The Recent Shift of United States Population to Nonmetropolitan Areas, 1970-75

Abstract

Net movement of people into the nonmetropolitan areas of the United States has developed in recent years, reversing a long term trend of out-movement. This new trend is not limited to counties adjacent to metropoli tan areas. The association between 11 demographic, economic, and regional characteristics of nonmetropolitan counties weakened considerably between the 1960-70 and 1970-75 periods, as these areas shifted from a predominant pattern of declining or nearly stationary population to one of growth. Some of the major regions of the country deviate substantially from the national pattern in the factors associated with recent nonmetropolitan change and in the strength of the associations, but the existence of a reversal of trend is very pervasive.