Geographic Mobility and Annual Earnings in the United States
Social Security Bulletin. 80(2): 1-24, 2020
24 Pages Posted: 5 Jun 2020
Date Written: May 05, 2020
Abstract
The geographic mobility rate of U.S. workers has declined in recent decades. Labor mobility has historically indicated variations between local areas in earnings and other economic conditions. Because average career earnings determine Social Security retirement benefit levels, changing trends in geographic mobility and earnings may have implications for workers’ future benefits. The author uses administrative data on earnings from the Social Security Administration’s Continuous Work History Sample to examine trends in geographic mobility from 1994 to 2016 and compare the earnings of working-age adults who moved to another county or state with the earnings of those who did not.
Keywords: Labor Mobility, Earnings, Relocation
JEL Classification: D31, J61, J63
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation