As absence makes the heart grow fonder, so distance makes the mind see clearer.

One of the most interesting pictures presented by the Census Bureau in its release of the first official data from the 2010 Census is a comparison of the 10-year rates of population growth over the past century. From this perspective, Maine’s place relative to the U.S. as a whole and to the Northeast region becomes much clearer.

For most of the past century, Maine’s population growth has been much slower than that of the nation as a whole and the Northeast region, averaging about 6 percent per decade compared to rates of 10 percent to 20 percent for the larger areas.

Maine was not the destination for the majority of the great waves of immigrants who flooded the U.S., particularly the Northeast region, in the early decades of the century.

Similarly, Maine didn’t suffer the wave of emigration during the 1930s that much of the rest of the country endured.

Indeed, Maine’s population growth accelerated during the 1930s and 1940s, nearly reaching the national and regional growth rates. Then, in the 1950s and 1960s, as economic prosperity accelerated across the nation, Maine’s population growth fell back beneath 5 percent per decade, falling to 2.4 percent in the 1960s, compared to 10 percent for the Northeast and 13 percent for the U.S. as a whole.

Then came the great anomaly of the 1970s.

Maine’s population grew more than 13 percent, far exceeding the virtual stagnation of the Northeast and two percentage points greater than the national rate.

As the national and regional populations spiked in the 1950s and 1960s with the baby boom, Maine’s population spiked in the 1970s as many of those boomers moved here.

That growth hasn’t been sustained in subsequent decades, but the effects of those 1970s immigrants remain with us today.

Finally, it is interesting to note that during the last decade, one of virtual economic stagnation, Maine’s population growth has again exceeded that of the Northeast region. In fact, Maine has seen an increase in growth rate while the rates for the region and the nation have both fallen.

On the one hand, this simply reflects the absence of economic pull from outside Maine. The decade of the 2000s mirrors the decade of the 1930s in this regard.

On the other hand, This relative turnaround presents Maine with the opportunity to further distinguish itself as an attractive place to live.

If we can add employment opportunities to our population growth, we have the chance to achieve a relative advantage not seen since the early 19th century.

Charles Lawton is senior economist for Planning Decisions, a public policy research firm. He can be reached at:

clawton@maine.rr.com