B820: Inmigration to Maine: 1975-1983

This publication is the capstone report of a series of research studies, begun in 1976, of inmigration to Maine. During the 1976-1984 period, three separate, but coordinated, studies were conducted by the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Maine Agricultural Experiment Station. The impetus for the studies was the release in 1974 and 1975 of a series of population estimates by the U.S. Bureau of the Census. These data, and especially their analysis by Calvin Beale of the USDA, were confirmation that rural areas throughout the United States were growing as a result of inmigration from urban areas. Moreover, Maine, which had endured net outmigration and slow population growth for many decades, was one of the northern states that was gaining population most rapidly. This knowledge became the basis for the subsequent research. In it we attempted to determine who the migrants were, where they were coming from, and what the consequences were of their movement to Maine, particularly to its rural and small town communities. Maine communities will be affected for years to come by this influx of primarily young adults with high levels of managerial and professional training and experience. In addition to presenting the data from the three studies, the body of this report also explores the consequences of inmigration to Maine.https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/aes_bulletin/1049/thumbnail.jp