This study offers a unique lens on the patterns, productivity, and impact of researcher mobility at a US research-intensive university. Bibliometric data for Washington State University (WSU) was extracted from Elsevier’s Scopus database and analyzed for the 10-year period from 2002 to 2012. We grouped researchers into four categories based on common patterns of movement into, within, and out of the USA:​ mobile (inflow, outflow, and transitory) versus non-mobile (stationary). We compared the research performances of these different groups using two normalized indicators:​ relative research productivity and the field-weighted citation impact of the researchers’ publications. Our analysis showed that 83% of active researchers at WSU were mobile during the 10-year period based on their having both publications affiliated with WSU and publications affiliated with at least one other institution. The publications of mobile researchers had higher impact compared to non-mobile researchers. Additionally, WSU researchers who primarily moved between other US-based institutions produced publications with higher impact compared to those of internationally mobile researchers, though the latter group was more prolific. Transitory researchers—those spending less than 2 years at either WSU or another institution—comprised the largest sub-group of mobile researchers at 59%. The results of this study offer additional evidence about the value to US universities of researcher mobility and greater research collaborations with both domestic and international partners.