1997-98 1998-99

Percent

Appalachia

UNITED STATES

Non-Appalachian U.S.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau.

percentage of U.S. total population that is foreign-born—11.1 percent, or 31.1 million 

(Malone et al. 2003).

Geographic Variation in Appalachian Growth and Migration

Regional Growth Disparities. A recurring theme of our analyses is that

population and migration rates for the entire region mask widespread variation in trends

in population change across the subregions of Appalachia. For example, the data in

Table 5 (page 15) clearly demonstrate that the Appalachia’s southern subregion grew

much faster than either northern or central Appalachia. Indeed, the annual growth rate in
15

Figure 3

Population change in Appalachian, Non-Appalachian United States, and

Appalachian subregions, 1990-1999

-0.5

0.0

0.5

1.0

1.5

2.0

1990-91 1991-92 1992-93 1993-94 1994-95 1995-96 1996-97 1997-98 1998-99

Percent

Southern Appalachia

Non-Appalachian U.S.

UNITED STATES

Appalachia

Central Appalachia

Northern Appalachia

Source: U.S. Census Bureau.

southern Appalachia exceeded rates for the nation overall and the non-Appalachian 

United States (Figure 3).

Table 5

Annualized population growth rate (percent) and net county migration rate, by

subregion, 1990-2000 and 2000-2002

GROWTH RATE NET MIGRATION RATE

PERIOD Northern

Appalachia

Central

Appalachia

Southern

Appalachia

Northern

Appalachia

Central

Appalachia

Southern

Appalachia

1990-1999 0.06 0.54 1.53 -0.02 0.34 1.04

2000-2002 -0.02 0.20 1.30 0.02 0.18 0.87

NOTE: Estimates of 1999-2000 data are not available (see footnote 2).

Source: U.S. Census Bureau.
16

Figure 4

Percent population change, Appalachian counties

1990-2000

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2000 census.

In contrast, central Appalachian counties grew at the sluggish rate of just over

one-half percent per year during the 1990s. Still, this rate (0.54 percent annually on 

average) was roughly nine times the annual rate of population growth in northern 

Appalachia over the same period (0.06 percent). More significantly, the northern 

Appalachian subregion reverted to population decline in the early 2000s (-0.02 percent

per annum). The annual population growth rate of central Appalachian counties also 

slowed significantly in the early 2000s (0.20 percent residents per year). In Figure 4, the

regional map of Appalachia population change clearly illustrates this point.
17

Significantly, most of the Appalachian parts of the 13 states comprising the region

experienced net in-migration (see Table 6). Only Appalachian New York and 

Pennsylvania experienced net out-migration in the 1990s, and Appalachian Mississippi

and West Virginia in the early 2000s. The regional upsurge in population growth and net

migration also has been geographically widespread. However, 10 of the 13 states

experienced slower annualized growth from net migration in the early 2000s than in the

1990s. Appalachian Georgia continued to experience much higher rates of net migration

(2.73 percent per annum in the 2000s) than other states in the Appalachian region or

Table 6

Annualized population growth rate (percent) and net migration

rate (percent), Appalachian regions, by state

1990-1999 and 2000-2002

1990-1999 2000-2002

STATE

Growth rate

Net

migration

rate

Growth rate

Net

migration

rate

Alabama 0.95 0.42 0.48 0.14

Georgia 3.86 2.90 3.72 2.73

Kentucky 0.65 0.34 0.35 0.23

Maryland 0.17 0.00 0.33 0.33

Mississippi 0.63 0.15 0.12 -0.40

New York -0.26 -0.49 0.06 0.02

North Carolina 1.23 0.99 0.90 0.69

Ohio 0.73 0.42 0.31 0.08

Pennsylvania -0.06 -0.08 -0.12 0.00

South Carolina 1.29 0.82 1.15 0.77

Tennessee 1.24 0.94 0.73 0.58

Virginia 0.16 0.13 -0.06 0.03

West Virginia 0.09 0.05 -0.15 -0.06

NOTE: Estimates of 1999-2000 data are not available (see footnote 2).

Source: U.S. Census Bureau.
18

Figure 5

Net migration rates, Appalachian counties

1995-2000

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2000 census.

