ABSTRACT
Between 1960 and 1970, nonmetropolitan counties lost nearly four million people. But since 1970 these counties have gained approximately three million people. Metropolitanization and suburbanization were thought to be the certain future of the United States and other highly urban-industrial nations. The traditional economic and other gains associated with rural-to-urban migration have diminished, as have the costs associated with urban-to-rural movement. In many nonmetro counties, a rapid expansion of governmental activities at all levels also contributed to population and economic growth. Economic differentials between places have historically been among the most reliable predictors of migration. Migration is affected by changes in a wider variety of conditions associated with local areas. The first indication of that came in 1973 when Calvin Beale reported that hundreds of previously declining rural counties were suddenly showing population and net migration gains.
