If the U.S. Census Bureau’s estimates are correct, Mower County’s a little quieter than it was 10 years ago.

Mower County’s population is projected to have gone down by more than 250 people, according to Census Bureau estimates released today. The county’s projected July 2010 population was 38,356, slightly down from the 38,603 people the 2000 census showed lived in Mower County.

Mower County’s estimated drop in population isn’t as severe as Freeborn County’s, which estimates show shrunk from about 32,500 to 30,900. Estimates show Steele County’s grown from about 33,700 people in 2000 to more than 36,500, which pales in comparison to Olmsted County’s growth of more than 20,000 people over the past 10 years to a projected population of 145,200.

These numbers aren’t based on the 2010 census but on yearly estimates, which track the net migration of people around the U.S. and Puerto Rico as well as national estimates of deaths over the past 10 years.

The Census Bureau will compare these estimates with the official 2010 census results once every state’s data has been released. Minnesota’s census data has not been released, but is expected by April 1.