Appalachia as a whole (0.47 percent; see Table 3, page 12). Geographic diversity in

migration patterns can perhaps be seen most easily in Figure 5, which maps county net

migration rates in the Appalachia region during 1995-2000.

Migration Patterns in Nonmetropolitan and Distressed Counties. Nationwide,

nonmetropolitan counties experienced net in-migration of 3.5 million people at the

expense of metropolitan areas during the 1990s (Johnson 1999). This trend represented a

clear departure from the 1980s, when nonmetropolitan U.S. counties lost a total 1.4 

million people through out-migration, and only 27 percent of these counties experienced 

net in-migration. During the 1990s, however, almost 70 percent of nonmetropolitan U.S.
19

counties gained population through net in-migration (Johnson 1999), although the rural

rebound has slowed somewhat in recent years (McGranahan and Beale 2002).

In general, nonmetropolitan counties in Appalachia have experienced migration

patterns similar to the nation’s (see Table 7). During the 1990s, nometropolitan areas

(defined in 1999) experienced an annualized net migration rate of 0.49 percent per

annum, compared with a rate of 0.46 percent in metropolitan areas. This rate represents a

significant change from the 1980s, when nonmetropolitan Appalachia lost 410,000

persons to out-migration to metropolitan areas (McLaughlin et al. 1999). By the

beginning of the 21stcentury, however, Appalachia returned to its historic pattern of more

rapid net in-migration in metropolitan than nonmetropolitan areas (0.53 percent versus

0.30 percent per annum).

Previous research suggests that population growth and migration rates—both in 

Appalachia and elsewhere—are strongly affected by economic conditions (Applied

Population Laboratory 2000). The data reported in Table 8 highlight once again the

significance of local economic conditions; indeed, growth rates and net migration rates

Table 7

Annualized net migration rate (percent) in

metropolitan and nonmetropolitan Appalachia,

1990-1999 and 2000-2002

1990-1999 2000-2002

Metropolitan Appalachia 0.46 0.53

Nonmetropolitan Appalachia 0.49 0.30

Total Appalachian Region 0.47 0.43

NOTE: Estimates of 1999-2000 data are not available (see footnote 2).

Source: U.S. Census Bureau.
20

vary widely across counties distinguished by the county distress codes assigned by ARC.

Every year the economic status of each county in the Appalachian region is assessed, and 

each county is assigned to one of four economic categories, listed here in order from

lowest to highest well-being: distressed, transitional, competitive, and attainment. This

typology is based on the county’s poverty rate, unemployment rate, and per capita

income (Appalachian Regional Commission 2004b).

In Table 8, Appalachia’s competitive counties had the highest growth and net

migration rates in the region for both the 1990-1999 and 2000-2002 periods.

6 From 1990-

1999, the growth rate for competitive counties was 1.7 percent, and the net migration rate

was 1.05 percent. In the 2000-2002 period, the growth rate for these counties was 1.8

percent and the migration rate was 1.2 percent, slightly higher than the previous period.

 6 As before, these analyses are based on annual population and migration estimates from the U.S. Census

Bureau’s Federal State Cooperative Program for Population Estimates.

Table 8

Annualized population growth rate (percent) and net migration

rate (percent), Appalachia, by distress level

1990-1999 and 2000-2002

1990-1999 2000-2002

DISTRESS LEVEL

Growth rate

Net

migration

rate

Growth rate

Net

migration

rate

Attainment 1.15 0.71 1.44 0.96

Competitive 1.70 1.05 1.77 1.25

Transitional 0.61 0.40 0.39 0.30

Distressed 0.33 0.16 -0.07 -0.12

NOTE: Estimates of 1999-2000 data are not available (see footnote 2).

Source: U.S. Census Bureau.
21

True to historical norms, distressed counties experienced the least amount of growth and 

net migration in Appalachia: They grew by only 0.3 percent annually from 1990-1999,

while experiencing a net migration rate of only 0.2 percent for the period. From 2000-

2002, the growth rate and the net migration rate were slightly negative, both at –0.1

percent per annum.

