The 1930s American Dust Bowl created archetypal “Dust Bowl migrants,” refugees from environmental collapse. I examine this archetype, comparing migration from more-eroded and less-eroded counties to distinguish Dust Bowl migrants from other migrants. Dust Bowl migrants were “negatively selected,” in years of education, compared to other migrants who were “positively selected.” Dust Bowl migrants had lower incomes than natives in their destinations, which is reflected in popular impressions. I estimate strikingly modest impacts of the Dust Bowl on average wage incomes in 1939, however, which contrasts with the Dust Bowl’s large and enduring impacts on agricultural land.

20 世纪 30 年代的美国沙尘暴创造了典型的“沙尘暴移民”，即环境崩溃的难民。我研究了这个原型，比较了来自侵蚀较严重和侵蚀较少县的移民，以区分沙尘暴移民和其他移民。与其他“积极选择”的移民相比，沙尘暴移民的受教育年限是“消极选择”。沙尘暴移民的收入低于目的地当地人，这反映在大众印象中。然而，我估计沙尘暴对 1939 年平均工资收入的影响极其有限，这与沙尘暴对农田的巨大而持久的影响形成鲜明对比。