The History of America and its urbanization can be directly reflected in the Yancey family - as across the decades more and more Yanceys/Yancys have left largely agricultural production and left rural areas and moved to urban areas - such as Atlanta, Los Angeles, New York and other locations.

Along with the trends to move to urban areas - there are also other trends that one can follow -including some of the following:

• African Americans moving into Northern states after the Civil War and emancipation.  Black Yanceys can be found in large amounts on the East Coast in Pennsylvania, New York and Massachusetts. Among the larhgest US cities - there are more African American Yanceys than white.
• People moving to the West Coast - due to the discovery of gold, and later opportunities for employment 
• People who moved into areas such as Ohio, Minnesota, Georgia, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and various other areas as the government provided land grants to those who were willing to move into new areas. 
• People who moved into area that had become much more hospitable than before -such as Florida as the land was developed and things like air conditioning became common place. 
• People finding it harder and harder to make a living in agriculture and finding other employment opportunities in industry, technology, medicine, and the service industry.
• People who moved to locations due to religious reasons  - such as converts to the Mormon faith who moved Utah.
• One should also consider the impact that immigrants from other countries coming to America overt he decades and how this has changed demographics. 

Some examples of urban/metropolitan areas and the Yanceys who moved there.

Of note is the fact that the areas where early Yanceys were primarily concentrated  were rural areas with no large cities (such as Louisa and Culpeper Countiies in Virginia and Caswell and Granville Counties in North Carolina.)  So even though there are large concnetratins of Yanceys in Virginia, North Carolian and Georgia -  there are few large cities in these areas.  Atlanta, Georgia would seeem to be the city where more than any other, Yanceys have concentrated in over various decades - with concentrations of both white and black Yanceys. 

 The cities listed below are more or less in a clockwise order as to wherre they are located in the USA.

New York City

Region: Nort East
Population in 1900: 5 million
Population in 2000: 18.6 million
Earliest Yancey:
about 1850 - a John Yancey, free mulatto, of uncertain origin
about 1850 - a James & Charlotte Yansey of Virginia, free mulattos.
Yanceys on 1850 Census: 4
Yanceys on 1880 Census: ?
Yanceys on 1910 Census: 34
Yanceys on 1940 Census: 67
Ethnic make-up:  Many African American Yanceys

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

County: 
Region: East
Population in 1900: 1.4 million
Population in 2000: 5.4 million
Earliest Yanceys:
1880 - Ann Yansey (black) born in Virginia about 1854 - occupation:  servant
1880 - Cornelius Yancey (black) born in Virginia about 1868 - occupation "boot black at barber shop"
Yanceys on 1850 Census: 0
Yanceys on 1880 Census: 2
Yanceys on 1910 Census: 49
Yanceys on 1940 Census: 122
Ethnic make-up:  Mostly African American Yanceys

Richmond, Virginia

Region: South East
Population in 1900: 0.085 million
Population in 2000: 0.197 million
Earliest Yanceys:
1850 - Samuel Yancey (white) born in Virginia about 1810
Yancey Households in 1850: 2
Yancey Households in 1880: 49
Yancey Households in 1910: 46
Yancey Households in 1940: 78
Ethnic make-up:  Mixed white / black
 

Raleigh, North Carolina

Region: South East
Population in 1900: 0.013 million
Population in 2000: 0.276 million
Earliest Yanceys:
1830 - Albert Yancey
Yancey Households in 1850: 0
Yancey Households in 1880: 18
Yancey Households in 1910: 34
Yancey Households in 1940: 45
Ethnic make-up:  Mixed white / black

County:  Fulton
Region: South
Population in 1900: 0.1 million
Population in 2000: 4.7 million
Known for:
Earliest Yanceys: 
1871 Simeon P Yancey married in Atlanta
Yanceys on 1850 Census: 0
Yanceys on 1880 Census: 14
Yanceys on 1910 Census: 88
Yanceys on 1940 Census: 204
Ethnic make-up:  About 50% white and 50% African American

Miami, Florida

County: Dade
Region: South East
Population in 1900: 1,681
Population in 2000: 4.9 million
Earliest Yanceys:
John G Yancey (white) - early Miami Resident - 1940's.
Yanceys on 1850 Census: 0
Yanceys on 1880 Census: 0
Yanceys on 1910 Census: 0
Yanceys on 1940 Census: 35
Ethnic make-up:  Mixed white / black 

Montgomery, Alabama

County: Montgomery
Region: South
Population in 1900: 0.03 million
Population in 2000: 0.2 million 
Earliest Yanceys:
William Lowndes Yancey
Yanceys on 1850 Census: 0
Yanceys on 1880 Census: 24
Yanceys on 1910 Census: 27
Yanceys on 1940 Census: 16
Ethnic make-up:  Many African American Yanceys

