When you think about it, this explains a lot about America.

This could be taken several ways.

One is that people are satisfied enough with their lives and their community that they don't feel the need to move. (That or they are too poor to move.)

One reason for me is taxes. I'd take a serious pay cut if I moved to Minnesota. That's why I'm staying in North Dakota. (Also, I like it here too.)

Another is family. I have lots of relatives here in and around Grand Forks. That does come in handy. Being able to borrow a bulldozer, grain truck, or diesel powered sump pump if they aren't using it has it's advantages. Family members get to call me up to help with their computer problems or if they need help moving something heavy. The word-of-mouth network is rather extensive too. Call a few relatives and ask, "Do you know anyone who can do X?"

Family also comes in handy during natural disasters. My family went to my uncles house in Midwestern ND during the flood of 97.

Ennuipoet: When you think about it, this explains a lot about America.

Absolutely. I never realized that until after I left NY (where I lived the first 40 years of my life). Not only did I move out of NY, but I moved out of the US, which gave me an entirely different perspective on things.

Ennuipoet: When you think about it, this explains a lot about America.

Quite so.

CT, MA, PA, VA, FL, NC, GA.

/damned yankee

In all fairness, this article mentions nothing about how Americans measure up in this regard to the rest of the world.

It also says nothing about travel. Sure, maybe you live in one city all your life but you can still travel. I've lived in the same general area my whole life, but I've still been all over the US, to Canada, England, France, Spain, Italy, Greece and Croatia.

But hey, it's easier to just paint all Americans out to small-town idiots who never do anything.

Hey, I've left my hometown...once.

cheshirecatsmileyface: But hey, it's easier to just paint all Americans out to small-town idiots who never do anything.

I didn't read anything in the article or subsequent comments that made Americans out to be small town idiots.

Hometown? I'm not really sure what that is...

/lived in the US: KS, IL, NY, PA, FL, TN
//lived out of the US: Japan, Morocco, Thailand

Moving is for suckers.

Ennuipoet: When you think about it, this explains a lot about America.

And Fark.

I would leave Wisconsin, the state of my birth and residence for my entire life, but the deep fried cheese curds compel me to stay.

/I don't live in my hometown, though.

cheshirecatsmileyface: this article mentions nothing about how Americans measure up in this regard to the rest of the world

Americans are about the most mobile population in the whole world (iirc).

VA, OH, TN, NC, NM, TX

cheshirecatsmileyface: In all fairness, this article mentions nothing about how Americans measure up in this regard to the rest of the world.

Whilst it's not in the least bit scientific, I looked up my old school friends on Facebook - about 35% are still living in the same town. The rest are pretty evenly spread out across the country. It looks to me like the location of the university you went to seems to have a big effect on where you settle down.

I was more surprised that maybe 10% had moved to another country - a lot of Brits have gone to Australia or Canada.

I was going to leave once, but then I heard you can never go back.

You know, I thought it strange when a friend of mine said he had never left the town he was born in.

I have been and lived in many places over the country and world.

I plan on settling about 700 miles from where I grew up, but only 450 from where I was born.

Lots of people never live far away from where they were born. This is hardly an American fenomenon.

I've lived in 5 different cities in my life, but all of them were major metropolises - Los Angeles, San Francisco, Washington DC, New York, and Sydney. I really don't think there's much different between big cities. The distinction is urban/rural more than anything. I have a hard time imagining I would be comfortable living in a small town.

I moved to another state when I was one year old.

Boobieser had it in one. This is why we're so farking annoying.

DamnYankees: I've lived in 5 different cities in my life, but all of them were major metropolises - Los Angeles, San Francisco, Washington DC, New York, and Sydney. I really don't think there's much different between big cities. The distinction is urban/rural more than anything. I have a hard time imagining I would be comfortable living in a small town.

Really? You didn't detect a difference between California and Not California (and in particular, NYC)?

/honestly curious

CA, OR, LA, MS, MA, MT. And Germany.

I saw an interview with a woman in her sixties who was born in and lived in a village in the middle of Ibiza. She has never been more than a couple of miles from that village and has never seen the sea.

Ibiza is an island twenty five miles by ten.

Truthiness: Really? You didn't detect a difference between California and Not California (and in particular, NYC)?

/honestly curious

Depends what you mean by difference. Obviously the cities are different places with different modes. But if you think about what you do every day, the way you go shopping, access to social life and desires...its all basically the same. In NY you walk while in CA you drive, and in Sydney you have to take the bus, but its all there. The difference is tonal, not substantive. I would imagine living in a small town in Nebraska is fundamentally much different from NY than Los Angeles is.

I moved out of the town I was born in four years ago and I just moved out that same state last week, so I'm really getting a kick out of these replies.

And 3 out 10 never leave their basement.

I'm Canadian. I've lived in BC and MO and Italy (and Greece and the UK for very brief periods).

My brother has lived in BC and the UK. Most of my friends have lived in at least one other country than the one they were born in and certainly in another province or state.

However, while a lot of the people I meet here in S. Italy have never lived elsewhere, the younger generation is leaving because of the economic depression and because it's becoming more acceptable.

I'm sure if this study were done in other countries, it would get similar results.

This is not surprising, nor is it anything of note.