These results are reinforced in Table 9, which provides the number and

percentage of counties experiencing population growth and net in-migration for

Appalachian counties classified using the ARC’s distress code. As expected, the

competitive and attainment counties had the highest percent of counties with positive

growth and net in-migration, while the distressed and transitional counties had the lowest

percent. Significantly, the distressed and transitional counties also experienced declines

in the percent of counties experiencing positive growth and net in-migration from the

Table 9

Number and percent of counties experiencing positive growth and net inmigration in Appalachia, 1990-1999 and 2000-2002

1990-1999 2000-2002

DISTRESS LEVEL GROWTH /

MIGRATION Number of

counties

Percent of

counties

Number of

counties

Percent of

counties

Population growth 8 88.9 8 88.9

Attainment

Net in-migration 8 88.9 7 77.8

Population growth 19 90.5 20 95.2

Competitive

Net in-migration 19 90.5 19 90.5

Population growth 209 80.7 174 67.2

Transitional

Net in-migration 199 76.8 171 66.0

Population growth 93 76.9 61 50.4

Distressed

Net in-migration 81 66.9 64 52.9

NOTE: Estimates of 1999-2000 data are not available (see footnote 2).

Source: U.S. Census Bureau.
22

1990-1999 period to the 2000-2002 period. For 1990-1999, 76.9 percent of distressed 

counties had positive population growth. But from 2000-2002, only 50.4 percent of

distressed counties saw their populations increase. For transitional and (especially)

distressed counties in Appalachia, the prospect of continuing out-migration and

population loss in the future is large.

Migration Streams Within and Between Appalachia and the Nation

Migration Streams. The preceding analyses of county net migration rates reveal

little about the magnitude of in- and out-migration or about the origins of in-migrants or

destinations of out-migrants. To examine such issues, we must turn to the Census

Bureau’s county-to-county migration file, which documents migration flows between 

Appalachia and the rest of the country (Table 10, page 23). These data indicate that 1.7

million people left Appalachia between 1995 and 2000, and 2.1 million moved into

Appalachia. Although Appalachia experienced net in-migration of only 0.4 million

people during 1995-2000, this figure resulted from a great deal of “churning” among 

inter-regional migrants (i.e., nearly 4 million moved between Appalachian and nonAppalachian counties). Appalachian migration therefore is inefficient if measured by the

net redistribution of population from one region to another.

The bottom panel of Table 10 (page 23) also provides data on population flows

between the Appalachian subregions and the rest of the country. Not surprisingly, the

southern Appalachian region was the modal destination for immigrants to Appalachia.

Over 1.2 million people moved into the southern region from the non-Appalachian 

United States, while 808,000 moved from southern Appalachia to a non-Appalachian 
23

county. Net in-migration in southern Appalachia from outside of Appalachia contrasts

sharply with patterns in northern and central Appalachian regions. For example, the

northern subregion experienced in-migration of 701,000 people from outside of

Appalachia, while losing even more people—nearly 796,000—to other regions of the

Table 10

Migration streams within and between Appalachian and nonAppalachian counties, 1995-2000

RESIDENCE IN 2000 RESIDENCE IN 1995 MIGRANT

STREAM

Appalachian Region

Outside Appalachia 41,910,920 Outside Appalachia

Appalachia 1,732,484

Outside Appalachia 2,057,900

Appalachia

Appalachia 1,539,173

Subregions

Outside Appalachia 41,910,920

Central Appalachia 129,319

Northern Appalachia 795,510

Outside Appalachia

Southern Appalachia 807,655

Outside Appalachia 153,518

Central Appalachia 104,423

Northern Appalachia 17,328

Central Appalachia

Southern Appalachia 26,951

Outside Appalachia 701,388

Central Appalachia 17,209

Northern Appalachia 576,574

Northern Appalachia

Southern Appalachia 13,548

Outside Appalachia 1,202,994

Central Appalachia 36,999

Northern Appalachia 26,268

Southern Appalachia

Southern Appalachia 719,873

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2000 census.
24

country. Unexpectedly, the central subregion—traditionally the poorest and most

economically underdeveloped in Appalachia—gained also 154,000 person from nonAppalachia areas, while losing only 129,000 to non-Appalachian areas. Although the

exchange of migrants between the central and northern subregions was roughly equal

(17,000), about 10,000 more people left central Appalachia for the southern subregion 

between 1995 and 2000 than arrived from the South. About 13,000 more Appalachians

moved from the northern subregion to the southern subregion than its counter-stream.

