Higher Wages Are the Primary Reason for Rural-Urban Migration

A Kompas Research and Development (Litbang Kompas) poll has identified several reasons driving people to migrate to cities.

Higher wages in larger cities are the main attraction for 29.2% of respondents to move to the city.

"Undeniably, large cities remain attractive to newcomers seeking better jobs and opportunities," wrote a Kompas Litbang researcher in their report on Wednesday, April 9, 2025.

In line with this, 27.2% of respondents want to move because of the many promising job opportunities in urban areas, and 25.9% of respondents find it difficult to find work in villages.

"The limited choice and job opportunities in villages are a driving factor for people to urbanize," wrote the Kompas Litbang researcher.

Besides economic reasons, the complete facilities in urban areas such as education, health, and other services are reasons for 10.3%.

Other reasons include a more modern and diverse lifestyle (5%), better quality education (2.2%), and the large number of family or relatives living in urban areas (1.6%).

This survey involved 535 respondents from 38 randomly selected provinces, in proportion to the population of each province.

Data collection was conducted from March 17-20, 2025, through telephone interviews. The survey's margin of error is approximately 4.25% with a 95% confidence level, under conditions of simple random sampling.