New Orleans, Louisiana

County: Orleans
Region: South
Population in 1900: 0.28 million
Population in 2000: 0.48 million
Earliest Yanceys:
Robert Yancey (white) died there 1845
Charles D Yancey (white) early resident 1850's
Yanceys on 1850 Census: 8
Yanceys on 1880 Census: 15
Yanceys on 1910 Census: 34
Yanceys on 1940 Census: 40

Dallas/Ft Worth, Texas

Los Angeles, California

County: Los Angeles
Region: West Coast
Population in 1900: 0.19 million
Population in 2000: 15.7 million
Earliest Yanceys:
Joseph Exline Yancey
Yanceys on 1850 Census: 0
Yanceys on 1880 Census: 0
Yanceys on 1910 Census: 30
Yanceys on 1940 Census: 139
Ethnic make-up:  A majority of white Yanceys with some African American

San Francisco, California

County:San Francisco
Region: West Coast
Population in 1900: 0.54 million
Population in 2000: 6.8 million
Known for:
Earliest Yanceys:
Milton Vernon Yancey (white)  1890's
Yanceys on 1850 Census: 0
Yanceys on 1880 Census: 0
Yanceys on 1910 Census: 2
Yanceys on 1940 Census: 12
Ethnic make-up:  Mostly white Yanceys

Chicago, Illinois

County: Cook
Region: North Central
Population in 1900: 2.0 million
Population in 2000: 9.0 million
Earliest Yanceys:  1850 census - George & Stephen Yancey - free blacks from Kentucky
Yanceys on 1850 Census: 3
Yanceys on 1880 Census: 8
Yanceys on 1910 Census: 45
Yanceys on 1940 Census: 108
Ethnic make-up:  Many African American Yanceys

Salt Lake City, Utah

County: Salt Lake
Region:  West 
Population in 1900:  0.07 million
Population in 2000:  0.89 million
Earliest Yanceys:
Adam Yancey married in Salt Lake - 1879
Yanceys on 1850 Census: 0
Yanceys on 1880 Census: 0
Yanceys on 1910 Census: 5
Yanceys on 1940 Census: 6
Ethnic make-up:  All White Yanceys

 
Other articles of a related nature:

http://lewishistoricalsociety.com/wiki2011/tiki-read_article.php?articleId=29

http://www.peakbagger.com/pbgeog/histmetropop.aspx

https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/0320_population_frey.pdf

http://www.let.rug.nl/usa/outlines/economy-1991/the-changing-face-of-american-agriculture/

http://wrdc.usu.edu/files/publications/publication/pub__3471631.pdf

http://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/issue-briefs/2014/12/changing-patterns-in-us-immigration-and-population

Information specific to Yanceys:

Yancey Family Migration
http://yanceyfamilygenealogy.org/cnmigrat.htm 

Yancey Pioneer
http://yanceyfamilygenealogy.org/yancey_pioneers.htm  

Yancey breakdown by occupation
http://yanceyfamilygenealogy.org/cn1850b.htm 

 Yancey break down by ancestry
http://yanceyfamilygenealogy.org/cn1850c.htm 

Land Acquisition
http://yanceyfamilygenealogy.org/va_land.htm 
 
BLM Land Grants
http://yanceyfamilygenealogy.org/blm_land_records.htm 

Example of Rural Life for Yanceys in Mississippi
http://yanceyfamilygenealogy.org/dickson.htm 

Example of Post Civil War Life for African American Yanceys
http://yanceyfamilygenealogy.org/BOOK_Yancey_Arthur_H_Book.pdf 
 
Yancey Brothers of Atlanta
http://yanceyfamilygenealogy.org/yancey_bros.htm 

Black Yancey Pioneers
http://yanceyfamilygenealogy.org/edina.htm 

The Civil War and the Yanceys
http://yanceyfamilygenealogy.org/bcy_athens.htm 

Yancey Family Life - Rural Idaho
http://yanceyfamilygenealogy.org/memories.htm 

Examples of Yanceys who left agriculture for other professions

Bartlett Yancey - https://books.google.com/books?id=K0gOAAAAIAAJ&pg=RA3-PA8&dq=bartlett+yancey#v=onepage&q=bartlett%20yancey&f=false 

Charles Yancey  https://books.google.com/books?id=5go1AAAAIAAJ&pg=RA8-PA252&dq=charles+yancey+missouri#v=onepage&q=charles%20yancey%20missouri&f=false 

Charles Royster Yancey: http://yanceyfamilygenealogy.org/cryhist.htm  

Philo B Yancey - http://yanceyfamilygenealogy.org/pbyhist.htm 

John F Yancey -  http://yanceyfamilygenealogy.org/ystone.htm 

Effie G Yancey Family - http://yanceyfamilygenealogy.org/effiegyancy.htm 

 SOME COOL GRAPHICS FOLLOW

CHART OF POPULATION DENSITY

Graph of Metro Area Population Rank over Time
The top 20 Metro Areas in the United States, 1790-2010

Click on the above chart to zoom in on the image