Clearly, inter- and intra-regional migration streams were most supportive of population 

growth in the southern Appalachian counties and less supportive in northern Appalachia.

For illustrative purposes, we also examined migration flows for some specific

cases—Appalachian counties with the highest volume of net out-migration or net inmigration during the period 1995-2000. These data are reported in Table 11 (page 25).

All but two of the top 10 counties with the highest volume of net in-migration were

located in the southern Appalachian subregion. In contrast, all 10 of the population losers

except one (Jefferson County, Ala.) were located in the Appalachia’s northern region. In

the last column of Table 11, we also report median family income in 1999 for the

counties. These data point to a familiar conclusion: Counties with net out-migration

typically have substantially lower median family income than counties that experienced 

net in-migration during the 1995-2000 period. These income differences can be very

large. For instance, the median family income in Forsyth County, Ga., was $74,003, and 

Forsyth County had a very high rate of net in-migration—roughly 275 per 1000

population from 1995 to 2000. These figures compares with a median family income of

$39,318 and a net migration rate of -70.61 in Cattaraugus County, N.Y.
25

It is difficult to generalize about the destinations of out-migrants from high outmigration counties in Appalachia. As one example, the map in Figure 6 (page 26)

Table 11

Appalachian counties with the highest net in- and out-migration flows, 1995-2000

HIGH NET IN-MIGRATION Inflow Outflow Net flow

Rate

(per

1,000

persons)

Metropolitan

Status1

Median

Family

Income,

1999

(dollars)

2

Gwinnett County, Ga. 177,381 113,548 63,833 108.5 Metropolitan 66,693

Forsyth County, Ga. 40,199 13,066 27,133 275.7 Metropolitan 74,003

Cherokee County, Ga. 45,737 24,557 21,180 149.3 Metropolitan 66,419

Shelby County, Ala. 42,761 22,806 19,955 139.3 Metropolitan 64,105

Paulding County, Ga. 28,296 12,041 16,255 199.0 Metropolitan 56,039

Greenville County, S.C. 72,579 57,276 15,303 40.3 Metropolitan 50,332

Centre County, Pa. 41,632 28,895 12,737 93.8 Metropolitan 50,557

Monroe County, Pa. 34,070 21,963 12,107 87.3 Nonmetropolitan 51,995

Montgomery County, Va. 38,600 27,176 11,424 136.6 Nonmetropolitan 47,239

Hall County, Ga. 26,887 17,596 9,291 66.7 Nonmetropolitan 50,100

HIGH NET OUT-MIGRATION Inflow Outflow Net flow

Rate

(per

1,000

persons)

Metropolitan

Status1

Median

Family

Income,

1999

(dollars)

Allegheny County, Pa. 113,490 161,247 -47,757 -37.3 Metropolitan 49,815

Jefferson County, Ala. 77,674 99,591 -21,917 -33.1 Metropolitan 45,951

Cortland County, N.Y. 8,870 18,357 -9,487 -195.2 Nonmetropolitan 42,204

Broome County, N.Y. 26,322 35,580 -9,258 -46.2 Metropolitan 45,422

Kanawha County, W.Va. 21,529 29,939 -8,410 -42.0 Metropolitan 42,568

Chenango County, N.Y. 6,641 12,583 -5,942 -115.6 Nonmetropolitan 39,711

Cattaraugus County, N.Y. 11,136 17,064 -5,928 -70.6 Nonmetropolitan 39,318

Steuben County, N.Y. 11,614 17,163 -5,549 -56.2 Nonmetropolitan 41,940

Westmoreland County, Pa. 38,152 43,494 -5,342 -14.4 Metropolitan 45,996

Beaver County, Pa. 16,937 22,191 -5,254 -29.0 Metropolitan 45,495

NOTES: 1 Metropolitan areas contain an urban core of at least 50,000 population, plus surrounding areas with strong

economic ties to the core. 2 The median family income for Montgomery County, Va., does not include Radford city (where the median family

income was $46,332).

