Jim Russell pointed me to the workforce report program that LinkedIn runs. They use their data to show trends in 20 major job markets.For each market they track, they put together a map of the 10 cities that market gains the most workers from and the ten it loses the most workers to.These are interesting maps in their own right. They also highlight the extremely parochial nature of the talent flows into Midwestern cities. It’s pretty stark, actually. Here’s a set of comparisons, looking strictly at inflows. There are also outflow and gross migration charts and more information that’s interesting too, but I’ll leave you to dig into that yourself.
Let’s take a look at these three roughly peer cities. First, the top ten cities for Minneapolis.
Despite the Twin Cities enjoying a high reputation within the Midwest region, their draw remains highly regional. Their top draws are from adjacent states plus Chicago.By contrast, here’s Denver.
And here’s Seattle:
The difference is stark.
Living up to its reputation as the capital of the Midwest, Chicago’s draw is from a tightly-focused region.
Now, here’s New York:
Five of New York’s top ten draws are actually from outside the country. That’s pretty amazing.And here’s San Francisco.
You see the flows are mostly from other major tech hubs and big cities.Again, a pretty start difference.
We see the same thing in smaller tier cities. Here’s Cleveland.
And here’s Nashville.
Again, I’d encourage you to spend some time over at LinkedIn. You can tell a lot about these cities and their economies just by their migration maps. You can also instantly see another dimension of the challenge facing Midwestern cities.[This article was originally published by The Urbanophile.]
Aaron Renn is a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute and a contributing editor for City Journal. His blog is Urbanophile.com.
A podcast on Market Urbanism, or the cross between free-market policies and urban issues. We discuss how a liberalized urban approach would lead to more housing, faster transport, improved public services, and better quality of life. Tap to listen.
Market Urbanism Report is sponsored by Panoramic Interests, a progressive developer in San Francisco. Panoramic, which is owned by Patrick Kennedy, specializes in 160 sqft micro-units (called MicroPads) that are built using modular construction materials. Panoramic has long touted these units as a cost-effective way to house San Francisco’s growing homeless population. But Panoramic also builds larger units of between 440-690 sqft. To learn more about Panoramic’s micro-unit model, read MUR’s coverage on the firm in its America’s Progressive Developers series. Or visit Panoramic’s website.
Market Urbanism Report is a media company that advances free-market city policy. We aim for a liberalized approach that produces cheaper housing, faster transport and better quality-of-life.