A Tipping Point in the Geography of the Creative Class?

Richard Florida maps the "rise of the rest" that is taking shape in cities outside of superstar cities all over the country, the "result of both increasingly unaffordable housing in established hubs and the improvement of the economies in less-established hubs."

According Florida's analysis of the term he made famous, the "creative class" is spreading around the country. The article illustrates the trend with a series of maps and infographics. Florida worked with Todd Gabe, an economist at the University of Maine, to track the growth of the creative class overall and across U.S. metros from 2005 to 2017, using data from the U.S. Census American Community Survey (ACS).

In the years that passed from that period, the creative class grew substantially in leading cities, and the rankings of cities with the largest share also changed substantially. In 2017, San Jose has the largest share of creative class, followed by D.C. and San Francisco, explains Florida.

Between 2005 and 2017, Denver and Philadelphia joined the top ten, but a lot of other stories of growth can be told. "A number of Rustbelt and Sunbelt metros which have previously lagged now show robust growth," according to Florida. "Salt Lake City posted the fastest growth, with Pittsburgh and Cincinnati next in line. Las Vegas, which had the smallest creative class share of large metros in 2005, also saw significant growth."

The article also lists the cities where growth of the creative class was slowest over that period.