Motivated by these previous investigations of connections between phonon properties and monovalent ion conductivity, the present study explores whether phonon features can be used to predict migration barriers in multivalent ion conductors. Ab initio molecular dynamics simulations are avoided here in order to focus on features that can be calculated inexpensively for high-throughput screening. This study examines 24 materials for which migration barriers of multivalent cations have previously been calculated: 10 anti-perovskites containing either Mg or Ca, 17 and 14 spinels containing either Mg or Zn. Phonon frequencies are calculated using density functional theory (DFT), and ion migration barriers are obtained from previous DFT calculations. In all of these materials, ions migrate via a vacancy mechanism by moving between adjacent polyhedral cages of coordinated anions. Migration is sterically limited by the narrow channels connecting these cages. The present calculations identify no direct correlation between phonon band centers and ion migration barriers in the 24 materials considered here, in contrast to the work of Muy et al. and Krauskopf et al. We hypothesize that differences among materials in the degree of alignment between phonon mode eigenvectors and migration directions partially account for this lack of correlation. This hypothesis motivates the introduction of alternative metrics that account for both phonon frequencies and mode alignments but do not require expensive ab initio calculations of ion migration pathways. These metrics are confirmed through additional calculations to be more correlated with ion migration barriers for the materials considered here. This paper concludes with a discussion of how the present findings can inform future efforts to efficiently screen large databases for materials with high multivalent ion conductivity.