Gävleborg County

Gävleborg is a long county with three different characters. Furthest south lies Gästrikland, with Gävle, Sandviken, Hofors and Ockelbo. North of Gästrikland, Hälsingland takes over, with coast to the east and forested inland stretching west towards the mountains. Just over 283,000 people live here, and more than one in three lives in Gävle. The rest of the county is made up of small and medium-sized towns, often built around a mill or an industry.

Gävle pulls one way, the rest another

Gävle is the only municipality in the county that is growing, and only by less than one per cent since 2021. The city has the youngest population, the highest incomes and the highest level of education. At the same time it has one of the higher unemployment figures in the county, and the differences between neighbourhoods are large. Gävle also has most of what you could want from a city: culture, shopping centres, a university college and trains to Stockholm in around an hour and a half.

The county as a whole is shrinking. Its population trend is among the weakest in the country, and only a handful of counties have an older population. Söderhamn lost the most, just over three per cent in three years, followed by Ovanåker, Hofors and Ockelbo. Ockelbo has the highest average age in the county, over 48, and is one of the smallest municipalities in Sweden with just over 5,700 residents. Hudiksvall, Ljusdal and Bollnäs are declining more slowly, but none of them is growing.

Incomes are below the national average and the level of education is among the lowest in the country. The median income runs from just under SEK 307,000 in Ockelbo to just under SEK 350,000 in Gävle, and Nordanstig, Bollnäs, Ljusdal and Söderhamn sit close to the bottom. Hofors has one of the lowest shares in the country with longer post-secondary education, which ties in with the steelworks having long provided jobs that needed no degree. Unemployment is among the highest in the country. Sandviken is highest, at just over eight per cent, while Ovanåker and Hudiksvall are below the national average.

Jobs, commuting and distances

The labour market is the county's weak point. Industry is still big in Sandviken and Hofors, but many towns have few jobs and few that require an education. In Söderhamn young people set their sights on Uppsala and the university, while young people in Ockelbo and Ljusdal get into work unusually early.

Commuting follows the same pattern. Sandviken draws in around one in four of its workforce from outside, but sends almost as many out. Gävle has roughly one fifth in-commuters. Nordanstig and Ockelbo, on the other hand, send out around four in ten of their working residents, and Hofors almost one in three. There a car or the train becomes a precondition for having a job, and the car is needed for everyday life too. In almost every municipality in the county, services are gathered in one or two towns, while the villages have a grocery shop and a school, sometimes not even that.

The train is a strength for anyone living near Gävle who wants to reach Stockholm or Uppsala. Hudiksvall is just under half an hour from Sundsvall by train, but for specialist hospital care you still have to travel to Gävle or Uppsala. Further inland, in Ljusdal and Ovanåker, distances are longer and a car is a must.

Coast, forest and cheaper housing

What the county has plenty of is nature. The coast offers sea bathing and an archipelago at Gävle, Söderhamn and Hudiksvall. The inland has lakes, nature reserves and skiing at Järvsö, Hassela and Kungsberget. Several of the Hälsingland farmhouses in Ovanåker are on the UNESCO World Heritage List. Housing costs clearly less than in the big cities, and a two-room flat in Söderhamn can go for under SEK 7,000 a month.

The downside is just as clear. Incomes are low, there are few broad-based jobs and the population is getting older. In Gävle, Sandviken, Bollnäs and Söderhamn there are neighbourhoods with markedly lower incomes and many households with a low economic standard, but no municipality in the county has areas on the police list of vulnerable areas. Reported crime is below the national level in most municipalities, lowest in Ovanåker, and Gävle stands out most because the city is the shopping centre for the whole surrounding region.

Gävleborg suits anyone who wants nature, peace and quiet and a reasonable cost of housing, and who has a job sorted or can commute to Gävle. Anyone who needs a broad labour market, a wide range of services or high wages should look at Gävle and its nearest neighbours. Further north, and further inland, you have to be prepared for distances, dark winters and an everyday life where you yourself need to take the first step into the community.