Aside from the migration westward in our country a couple of centuries ago, it was common for people to live happy, fulfilling lives while living in the same HOUSE as multiple generations of their family.

We, as a nation, have begun to travel farther and farther away from home as economics have improved and travel has become easier.

So, it's only natural that we're as high as 60% of our population moving outside of their hometown. I suspect that, as time goes on, we'll see these numbers continue to increase.

Ennuipoet: When you think about it, this explains a lot about America.

/ Inwardly swearing that the boobies said what I wanted to say.

// Additionally, Americans - They're more rude. They see status as an excuse to act like an asshole. (Ex: See CEO's and Celebrities.)

I've lived in Baltimore, San Antonio, Biloxi, Anchorage... and I chose to move back to Baltimore for some reason. Eventually, I'll probably move again. I hate staying in one place for too long.

Most of my friends from high school and college still live in the area, though. And most have never left.

ZAZ: I moved to another state when I was one year old.

Beatcha - 3 days after I was released from the hospital.

NY, PA, NYC

Yes, NYC should count as a different state, if not a different country. Where else in the US would 90 seconds to get a cup of coffee be considered unbearably slow?

40yoVirgin: Ennuipoet: When you think about it, this explains a lot about America.

Quite so.

Explain, please.

I bet if this study was only looking at places with a population less than 10,000 it would be a very different number...larger cities already have different variety and opportunities for people...

I've moved 23 times since I was 5 years old. 17 of those moves after I turned 18(I'm 2)(all the prior cause my dad was military). Anyhow, I finally landed in a Kansas City suburb(on the Kansas side, cause I gots the dollars). Moving is fun. Moving to a place with money and common sense morals is even better.

I've never lived outside of Washington.

It's a beautiful state. Traveling from one end to the other will take you from a temperate rain forest to a desert. The people are fairly nice as well. My only complaint is the state government.

zz9: I saw an interview with a woman in her sixties who was born in and lived in a village in the middle of Ibiza. She has never been more than a couple of miles from that village and has never seen the sea.

Ibiza is an island twenty five miles by ten.

To be fair, the sea are full rapist tentacled monsters.

/ What?? I learned that from japanese documentaries.

// What do you mean, they're not documentaries?

ME, CT, TX, WI

/Texas sucks, Maine has no job market, I like WI so far.

I'm 29. Damned dell laptop keyboard being corky..

SchlingFocker: 40yoVirgin: Ennuipoet: When you think about it, this explains a lot about America.

Quite so.

Explain, please.

It explains the extreme xenophobia Americans are known to exhibit - and refusal to learn more than just english.

/ Bi-lingual, It means you get more population to get laid from. Learn another language today!

SchlingFocker: 40yoVirgin: Ennuipoet: When you think about it, this explains a lot about America.

Quite so.

Explain, please.

It doesn't explain anything about America as opposed to the rest of the world. The rest of the world surely fits into this pattern as well.

Graduated from a small high school in the midwest. A couple years ago when all the planning took place for our 50th reunion, I was somewhat surprised that over half the class still lived in the area. While there was a good number who had scattered far and wide, some of those were retirees who had moved late to warmer climes. I think the younger generation would probably be more mobile so one has to look at the age demographics in that article more closely to see what trending may be taking place.

robohobo: I'm 29. Damned dell laptop keyboard being corky..

Aw fark, I was gonna make a time travel and/or stewie joke.

Ennuipoet: When you think about it, this explains a lot about America.

Yeah, it does. The fact that only 37% of Americans never moved away from the place where they grew up is a spectacular demonstration of America's comparative wealth and mobility, as well as the relative abundance of cheap housing, loans and jobs (well, most of the time, anyways; but even during this recession it's fairly easy to relocate).

Ennuipoet: When you think about it, this explains a lot about America.

Done In One.

"This explains a lot about America."

/Bears repeating

I just moved to south east Ohio with my wife this past summer, and I work in a small town called Nelsonville... There are some people that I work with that have never been out of the state.

/West Virginia is 45 minutes from where I work
//Michigan is 4 hours away
///Kentucky is 2 hours away
////Slashies are always nearby

Definitions of factoid:
n. 1. A piece of unverified or inaccurate information that is presented in the press as factual, often as part of a publicity effort, and that is then accepted as true because of frequent repetition: "What one misses finally is what might have emerged beyond both facts and factoids-a profound definition of the Marilyn Monroe phenomenon" (Christopher Lehmann-Haupt).
2. Usage Problem A brief, somewhat interesting fact.

fac·toid'al adj.
from American Heritage Dictionary

/DullaWHERE?, Illinois, Tennessee, Florida, Nevada, Virginia, New York, and two aircraft carriers (one of which circumnavigated the Earth in 1998) so :P

Only_A_Lad: Ennuipoet: When you think about it, this explains a lot about America.

Yeah, it does. The fact that only 37% of Americans never moved away from the place where they grew up is a spectacular demonstration of America's comparative wealth and mobility, as well as the relative abundance of cheap housing, loans and jobs (well, most of the time, anyways; but even during this recession it's fairly easy to relocate).

I've seen people locked into their living circumstances because of their jobs and economics. If we don't depend so farking much on jobs and wealth as our personality, we'd move more.