Freeborn County has had a decline of 5.1 percent in population since 2000, and local officials say many of the work being done for jobs, education and quality of life have prevented the decline from being greater.

The census on Thursday releases estimates for 2008.

Faribault County is down 9.1 percent since the start of the decade, Mower 1.9 percent and Waseca 0.4 percent. Steele is up 8.5 percent. Winnebago County, Iowa, is down 7 percent and Worth County, Iowa, is down 3.1 percent.

Albert Lea Economic Development Agency Director Dan Dorman said population loss in isn’t unique to Albert Lea and noted the loss was greater in counties to the west. He said the state is seeing growth along a corridor from St. Cloud to Rochester and areas close to it, which explains some of the growth seen in Owatonna and Steele County.

The census estimate for 2008 puts Freeborn County at 30,927 people, down from 32,584 in 2000 and 33,060 in 1990. The state demographic center forecasts Freeborn County to decline through 2015 before showing an increase in 2020. The projected 2025 population is 32,110, a 3.8 percent increase from the 2008 estimate.

The office estimates Steele County to have 44,630 in 2025, up from 18.1 percent from the 2008 estimate of 36,546. Faribault is projected to have 15,180, up from 3.8 14,624, but farther west the decline continues. For instance, Martin and Jackson each are projected to be down 2.7 percent by 2025.

Dorman said the realistic expectation for local officials in Freeborn County is to beat the projections and to make sure what is predicted to happen to the west doesn’t happen here.

He said focusing on jobs and quality of life are keys. Also important are providing assistance to incoming companies and helping existing companies to expand here.

Freeborn County Administrator John Kluever said part of the decline has been natural across rural America as farms become bigger. He said the work done by officials with the county, cities, economic development, chamber of commerce and schools for promoting and developing the county have done much to prevent further decline, though he noted it would be difficult to say how much. He gave credit to the Job Opportunity Building Zone program and to local school districts.

Kluever said he looks forward to future growth and said quality of life is big selling point. In fact, it was a reason he and his family considered moving to the region in 2007.

Albert Lea City Manager Victoria Simonsen said jobs are the impetus to move here but people often won’t apply or take jobs unless they like other factors: schools, quality of life, housing, favorable taxes, access to medical care, aesthetics, cost of living.

“Usually it is a job that brings someone to an area, then they decide based on other factors,” she said.

Simonsen said rural areas also are dealing with young adults moving to larger cities for jobs and lifestyles and not returning.

In addition to job development and other factors, she hopes measures such as Artspace Projects on two downtown buildings and City Health Makeover by Blue Zones and AARP will become tools in the city’s promotion toolbox. She said these and items such as trails, good schools, good neighborhoods and recreational amenities can attract young families.

Dorman added that the 2000 figure is from before the fire that devastated the Farmland Foods meatpacking plant in 2001. He said the fire prompted local officials to become more aggressive in economic development, resulting in much of the JOBZ success.

He said the work before the fire to diversify the Albert Lea industrial economy helped the city get through the loss of jobs. One of Albert Lea’s strengths, he said, is industrial diversification — there’s no dominant company like in Austin.

That diversity may have kept the population decline from being worse, Dorman said.

Minnesota

For the state as a whole, the population increased from 4.9 million in 2000 to 5.2 million in 2008, an increase of about 6 percent.

County 2000 2008 Change

Aitkin 15,301 15,736 2.8%

Anorak 298,086 327,090 9.7%

Becker 30,000 32,000 6.7%

Beltrami 39,650 43,835 10.6%

Benton 34,227 39,878 16.5%

Big Stone 5,820 5,365 -7.8%

Blue Earth 55,937 60,401 8.0%

Brown 26,911 25,862 -3.9%

Carlton 31,671 33,933 7.1%

Carver 70,205 90,043 28.3%

Cass 27,153 28,732 5.8%

Chippewa 13,088 12,414 -5.1%

Chisago 41,101 50,257 22.3%

Clay 51,229 55,767 8.9%

Clearwater 8,423 8,249 -2.1%

Cook 5,168 5,437 5.2%

Cottonwood 12,167 11,283 -7.3%

Crow Wing 55,099 62,172 12.8%

Dakota 355,904 392,755 10.4%

Dodge 17,731 19,751 11.4%

Douglas 32,824 36,258 10.5%

Faribault 16,181 14,624 -9.6%

Fillmore 21,122 20,850 -1.3%

Freeborn 32,584 30,927 -5.1%

Goodhue 44,127 45,897 4.0%

Grant 6,286 6,005 -4.5%

Hennepin 1,116,037 1,140,988 2.2%

Houston 19,718 19,245 -2.4%

Hubbard 18,373 18,810 2.4%

Isanti 31,287 39,105 25.0%

Itasca 43,994 44,512 1.2%

Jackson 11,268 10,734 -4.7%

Kanabec 14,996 16,091 7.3%

Kandiyohi 41,201 40,679 -1.3%

Kittson 5,279 4,462 -15.5%

Koochiching 14,355 13,251 -7.7%

Lac qui Parle 8,067 7,165 -11.2%

Lake 11,058 10,609 -4.1%

Lake of the Woods 4,522 3,985 -11.9%

Le Sueur 25,426 28,042 10.3%

Lincoln 6,425 5,837 -9.2%

Lyon 25,429 24,844 -2.3%

Mahnomen 5,190 5,128 -1.2%

Marshall 10,155 9,502 -6.4%

Martin 21,802 20,435 -6.3%

McLeod 34,898 37,165 6.5%

Meeker 22,648 23,143 2.2%

Mille Lacs 22,330 26,377 18.1%

Morrison 31,715 32,893 3.7%

Mower 38,604 37,859 -1.9%

Murray 9,165 8,389 -8.5%

Nicollet 29,771 32,027 7.6%

Nobles 20,832 20,365 -2.2%

Norman 7,442 6,605 -11.2%

Olmsted 124,277 141,360 13.7%

Otter Tail 57,159 56,786 -0.7%

Pennington 13,584 13,747 1.2%

Pine 26,530 28,297 6.7%

Pipestone 9,895 9,395 -5.1%

Polk 31,369 30,694 -2.2%

Pope 11,236 11,030 -1.8%

Ramsey 511,205 501,428 -1.9%

Red Lake 4,299 4,069 -5.4%

Redwood 16,815 15,493 -7.9%

Renville 17,154 15,861 -7.5%

Rice 56,665 62,390 10.1%

Rock 9,721 9,476 -2.5%

Roseau 16,338 15,865 -2.9%

Scott 89,498 128,937 44.1%

Sherburne 64,415 87,660 36.1%

Sibley 15,356 14,954 -2.6%

St Louis 200,527 196,864 -1.8%

Stearns 133,164 147,076 10.4%

Steele 33,680 36,546 8.5%

Stevens 10,053 9,661 -3.9%

Swift 11,956 11,035 -7.7%

Todd 24,426 23,917 -2.1%

Traverse 4,134 3,660 -11.5%

Wabasha 21,609 21,813 0.9%

Wadena 13,713 13,311 -2.9%

Waseca 19,526 19,443 -0.4%

Washington 201,128 229,173 13.9%

Watonwan 11,882 10,860 -8.6%

Wilkin 7,138 6,286 -11.9%

Winona 49,985 49,879 -0.2%

Wright 89,993 119,701 33.0%

Yellow Medicine 11,080 9,958 -10.1%