The average American only lives 18 miles from her mom

Families live closest in the Northeast and the South, and farthest apart on the West Coast and in the Mountain States. Part of the reason is probably cultural — Western families have historically been the least rooted — but a large part is geographical. In denser areas, people live closer together than in rural areas.Married couples live farther from their parents than unmarried people, and women are slightly more likely to leave their hometowns than men [...] The most-cited reason for living near home is the tug of family ties, while the most-cited reason for leaving is job opportunities, according to a Pew Research Center survey. It found that with the exception of college or military service, 37 percent of Americans had never lived outside their hometown and 57 percent had never left their state. [The New York Times]