The co-location of the American creative class within cities 1850 to 1950

Amir Ferreira Neto, Lukas Kuld and Sara Mitchell
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Amir Ferreira Neto: Department of Economics and Finance, Florida Gulf Coast University, USA
Lukas Kuld: Kemmy Business School, University of Limerick, Ireland
Sara Mitchell: University of Coimbra, CeBER and Faculty of Economics

No 2026-09, CeBER Working Papers from Centre for Business and Economics Research (CeBER), University of Coimbra

Abstract: We use full-count US census data (1850-1950) to demonstrate the impact that variation in the definition of creatives and in neighborhood size has on measures of co-location. We find a higher degree of clustering among artists compared to other creatives and that wider definitions exhibit less clustering. Around two-thirds of clustering occurs between enumeration districts, implying that even narrow district-level data could miss a third of street-level clustering. Coarser spatial units smooth the differences in clustering observed at smaller scales. We assert the need for greater consideration of the selection of occupations in addition to spatial scale.

Keywords: Creativity; artists; geographic clustering; urban history (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: N91 N92 R1 Z11 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 47 pages
Date: 2026-10
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