Since the late 1990s, the concentration of economic growth has increased in the urban areas of Denmark while peripheral regions of the country struggle with stagnating or decreasing population and increasing unemployment rates. This paper analyses the migration patterns and motives of highly educated people who relocate from urban areas to settle in Denmark's peripheral regions. The study makes a novel empirical contribution to the counter urbanisation literature by using socioeconomic microdata along with interviews to identify trends and motives of counter‐urban migration among highly educated people. The article demonstrates that counter‐urban migration decreases in times of financial crisis, and that the motives for highly educated people to relocate to peripheral areas relate to their preferences for housing conditions, local natural, and social amenities, together with job opportunities. Additionally, age and household composition play important roles in the motives for relocating. While families with children perceive the new location as permanent, the young and newly graduated perceive it as a stepping stone for a future career.