Florida’s main idea here is that the psychogeography of America tends to match up well to its economic geography. This is because certain personality types are matched to certain types of jobs, and most importantly, personality types tend to cluster. People want to live with people that are similar to them. (See the ideas of Bill Bishop.)

Our research suggests another possibility as well: the link between personality and the willingness to move. Conscientious and agreeable types in particular are less likely to move. Once they find a place, they tend to spread out gradually over time. Extroverts, on the other hand, are much more likely to move over greater distances. Open-to-experience types are drawn to thrills and risk, and moving, after all, is one of life’s biggest new experiences.

This fuels a process of selective migration whereby agreeable and conscientious regions are drained of the most driven, most creative, and most mobile - only reinforcing their psychogeographic profiles, while magnifying the innovative edge in places where open-to-experience types concentrate.

Above, you’ll see a map of neurotics in America. East coast, sure, but look up there at Ohio. Yikes. No wonder I was ready to get out of there…

(via @mattthomas)