•Personality traits play a role in the decision to migrate domestically in most European countries.•Openness increases the odds of migration while conscientiousness exerts a restrictive effect.•Openness is associated with internal migration in more countries than other personality traits.•Evidence for personality traits other than openness and conscientiousness is inconsistent. The association between personality traits and migration has received growing attention, but differences in survey instruments, analytical methods, definitions of migration and observation periods make it difficult to ascertain and generalise the role of personality traits in the migration decision-making process. To address these limitations, this paper uses comparable retrospective migration histories collected in 17 European countries as part of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in 2017. Regression analysis reveals that openness is positively and most consistently associated with migration. The restrictive effect of conscientiousness was found in only four countries. Results for other personality traits are inconsistent. The role of macro contextual factors in shaping the interaction between personality traits and migrationwarrants further research.