The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of city dwellers' migration to the rural areas on the increase of their life satisfaction and its influencing variables. Using a quota sampling, 500 city dwellers across the country and 180 migrators to the Goesan Gun in the Chungcheongbuk-do were selected. The results showed that (a) most city dwellers want to move to the rural areas for their relaxation and rest for their retirement, but migrants' main goal is to realize their internally oriented values, (b) life satisfaction is more evident for migrants compared to city dwellers, and it is influenced by self-assessed income, self-perceived health and internally oriented value, and (c) migrators contribute to their own successful aging by using strategies of selection, optimization and compensation compared to city dwellers. The contribution of this paper is to identify and confirm that (a) migration to the rural areas is an effective way to increase individual's life satisfaction although goals of dwellers and migrators are different, (b) the specific influencing variable and their weights in increase of life satisfaction are unique in Korea, and (c) income level is a not sufficient condition but necessary condition. Several managerial implications and policy directions were suggested to help both migrators and potential migrators to settle successfully in the rural areas.