Home in the hills: rural stayers in the Missouri Ozarks and Nebraska Sandhills

ABSTRACT Drawing on results from online surveys of the mobility of people who grew up in Missouri (2021) and Nebraska (2019), this article situates itself among emerging research on immobile rural populations. By using an immobility prospective, this research draws attention to the most influential factors in an individual’s active, intended, and deliberate decision to stay in two of the most rural regions of the United States: the Missouri Ozarks and the Nebraska Sandhills. The findings of both the Missouri and Nebraska Roots Migration Surveys suggest that deep familial roots and a sense of rurality among those who grow up in rural America bond individuals with their home places and influence their residential decision-making.