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2000 census.
26

Figure 6

Total migration from Allegheny County, Pa., to other U.S. counties

1995-2000

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2000 census.

illustrates the destination locations of the 47,757 out-migrants from Allegheny County 

(Pittsburgh, Pa.) to other parts of the country. Much of the out-migration was into

surrounding counties and to other parts of Pennsylvania (a pattern consistent with 

“gravity models,” which population geographers use to suggest that population is drawn 

like the force of gravity to larger cities and regions). On the other hand, southern 

California and Florida also were destinations for these out-migrants.

While the destinations of out-migrants are relatively concentrated, the origin of

in-migrants to high net in-migration counties is geographically diffuse. Gwinnett County,

Ga., for example, is a metropolitan fringe county adjacent to Fulton County (Atlanta).
27

Figure 7

Total migration to Gwinnett County, Ga., from other U.S. counties

1995-2000

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2000 census.

The origins of the 177,000 in-migrants to Gwinnett County between 1995 and 2000 were

dominated by Atlanta but also scattered widely throughout the country (see Figure 7).

Migration of College Educated Population. As we have shown, Appalachia as a

region experienced net in-migration during the 1995-2000 period. Moreover, the region 

(particularly in the southern tier of Appalachian counties) grew at the expense of nonAppalachia counties. However, as shown in Table 12 (page 28), Appalachia nevertheless

continued to lose its most highly educated population to non-Appalachia counties.

Indeed, about 25,000 more people with college or graduate degrees left the Appalachian 
28

region than entered it between 

1995 and 2000. Appalachia

experienced net in-migration of

all lower-educated population

groups—i.e., those lacking a

college degree. For the region, all

of the positive net migration 

during the 1995-2000 period is

accounted for by in-flows of the

least educated. Clearly, the positive quantitative shifts in the volume of migration have

not been matched by qualitative shifts in the flow of human resources into the

Appalachian region.

At the same time, the geographic distribution of Appalachian net in-migration of

the college educated was uneven (see Figure 8, page 29). Not surprisingly, rapid rates of

net in-migration of the college educated occurred primarily in the southern Appalachian 

region. On the other hand, much of New York and Pennsylvania (as well as southwestern 

West Virginia and eastern Kentucky) experienced high rates of in-migration of the

college-educated. Table 13 (page 30) shows the Appalachia counties with the highest

rates of net in-migration and net out-migration of the college-educated population.

Gwinnett County, Ga., was a high net in-migration county overall, and also was the most

common destination in the region for highly educated in-migrants. Of the 177,381 inmigrants to this county between 1995 and 2000, 47,579 (or 28 percent) had a college

degree or more.

Table 12

Appalachian net internal migration, by

education, 1995-2000

HIGHEST EDUCATION LEVEL NET

MIGRATION

Less than high school diploma 46,468

High school graduate 85,993

Some college, no degree 69,902

Associate degree 14,336

Bachelor’s degree -19,359

Graduate or professional degree -6,402

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2000 census.
29

Figure 8

Net migration rates for persons ages 25 and over with a

college degree or more, Appalachian counties, 1995-2000

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2000 census.

Among high net out-migration counties, Allegheny County experienced outmigration of 55,112 college-educated persons, or 34 percent of the county’s 161,247 total

out-migrants. The out-migration from Allegheny is heavily concentrated in adjacent

metropolitan and nonmetropolitan counties (see Figure 9, page 31). In other words, this

pattern reflects the suburbanization of affluent people to the Pittsburgh suburbs and

exurbs. Their destinations also included other regions with burgeoning employment

opportunities, such as Southern California, the eastern seaboard states, and Florida.

Gwinnett County, Ga., a suburban county next to Atlanta, attracted more highly educated 

migrants than any other county in Appalachia, drawing a large number from Fulton 

County (Atlanta) and other parts of the Southeast (see Figure 10, page 32).
30

Table 13

Appalachian counties with the highest net in- and out-migration flows, persons

ages 25 and over with a college education or higher, 1995-2000

HIGH NET IN-MIGRATION Inflow Outflow Net flow

Rate

(per 1,000

persons)

