Maine’s chief export, say wags and leaders alike, is Mainers. More than lobsters, more than blueberries, more than vacation snapshots. Maine ships people out by the thousands.

Among those shipping out were my forebears, leaving North Norway and Guilford decades ago for brighter prospects in — you guessed it — Massachusetts. Only when my grandparents retired in 1940 did any return to live in Maine, Kennebunk in their case. My family followed in 1980, settling in New Sharon.

We anguish over losing people to higher paying jobs out of state, especially young people. But Maine may not be so desperate for population as we believe. A state can gain population in two ways. Migration and biology. And, Maine is adding migrants.

Twenty-two states gained population through migration from July 2016 to July ’17. Maine and Georgia tied for 14th highest in-migration in terms of migrants per 1,000 population. Each had a net gain of 4 people moving in per 1,000 population. That figures out to 5,340 more people who moved to Maine than moved away.

Among New England states, only Maine and New Hampshire have net gains in migration. Overall, Maine has fallen behind New Hampshire in population. Both are gaining slowly, but Maine has fallen to fourth in New England, ahead of only Rhode Island and Vermont. Folks in New Hampshire apparently make more babies than we do.

Some surprises on the migration list, all among the states losing through migration. Nine are sunbelt states: California (3.5 per 1,000), Hawaii (9.5), Kentucky (4.9), Louisiana (5.9), Missouri (0.2), New Mexico, (3.6), Oklahoma (2.9), Virginia (1.5) and Wyoming (14.7). Four of the nine lost migration population faster than Maine gained it.

With people migrating to Maine, the question may be whether we are drawing people who can help grow Maine’s economy. Some reports say Maine is pulling in retirees even as young people leave. I can think of two strategies to adjust to the trends.

If millennials get their educations here and take their degrees out of state, Maine must figure out how to entice them to stay. If the problem is that in-migrating retirees are coming to dominate the population, Maine might serve itself better by catering to them.

I see no sign that Maine is doing either in great measure. We face teacher and health care worker shortages soon, fields are dominated by young people. Yet we do little to encourage teachers or health professionals to stay. It’s not just money. Folks need to know their work is valuable and they need to know their kids can have a future here, too.

When folks move away, I wonder how much they better themselves. Earn $110,000 teaching on Long Island? How much more expensive is the housing? How much more is the car insurance? Home security system (yeah, you’ll probably get one)? Babysitters?

Now, I understand that for some of those who leave, out-of-state is the only place to go. Could Anna Kendrick have reached movie stardom had she stayed in Portland? Could Yvon Chouinard have founded and built Patagonia had he stayed in Lisbon?

She, probably not, though a few actors have made a decent living in Maine performing at places such as the Theater at Monmouth, The Public Theatre in Lewiston and the Penobscot Theatre in Bangor. He, possibly so, though it may well have been easier to set up Patagonia in California. Then again, a guy named Bean managed to set up a fairly successful outdoors retail business in Freeport.

Around here, perhaps no family has achieved so much as the Washburn family of Livermore. Israel Washburn and Martha “Patty” Benjamin Washburn had 10 surviving children born on the farm they had bought from the father of Hannibal Hamlin.

Four sons and a daughter left Maine. Three sons were elected to Congress, from Illinois, Wisconsin and Minnesota. Washburn, Wisconsin, was named after Cadwallader, who had been governor, U.S. representative there and a general in the Civil War. Two Washburns founded flour companies, one of which is now General Mills (Cadawallader) and the other of which is part of what is now Pillsbury Flour (William).

Of the five who stayed, Israel Jr. became a lawyer, governor and U.S. representative. Algernon established a bank in Hallowell. Martha was a teacher, Samuel a ship’s master.

So, leaving Maine wasn’t the only solution for the Washburns.

Perhaps Maine’s greatest native, Joshua Chamberlain, returned after accepting the surrender of Confederate arms at Appomattox to make it big at home. Where one chooses to make it may be less important than how.

*      *      *

On a different note. A few weeks back, I wrote, in passing, that I thought ranked-choice voting was one of the numbest ideas to come down the pike in a while. A column by David Brooks on June 1 in The New York Times has started me changing my mind.

Brooks argued that ranked-choice can help take the edge off the nastiness of our politics because it increases the possibility of moderates winning. If more than two candidates run, people who vote for extreme right or left will likely vote second for moderates, not for the other extreme. So, a moderate, after all the sifting and sorting is done, may win.

I’m going to vote on Tuesday to keep ranked-choice voting. I’m not yet fully persuaded by Brooks and others with whom I have talked, but Maine’s people voted it in, and the Legislature has no business trying to negate a legal vote of the people.

Bob Neal and his family are among the in-migrants to Maine. So far, none has plans to leave. And, he is dating a woman whose six siblings also live in Maine. Home is home.

Copy the Story Link