Determinants of elderly interstate migration in the United States, 1985-1990

This article applies a three-level nested legit model to the microdata of the 1990 U.S. census to explain the 1985 to 1990 return and onward interstate migration patterns of the elderly aged 65+ by personal factors and state attributes. The elderly were split into three groups defined by age: 65 to 69, 70 to 74, and 75+. Analysis reveals that both return and onward migrants were sensitive to amenity factors, racial similarity, and the distance decay effect, although return migrants were less affected by the distance decay effect than onward migrants. The motivations for a return or onward migration were also observed to vary with respect to age groups, with amenity effects more important for the young elderly. Several personal characteristics also were found to systematically influence the migration choice process, including level of education and marital status.