Immigrant and refugee mobility across the urban–rural continuum in three European countries

International migration has historically been an urban phenomenon. Despite the increasing presence of immigrants in non-urban areas and political initiatives aimed at regionalization, research in Europe continues to exhibit a pronounced urban analytical bias. This paper examines the geographies of immigrant and refugee settlement along the urban–rural continuum in Sweden, Germany, and Switzerland. Using (multistate) event history models, we first examine changes in migration stocks in urban, suburban, and rural municipalities, emphasizing the role of immigrant subgroups in regional population changes. Second, we analyze internal origin–destination flux to enhance our understanding of the spatial adjustment processes of immigrants in the context of new immigrant destinations in Europe. Results suggest that immigrants contribute little to suburbanization and ruralization processes, with both initial settlement and secondary moves predominantly directed toward urban areas. EU and non-EU immigrants exhibit stable trajectories post-arrival; in contrast, refugees subjected to a dispersal policy tend to relocate in significant proportions to urban areas once mobility restrictions are lifted. In the three countries, secondary moves by refugees have resulted in an increased concentration of this population in urban areas, reaching proportions comparable to those of the non-European immigrant group not subjected to this policy. The consistency of this finding across the three countries raises significant questions regarding the effectiveness of the dispersal policy from a demographic perspective. Furthermore, transitions from urban to suburban or rural municipalities remain uncommon and do not demonstrate clear associations with the duration of residence or socioeconomic status, as predicted by the spatial assimilation model.