Gotland County

Gotland is both a county and a municipality, which makes the island something unusual in Sweden. There is no neighbouring municipality to pop over to. Just under 61,000 people live on the island, Visby is the only town, and the mainland is three hours away by ferry from Nynäshamn. No other county has an older population, with an average age of around 46.

Two seasons

The island lives to two rhythms. In summer it fills with tourists, Almedalen Week and Medieval Week take over Visby, and finding a parking space becomes impossible. The rest of the year is quiet, and the town effectively shuts at around seven in the evening. People who grew up here notice that friends their own age have often moved to the mainland.

Even so, the range of services is wide for an island. Visby has just over a hundred restaurants, several bakeries, a cinema and theatre stages, and there are around thirty museums around the island. There are swimming pools, plenty of gyms, campsites and nature reserves. You do not need to go anywhere else for dinner or a swim.

Visby and the rest of the island

Almost everything is in Visby. Hemse, Klintehamn, Slite and Fårösund have the essentials, usually a supermarket, a school and a library, but for anything more you head into town. In the countryside a car is a must, and the ferry turns every spontaneous trip to the mainland into a booking.

The housing market bears the mark of tourism. Campus Gotland makes Visby a student town, but rooms to rent are hard to find, and contracts often run only for the academic year, with the flat handed back over the summer. Buyers of holiday homes push up prices in the most popular spots. At the same time, a family with children can have a life in a detached house for a fraction of big-city prices.

Jobs and differences across the island

Unemployment is well below the national average, but incomes are the lowest of any county, with a median income of just over SEK 320,000. The jobs are in tourism and seasonal work, and the job market narrows once summer is over. The differences across the island are large. Median income ranges from SEK 364,000 in southern Visby to SEK 258,000 in Hemse, where one in four residents lives with a low economic standard. In Hemse and Slite education levels are the lowest on the island.

Safety is undramatic. No area is on the police list of designated vulnerable areas, and reported crime is slightly below the national level, even though tourist areas tend to collect extra reports.

Gotland suits people looking for the sea, cycling distances and a community small enough that you are quickly recognised: students, families with children trading big-city prices for a detached house, and those who can put up with a quiet February. Anyone who needs a broad job market all year round, trips to the mainland without booking a ferry, or town life after seven in the evening should think it over once more.