Abstract: The thesis inspects family migration and geographical mobility in Finland during the 1990s and early 2000s. The thesis sheds more light on the nature of geographical mobility by identifying the characteristics of migrants and commuters, and by inspecting the consequences of mobility decisions to families and regions. The study consists of four separate articles. The first article deals with the determinants of family migration, separating long and short distance moves, and the second one with the employment consequences of family migration. Migration between urban and rural areas is studied in the third article, and the fourth one examines commuting as an alternative for migration. Keywords: family migration, distance, employment, urban, rural, commuting