I'm not sure I can make sense of the "Gross" figures. The "Net" figures are easy to understand: people have generally moved to key urban areas, being CA, NY, IL

I'm not sure I can make sense of the "Gross" figures. The "Net" figures are easy to understand: people have generally moved to key urban areas, being CA, NY, IL, TX, VA/MD, GA and CO. Compare that to the Net figures from 1940 through 1990, which show a clear migration to the Southern states. But I'm not even sure this is showing what it suggests. Is it simply a proxy for population growth? Or is this thing just a symptom that people in general have a much lower chance of staying in the same state for 31-40 years? I find the notion that people "self-select" into like-minded communities as some sort of "social segregation" baseless, even laughable. The South still has the echoes of slavery and (real) segregation that many have sought to escape. The implication here is that people are abandoning their communities. Are they though? What do they owe these states where they grew up? And are they abandoning such states or essentially being chased away because they simply don't conform to whatever cultural or religious norms dominate there? This seems particular relevant to the smaller and more rural states. Bear in mind that education seems to be a partial antidote to religious dogma [1] in that people with more education tend to express religion less (although this is complicated and Christians seem to somewhat buck this trend). But given the cultural importance of religion in some communities, it seems like your more educated citizens are also more likely to leave, no? 19th century America was one of small, rural towns. With the railroad and homesteading these spread West. What probably began with the Industrial Revolution seemed to turn into a tidal wave of urbanization following the Second World War. Cities are just more efficient at delivering work opportunities. [1] https://www.pewforum.org/2017/04/26/in-america-does-more-education-equal-less-religion/ https://www.pewforum.org/2017/04/26/in-america-does-more-edu...