In an effort to provide conceptual meaning to the role of residential preferences and their influence upon migration behavior in the context of a changing society, data derived from a 1973 statewide survey of Arizona heads of households (a random sample of 1,416 people) were analyzed in terms of: (1) residential preference and spatial proximity to a large city; (2) potential loss of income and a move to a small place; (3) the number of potential migrants to rural areas; and (4) the prospects for population dispersal. Findings indicated: the majority of the respondents preferred places of less than 50,000 in population, but that when conditionals were introduced, preferences for smaller places diminished greatly; the vast majority were satisfied with their present communities and had little or no desire to migrate even though they preferred smaller places; 14% of the respondents were potential migrants; 7% of the respondents were potential migrants from areas larger than 50,000 to smaller areas; the number of people interested in smaller areas decreased as distance from urban area increased and decreased further when the economic conditional of a 10% loss of family income was added; when controlling for potential migrants and nonmigrants, the percentage was further reduced; population dispersal would not take place without the aid of a national policy equalizing social and economic amenities. (JC)