Ever wonder what elevation Albert Lea is at? Ever wonder how much garbage is produced in Freeborn County? Ever ask about population density? Well, if you have, you just might be a numbers person. If so, you probably also like to read newspapers, for they are full of good numbers. You are the type who, when you read a story about an event, wants to know how many people were in the crowd. You are the type who, when you read a story about a project, wants to know the price tag. You are the type who, when you read a story about a police pursuit, wants to know miles.

So for all you numbers fans, we have prepared a doozie for you today. Here are statistics for the sheer sake of statistics. It is the Albert Lea area, by the numbers. (Now remember, everyone, Albert Lea is included in Freeborn County stats.)

1,260: feet above sea level at the Albert Lea Municipal Airport

30,927: people estimated to reside in Freeborn County in 2008

-5.1: percent change in Freeborn County population from 2000 to 2008

17,389: people estimated to reside in Albert Lea in 2008

41: median age of Albert Leans in 2000.

21.3: percentage of Albert Leans who were 65 or older in 2000.

14,167: housing units estimated for Freeborn County as of 2008

78.7: percent of home ownership in Freeborn County in 2000

$71,400: median value of owner-occupied housing units in Freeborn County in 2000

13,356: households in Freeborn County in 2000

7,830: households in Albert Lea in 2000

2.4: people per household in Freeborn County in 2000

$41,944: median household income in Freeborn County in 2007

8.7: percent of people below poverty line in Freeborn County in 2007

90.7: percent of Freeborn County populated by non-Hispanic white people as of 2008

7.4: percent of Freeborn County populated by Hispanic white people as of 2008

0.6: percent of Freeborn County populated by black people as of 2008

0.6: percent of Freeborn County populated by Asians as of 2008

0.2: percent of Freeborn County populated by American Indians as of 2008

0.7: percent of Freeborn County populated by people claiming two or more races as of 2008

3.1: percent of Freeborn County residents foreign born as of 2000.

7: percent of Freeborn County residents over age of 5 speaking a language other than English at home in 2000

81.2: percent of Freeborn County residents who are high school graduates in 2000

12.8: percent of Freeborn County residents with a bachelor’s degree in 2000

5,744: Freeborn County residents over the age of 5 living with a disability in 2000

18.1: minutes it takes on average for Freeborn County residents to get to work as of 2000

15.4: minutes it takes on average for just Albert Lea residents to get to work as of 2000

707.64: square miles in Freeborn County

12.6: square miles in Albert Lea

14.17: percent of Albert Lea that is water

10.8: square miles in Albert Lea that are land

20: lakes in Freeborn County

5: lakes that are completely or partially in Albert Lea

2,685: acres of Albert Lea Lake

521: acres of Fountain Lake

5.5: feet in maximum depth of Albert Lea Lake

14: feet in maximum depth of Fountain Lake

23.1: percent of firms owned by women in Freeborn County

14,738: people who were 16 or older in Albert Lea in 2000

8,924: people who were 16 or older in Albert Lea in 2000 and in the labor force

39.4: percentage of people 16 or older in Albert Lea in 2000 not in the labor force

2,433: people working in manufacturing in Albert Lea in 2000

1,947: people working in education, health and social services in Albert Lea in 2000

1,152: people working in retail trade in Albert Lea in 2000.

816: government workers in Albert Lea in 2000.

5: highways that enter Albert Lea city limits

2: rank in Freeborn County of Glenville for area and for population

2.2: square miles in Glenville

678: people estimated to reside in Glenville

$221,339: federal spending in Freeborn County in 2008

44: people per square mile in Freeborn County in 2008

14: people who died in automobile wrecks in Freeborn County in 2008

2: people who died in automobile wrecks in Freeborn County in 2007

131: years Albert Lea has been incorported as a city

153: years Albert Lea has been platted and recorded as a city

37,882: days since the first automobile driver’s license was issued in Albert Lea

8: miles per hour speed limit for city streets in 1906

30: miles per hour speed limit for city streets today

10: rail lines radiating out of Albert Lea in the 1920s

5: rail lines radiating out of Albert Lea today

133: school districts in Freeborn County in 1911

7: school districts in Freeborn County today

287: people employed by Freeborn County government

1,136: miles of U.S. Highway 69 from Port Arthur, Texas, to Albert Lea

998: miles of U.S. Highway 65 from Clayton, La., to Albert Lea

72: months since a bank robbery in Freeborn County

94: permits to carry a gun issued so far in 2009

92: permits to carry a gun issued in 2008

22: permits to carry a gun issued in 2005

433: permits to carry a gun (which last five years) issued since 2003

103: inmates in the Freeborn County jail at 8 a.m. Monday

65: inmates in the Freeborn County jail at 8 a.m. Monday belonging to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement

122: inmate capacity at the Freeborn County jail set by the Minnesota Department of Corrections

3: women inmates in custody of Freeborn County at 8 a.m. Monday but jailed in Steele County

7,442: contacts by the Freeborn County Veterans Service Office requiring action

2,855: estimated number of people in Freeborn County who are military veterans as of 2008

$25,663,294: property taxes collected by all levels of government in Freeborn County in 2007

$29,676,022: property taxes collected by all levels of government in Freeborn County in 2008

$13,178,986: property taxes collected by just Freeborn County in 2007

$14,200,391: property taxes collected by just Freeborn County in 2008

$3,443,363: property taxes collected by just Albert Lea in 2007

$3,863,626: property taxes collected by just Albert Lea in 2008

$2,833,570,800: estimated market value of taxable property in Freeborn County in 2008

$3,074,771,700: estimated market value of taxable property in Freeborn County in 2009

7: new home starts in Albert Lea in 2008

24.2: average new home starts in Albert Lea per year since 1996

11: new home starts in Albert Lea so far in 2009

$4,181: average per acre sale price of agricultural land in Freeborn County in 2009

$3,356: average per acre sale price of agricultural land in Freeborn County in 2008

$538: average per acre sale price of agricultural land in Freeborn County in 1987

369,778: tillable acres of agricultural land in Freeborn County in 2009

20: townships in Freeborn County

$97,300: average sale price of houses in Albert Lea in 2009

$104,135: average sale price of houses in Albert Lea in 2008

$107,821: average sale price of houses in Albert Lea in 2007

77: hospital beds for which Albert Lea Medical Center is licensed

28: hospital patients on average per day at Albert Lea Medical Center

25,140: tons of garbage produced in Freeborn County in 2008

19,200: tons of garbage produced in Freeborn County in 1990

27,294: tons of garbage produced in Freeborn County in 2006

15,388: tons of recycleable waste collected in Freeborn County in 2008

44: percent recycling rate the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency designates for Freeborn County

161: marriage applications made in Freeborn County in 2008

337: deaths in Freeborn County in 2008

339: births in Freeborn County in 2008

15,116: approximate number of issues of the Albert Lea Tribune since it moved to 808 W. Front St. in 1961.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, Freeborn County departments, Albert Lea Tribune, www.albertlealakes.com, Freeborn County Heritage (history book dated 1988)