Metropolitan

Status

Gwinnett County, Ga. 47,759 27,598 20,161 34.3 Metropolitan

Forsyth County, Ga. 14,229 2,676 11,553 117.4 Metropolitan

Shelby County, Ala. 15,063 6,810 8,253 57.6 Metropolitan

Cherokee County, Ga. 11,388 4,949 6,439 45.4 Metropolitan

Greenville County, S.C. 17,756 13,254 4,502 11.9 Metropolitan

Buncombe County, N.C. 11,232 7,104 4,128 20.0 Metropolitan

Clermont County, Ohio 8,817 5,309 3,508 19.7 Metropolitan

Butler County, Pa. 7,959 5,101 2,858 16.4 Metropolitan

Henderson County, N.C. 5,025 2,311 2,714 30.4 Nonmetropolitan

Paulding County, Ga. 4,042 1,644 2,398 29.4 Metropolitan

HIGH NET OUT-MIGRATION Inflow Outflow Net flow

Rate

(per 1,000

persons)

Metropolitan

Status

Allegheny County, Pa. 34,160 55,124 -20,964 -16.4 Metropolitan

Montgomery County, Va. 4,853 14,541 -9,688 -97.4 Nonmetropolitan

Centre County, Pa. 7,043 14,746 -7,703 -56.7 Metropolitan

Tompkins County, N.Y. 6,958 14,301 -7,343 -76.1 Nonmetropolitan

Tuscaloosa County, Ala. 4,396 10,512 -6,116 -37.1 Metropolitan

Jefferson County, Ala. 20,676 26,378 -5,702 -8.6 Metropolitan

Broome County, N.Y. 4,328 9,844 -5,516 -27.5 Metropolitan

Athens County, Ohio 2,019 7,297 -5,278 -84.8 Nonmetropolitan

Monongalia County, W.Va. 4,047 8,806 -4,759 -58.1 Nonmetropolitan

Knox County, Tenn. 16,661 20,765 -4,104 -10.7 Metropolitan

NOTE: Metropolitan areas contain an urban core of at least 50,000 population, plus surrounding areas with

strong economic ties to the core.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2000 census.
31

Figure 9

Total migration of college educated persons ages 25 and over from

Allegheny County, Pa., to other U.S. counties, 1995-2000

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2000 census.

Conclusion

The decade of the 1990s ushered in major demographic shifts in the migration

patterns of Appalachia. The historic pattern of net out-migration from Appalachia

reversed in the 1990s. Nonmetropolitan Appalachia—typically the most economically 

depressed areas in the region—also grew at the expense of metropolitan counties in 

Appalachia and the rest of the country. The southern subregion in particular experienced 

rapid in-migration, especially in parts of northern Georgia and the Carolinas.
32

Figure 10

Total migration of college educated persons ages 25 and over to

Gwinnett County, Ga., from other U.S. counties, 1995-2000

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2000 census.

Significantly, out-migration from distressed Appalachian counties also slowed during the

1990s, especially in central Appalachia; and an increasing share of these counties

experienced in-migration after decades of out-migration. Clearly, these are positive signs,

especially if the new growth is a product of income and employment gains in the region.

On the downside, Appalachia—especially the northern subregion—continued 

during the most recent period to experience a net loss of human resources, both in 

quantitative and qualitative terms. Northern Appalachian continued to export population 

(and presumably jobs) to non-Appalachia counties and to the southern Appalachian 
33

subregion. Appalachia’s chronically depressed northern and central subregions also lost a

disproportionate share of their “best and brightest.” The net in-migration these subregions

experienced during the 1990s was largely comprised of less educated populations. Such

results speak to the limited pool of high-skilled work in the region, especially in 

comparison to other parts of the country, while also reinforcing the common perception 

that many parts of Appalachia simple lack the human resources (i.e., the skilled labor

force) required today to attract high tech or high income jobs to the region.

In the final analysis, if out-migration is our measure, Appalachia has made great

progress over the past decade or so. At the same time, much of Appalachia continues to

lag behind the rest of the nation economically, and this gap is directly reflected in the

region’s migration patterns. Clearly, the optimistic picture painted by renewed growth in

Appalachia overall must be balanced by other evidence showing that many parts of

Appalachia have fallen farther behind Appalachian and U.S. averages. Migration patterns

over the past decade indicate that Appalachia may have entered a transitional stage with

an uncertain future. It remains unclear whether recent demographic trends portend 

continuing progress or a return to the past, and whether positive trends in some parts of

Appalachia (e.g., southern Appalachia) are leading indicators that provide hope for other

areas currently left behind.
34

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