Migration and the Spatial Concentration of Poverty

Current Population Survey data are used to estimate the effects of migration of the poor and nonpoor on the spatial concentration of poverty among five categories of counties defined by county poverty rates and, separately, among nonmetropolitan high‐poverty areas, central city high‐poverty areas, and other areas. During the 1981–1984 period studied, migration patterns of both the poor and nonpoor consistently reinforced pre‐existing poverty concentrations. High migration rates of the poor into and out of high poverty counties suggests an equilibrium condition. Implications for theory, research, and policy are discussed. 1995 Rural Sociological Society