We studied whether migration influences the relationship between area socioeconomic structure and mortality. We used data on Finns aged 25-64 that are linked to information on proportions of manual workers in 85 functional regions in 1987 and 1997, and on deaths in 1998-2004. Participants aged 25-44 moving to areas with a lower proportion of manual workers had lower mortality and those moving to areas with a higher proportion of manual workers had mortality similar to those residing in these areas at both time points. Among the 45-64-year-olds, all migrants between areas had increased mortality. However, because these mortality differences and the migratory flows were relatively small, their effects on area socioeconomic differences in mortality were also small.