Freeborn County is a county in Minnesota, United States, on the Iowa border in the south-central part of the state. It had a population of 30,895 at the 2020 census and covers 707 square miles (1,830 km2) of land plus 15 square miles (39 km2) of water, centred near 43°40′N 93°21′W.
Albert Lea is the county seat, and its postal code is 56007. The county has 14 incorporated cities and a scatter of unincorporated communities and mobile-home-park settlements, sits in the Central time zone, and anchors the Albert Lea Micropolitan Statistical Area.
Towns & Villages in Freeborn County
Freeborn County has 14 incorporated cities — Minnesota abolished the separate legal categories of “town” and “village” in 1974, so every incorporated place here is legally a city — plus a number of unincorporated communities and platted mobile-home-park subdivisions that never incorporated. The table below carries over every legitimate settlement from the county’s records; a handful of near-duplicate or junk entries from older listings (a stray “Hollandale Junction” spur and an unincorporated “Muckland” hamlet with no independent population count) are noted rather than tabled with invented numbers.
| Place | Type | Pop. | ZIP |
|---|---|---|---|
| Albert Lea | City · seat | 17,731 | 56007 |
| Alden | City | 601 | 56009 |
| Clarks Grove | City | 741 | 56016 |
| Conger | City | 165 | — |
| Emmons | City | 501 | 56029 |
| Freeborn | City | 273 | 56032 |
| Geneva | City | 484 | 56035 |
| Glenville | City | 616 | 56036 |
| Hartland | City | 336 | 56042 |
| Hayward | City | 271 | 56043 |
| Hollandale | City | 258 | 56045 |
| Manchester | City | 79 | — |
| Myrtle | City | 65 | — |
| Twin Lakes | City | 388 | 56089 |
| Armstrong | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Bancroft | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Bath | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Corning | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Gordonsville | Unincorp. | — | 56034 |
| Lerdal | Unincorp. | — | — |
| London | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Mansfield | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Maple Island | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Moscow | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Murtaugh | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Oakland | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Petran | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Sigsbee | Unincorp. | — | — |
| South Hollandale | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Twin Grove | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Emmons Trailer Court | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Hillcrest MH Park | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Lakeview MH Park | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Rainbow Terrace MH Park | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Stoney Creek Estates | Unincorp. | — | — |
Albert Lea is the only city of any size in the county — the next-largest, Clarks Grove, has fewer than 800 residents — so most of the county reads as open farmland dotted with small platted communities and a run of lakeside mobile-home-park subdivisions along the Albert Lea Lake chain (Hillcrest, Lakeview, Rainbow Terrace, Stoney Creek Estates). “Hollandale Junction” and “Muckland,” carried in older listings, are minor rail-siding and locality names inside or immediately adjacent to Hollandale and Oakland Township respectively rather than distinct settlements, and are omitted here rather than tabled with guessed figures.
ZIP Codes
- 56007 — Albert Lea (also serves the surrounding townships)
- 56009 — Alden
- 56016 — Clarks Grove
- 56029 — Emmons
- 56032 — Freeborn
- 56034 — Gordonsville
- 56035 — Geneva
- 56036 — Glenville
- 56042 — Hartland
- 56043 — Hayward
- 56045 — Hollandale
- 56089 — Twin Lakes
Conger, Manchester and Myrtle are too small to carry their own post office and share a ZIP code with a neighboring city; that assignment isn’t confirmed here, so it is left off the list above.
Geography
Freeborn County sits on the Iowa border in the south-central part of Minnesota, on the divide between the Mississippi and Missouri river watersheds. Albert Lea Lake and the Shell Rock River run through the county seat, and the terrain is gently rolling former prairie, almost entirely under row-crop cultivation outside the lake corridor. The county borders Steele County to the northeast, Mower County to the east, Worth and Winnebago counties in Iowa to the south, Faribault County to the west, and Waseca County to the northwest.
Demographics
Freeborn County had 30,895 residents at the 2020 census, a density of roughly 44 people per square mile of land. Albert Lea is by far the largest community, followed by Clarks Grove. Median household income in the county runs below the Minnesota median of $85,086, consistent with a rural, agriculture-dependent county economy.
Economy & Local Life
Agriculture — corn, soybeans and hog production — dominates land use outside Albert Lea, and food processing has long anchored the county seat’s economy; the county is also the retail and medical hub for the Albert Lea Micropolitan Statistical Area, serving much of south-central Minnesota and the adjoining part of northern Iowa. The Freeborn County Fair, held each summer in Albert Lea, is the county’s largest annual event.
History
Freeborn County was organized on February 20, 1855, carved from Blue Earth and Rice counties along with a dozen other Minnesota Territory counties created the same day. It is named for William Freeborn, an early Minnesota pioneer, merchant and territorial legislator who never lived in the county himself. Albert Lea grew up around the junction of the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific and Chicago Great Western rail lines in the late 1800s, which fixed it permanently as the county’s commercial center over the smaller lake and prairie townships.
Getting There
Interstate 35 and Interstate 90 cross directly through Albert Lea, and U.S. Highways 65 and 69 also run through the county.
- Austin, Minnesota (Mower County seat) — about 24 miles east
- Owatonna, Minnesota (Steele County seat) — about 30 miles northeast
- Mankato, Minnesota — about 45 miles west
- Minneapolis, Minnesota — about 100 miles north
The nearest commercial airport is Rochester International Airport, roughly 45 miles east; Minneapolis–St. Paul International Airport is about 100 miles north.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Freeborn County?
It is in south-central Minnesota, directly on the Iowa border, centred near 43°40′N 93°21′W.
What is the population of Freeborn County?
30,895 people, per the 2020 census.
How big is Freeborn County?
722 square miles total — 707 square miles of land and 15 square miles of water.
What is the county seat of Freeborn County?
Albert Lea is the county seat and largest city.
How many towns are in Freeborn County?
14 incorporated cities, plus a number of unincorporated communities and mobile-home-park subdivisions.
What ZIP codes are in Freeborn County?
Codes include 56007 (Albert Lea), 56009 (Alden), 56016 (Clarks Grove), 56029 (Emmons), 56032 (Freeborn), 56035 (Geneva), 56036 (Glenville), 56042 (Hartland), 56043 (Hayward) and 56045 (Hollandale).
Who was the county named after?
William Freeborn, an early Minnesota pioneer, merchant and territorial legislator.
More counties in this state: Towns and villages in Minnesota.