Objectives The question raised here is whether global labor migration has reached its high‐water mark and will not in fact recover its prerecession magnitudes. This study examines this question, and the underlying causes of migration regression, reviewing studies at the international level and carrying out a case study of Jerez municipio, Zacatecas, Mexico. Methods Two surveys in Jerez—of 242 randomly selected households in six towns in 1995, and of 304 households in the same towns in 2009—provide a cross‐section of conditions before and after U.S. economic setbacks beginning around 2000. Results The results point to a reduction in migration to the United States over the period. Furthermore, in the later period, lower fertility, higher educational attainment, and higher household income were all associated with lower levels of active U.S. migration, and income returns to local education were positive, whereas the income returns to U.S. migration were negative. Conclusions The results for Jerez are consistent with trends elsewhere in Mexico and those within leading sending nations globally, and they suggest a regression in future migration from these countries.