The March 1978 Current Population Survey (CPS) included questions on respondents’ county and city of residence three years earlier, in March of 1975. Comparing residence at these two dates reveals, for the most part, a continuation of major migration patterns observed over the last 5 to 10 years.

For example, internal migration is continuing to shift population out of the Northern States into the South and West. Secondly, the data indicate that more persons moved from metropolitan areas than to them between 1975 and 1978; this pattern was first observed in the early 1970's, and there is no evidence of its reversal. Finally, central cities of metropolitan areas continue, in the aggregate, to have net outmigration. Each of these migration trends is discussed below, emphasizing when they first appeared and paying special attention to differences between Blacks and Whites in patterns of migration. Major migration differentials by age, educational level, and other characteristics are also identified.