Using data from the 2000 U.S. and Mexican Censuses, this paper examines the relationship
between migration and marriage patterns by describing how the distributions of marital statuses
and assortative mating patterns vary by individual and community experiences of migration. In
Mexico, migrants and those living in areas with high levels of migration are less likely to marry
a spouse with the same level of education. Return migrants from the U.S. to Mexico may use
their improved economic position to marry up. In the U.S., Mexican migrants are also less likely
to enter into homogamous unions; however, the odds of homogamy do not vary by couple
level of migration. Migrants may expand their pool of potential spouses to include non-migrants
and nonmigrants tend to be better educated than Mexican migrants. With individual migration
experiences, the odds of marrying outside of one’s education group increase the most among the
least educated. With community level of migration in Mexico, the odds of marrying outside of the
group increases the most among the best educated. These findings suggest that preferences for
homogamy are disrupted by migration.