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Work from Home and Interstate Migration

Author

Listed:
  • Bick, Alexander
  • Blandin, Adam
  • Mertens, Karel
  • Rubinton, Hannah

Abstract

Interstate migration by working-age adults in the US declined substantially during the Great Recession and remained subdued through 2019. We document that interstate migration rose sharply following the 2020 Covid-19 outbreak, nearly recovering to pre-Great recession levels, and provide evidence that this reversal was primarily driven by the rise in work from home (WFH). Before the pandemic, interstate migration by WFH workers was consistently 50% higher than for commuters. Since the Covid-19 outbreak, this migration gap persisted while the WFH share tripled. Using quasi-panel data and plausibly exogenous changes in employer WFH policies, we address concerns about omitted variables or reverse causality and conclude that access to WFH induces greater interstate migration. An aggregate accounting exercise suggests that over half of the rise in interstate migration since 2019 can be accounted for by the rise in the WFH share. Moreover, both actual WFH and pre-pandemic WFH potential, based on occupation shares, can account for a sizable share of cross-state variation in migration.

Suggested Citation

  • Bick, Alexander & Blandin, Adam & Mertens, Karel & Rubinton, Hannah, 2024. "Work from Home and Interstate Migration," CEPR Discussion Papers 19101, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    • Handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:19101
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    Cited by:

    1. is not listed on IDEAS
    2. Abi Adams & Oguz Bayraktar & Thomas H. Joergensen & Hamish Low & Alessandra Voena, 2025. "Joint Child Custody and Interstate Migration," CEBI working paper series 25-16, University of Copenhagen. Department of Economics. The Center for Economic Behavior and Inequality (CEBI).
    3. Abi Adams & Oğuz Bayraktar & Thomas H. Jørgensen & Hamish Low & Alessandra Voena, 2025. "Joint Child Custody and Interstate Migration," NBER Working Papers 34571, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. Mert Akan & Jose Maria Barrero & Nicholas Bloom & Thomas Bowen & Shelby R. Buckman & Steven J. Davis & Hyoseul Kim, 2025. "The New Geography of Labor Markets," NBER Working Papers 33582, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. Peter Lambert & Chris Larkin, 2024. "Has work from home shifted the US electoral map?," CEP Occasional Papers 67, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • J61 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Geographic Labor Mobility; Immigrant Workers
    • J11 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Demographic Trends, Macroeconomic Effects, and Forecasts
    • J22 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Time Allocation and Labor Supply
    • R10 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - General
    • O15 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration

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