Over 14 million Americans migrate from one place to another in an average year. Collectively, these migrants represent a powerful economic force, influencing conditions not only in the places they left behind but also in those to which they moved.
Researchers study migration patterns for three primary reasons.
First, they want to document changes in population in an area that are due to migration. Second, migration researchers want to understand why individuals and their families migrate. Third, migration researchers want to quantify the impact of migration on local economic conditions and human welfare. Businessmen and businesswomen and elected state and local officials have much at stake when people migrate, as discussed in Section I of this text. This chapter on population migration and local labor markets consists of five sections.