I wondered that as well. One hypothesis from the article: "according to Lena C. Edlund, a Columbia University economist... One reason young women in the prime marriage years - the 25-44 age range - flock to big cities is to compete for the most eligible men. And smart women who gravitate to vibrant cities are more likely to stay single - for longer, at least - because they rightly refuse to settle for someone who can't keep up with them intellectually or otherwise."
And later, talking about the West: "As numerous studies of migration show, men - especially those in regions with declining economies - are initially more likely to move long distances for economic opportunity, while women are more likely to stay closer to home and family."
Admittedly these explanations don't make complete sense to me, though, and I'm suspicious of the phenomenon in general.
The data seemed to be pretty much all cities, since low population places can't have large absolute differentials. Something about DC and New York bring the ladies. Maybe it makes sense that San Francisco would have tech bros, but why Los Angeles?
It didn't especially seem to line up with the usual red-blue lines, though the sudden shift in Florida seemed notable.
I am suspicious of it overall, but I'd need a lot closer look at the methodology to justify that.
East is old culture + institutions, west is new. Think new york + boston vs LA and SF. The east coast was settled long before cities on the west.
In broad strokes, men look to make something new / upend the existing order, and women fit into existing structures. Mirrors the age-old biological reality - men can concieve at any age, with multiple partners. Women have a limited reproductive window and carry the blood cost of reproduction. Women are more stable as caregivers, men are higher variance.
Not to say it all goes down like that, obv social norms change and people can be whatever they want, but the "bare metal" underlying biology has an impact.
The article is from 2008, and seems to be based on data from 2005. The article discusses absolute differences in population, where the relevant statistic would be the ratio. After all, that’s the likelihood that you would meet someone of the appropriate sex. Finally, there is no controlling for age.
