Mapping Migration: The Impact of Amenities on Household Relocation

Despite growing emphasis on enhancing quality of life to attract residents as an economic development strategy, there is limited empirical evidence into which specific community characteristics households prioritize over others when making relocation decisions. This study investigates how a broad range of community attributes—identified through the Community Capitals Framework—influence household relocation decisions. Drawing on residential sorting models, this paper conceptualizes relocation as a utility-maximizing decision in which households weigh the expected utility of staying in their current location against that of moving to a new location. Households are assumed to relocate when the expected utility of the new location exceeds the utility of staying. Taking this conceptual framework to data, I model county-to-county migration flows based on differences in wages, housing costs, and local amenities of the destination and origin counties. Preliminary results suggest household migration increases to destination counties with higher broadband adoption, greater ethnic diversity, a higher natural amenity score, and greater voter turnout than the origin county. Migration decreases to destination counties with higher dollars lent locally, a greater labor force participation rate, and more social associations per capita than the origin county. Understanding which community attributes most influence relocation decisions is critical for policymakers and community leaders to effectively target investments that will attract new residents and foster community prosperity.