A review of a number of studies of intra-urban migration suggests that, for a variety of reasons, most moves are only for short distances and are directed away from the city centre. In-migrants from outside the city generally first reside in the central residential areas, where mobility is greatest, and then move towards the suburbs according to the housing requirements of their families. Five hypotheses relating to these processes are tested on recent data for the Melbourne Metropolitan Area, and all are basically confirmed. Some deviations from the anticipated patterns occur because of marked social and economic variations among in-migrants to the city, however, and while the general patterns are as expected, a considerable portion of the total population is not involved in the migration process.