Mobility in US – More-educated people moving and less-educated staying

Between 2012 and 2013, more than 26.7 million people age 18 and over moved — 17.3 million of them to a different county. Those in their 20s and 30s with a college degree were most likely to move for job reasons and to move the farthest. In that period, people poured out of declining cities like Detroit, whose population dropped by almost 10,000, and into economic hotspots like San Antonio, which grew by 25,378.

The trend of more-educated people moving and less-educated staying began to emerge several years ago. A Census Bureau study found that more than half of highly educated workers who moved between 2005 and 2010 left their counties. By contrast, 70 percent of people without high school diplomas who moved did so within the same county.

Decades ago, many unskilled workers were able to migrate to better conditions elsewhere. But good blue-collar jobs are now harder to find anywhere.

via As wealth gap widens, educated workers escape the downward pull by leaving their hometowns | Star Tribune.