April 30, 2004
In the 2001, 2002, and 2003 CPS ASEC files, some places of residence one-year ago in metropolitan areas were mistakenly characterized as being nonmetropolitan. These places included, but were not limited to: Scottsdale, AZ; Tempe, AZ; Tucson, AZ; Jacksonville, FL; Miami, FL; Laredo, TX; Midland, TX; Casper, WY; and Cheyenne, WY.
In estimates of movers from these places during the one-year period, the variable for metropolitan area status one-year ago (MIG_PLAC) was coded as a place in a nonmetropolitan rather than metropolitan area. This error carried over to the type-of-move variable (MIG_MTR1) in which moves from those places were classified as nonmetropolitan to metropolitan instead of metropolitan to metropolitan moves. Also, nonmetropolitan to nonmetropolitan were classified as metropolitan to nonmetropolitan moves. This resulted in an overestimation of movers from nonmetropolitan areas and an underestimation of movers from metropolitan areas in the products and tabulations produced from 2001, 2002, and 2003 survey years. The table below shows the changes for the national figures before and after the correction.
The 2003 revised ASEC tables are currently available. We are in the process of correcting the 2001 and 2002 tables which will be made available in the near future.
| Metropolitan Mobility | Revised | Original |
|---|---|---|
| Total people age 1+ years | 282,556 | 282,556 |
| Total non-movers | 242,463 | 242,463 |
| Movers within the same MSA | 22,052 | 21,042 |
| Within the same central city | 7,913 | 7,667 |
| Between central cities | 488 | 301 |
| Between suburbs | 9,334 | 8,993 |
| Central city to suburb | 2,945 | 2,771 |
| Suburb to central city | 1,371 | 1,310 |
| Movers between MSAs | 8,259 | 7,826 |
| Between central cities | 1,713 | 1,607 |
| Between suburbs | 2,934 | 2,776 |
| Central city to suburb | 2,249 | 2,121 |
| Suburb to central city | 1,363 | 1,322 |
| Movers from MSAs to nonmetro areas | 1,707 | 1,657 |
| From central city | 851 | 820 |
| From suburb | 856 | 837 |
| Movers from nonmetro areas to MSAs | 1,957 | 3,400 |
| To central city | 832 | 1,473 |
| To suburb | 1,125 | 1,927 |
| Movers; outside MSAs both dates | 4,849 | 4,899 |
| Nonmetro same county | 3,589 | 3,589 |
| Nonmetro different county | 1,260 | 1,310 |
| Movers from abroad | 1,269 | 1,269 |
| To central cities | 599 | 599 |
| To suburbs | 579 | 579 |
| To nonmetro areas | 91 | 91 |
