RURAL MIGRATION

Over the past century, depopulation has been the primary narrative of rural American life, but a survey of rural ‘in-migration’ shows instances throughout the country where the opposite is true. In researching these trends, we have identified and tracked five mechanisms that have caused rural in-migration over the past half-decade: labor migration, refugee migration, incarceration migration, climate migration, covid/lifestyle migration. These overarching trends show insight into a demographic shift that is redefining the culture and lifestyle of rural America.

Research Collaborators: 2021 Penn Praxis Design Fellows - Alice Bell, Nicole Cheng, Maxwell Johnson, Erin Monroe