We show that the structure of proper holomorphic maps between the n-fold symmetric products, n ≥ 2, of a pair of noncompact Riemann surfaces X and Y, provided these are reasonably nice, is very rigid. Specifically, any such map is determined by a proper holomorphic map of X onto Y . This extends existing results concerning bounded planar domains, and is a non-compact analogue of a phenomenon observed in symmetric products of compact Riemann surfaces. Along the way, we also provide a condition for the complete hyperbolicity of all n-fold symmetric products of a noncompact Riemann surface. © 2018 Deutsche Mathematiker Vereinigung.