Halland County

Halland is the west coast between Gothenburg and Malmö, six municipalities and just over 346,000 people. Seaside resorts and summer towns recur along the whole coast, but everyday life looks different depending on where in the county (län) you end up. North of Varberg you are in practice living on the outskirts of Gothenburg. Furthest south, people commute to Halmstad, Båstad and Ängelholm. And inland, in the forests around Hyltebruk, it is a different world altogether.

The north is Gothenburg, the south is Halmstad

The county's wealthy part is in the north. In Kungsbacka the median income is above SEK 420,000, only five per cent live on a low economic standard and unemployment is among the lowest in the country. But the municipality is very much a commuter town. Just over half of those in work commute out, mostly towards Gothenburg, and house prices are on a par with the city's. It is a place for established households who can handle the price tag.

Varberg is the county's fastest growing municipality, with population growth of just over three and a half per cent in three years. The town centre is easy to cycle, the sea is close and the train to Gothenburg takes around three quarters of an hour. The price is long queues for rental flats and a town that goes quiet in winter. The town draws people returning home who moved to Gothenburg for work and came back when it was time for a detached house.

Halmstad is the county's largest town, with just over 106,000 inhabitants. The average age here is the lowest in the county and the range of things to do the widest, with around ninety restaurants, two cinemas and a handful of museums. At the same time, unemployment is the second highest in the county, after Hylte, and the differences within the municipality are large. In Andersberg and Nyhem a large share live on thin margins, while incomes are high in Söndrum and along the coast towards Tylösand. Falkenberg lies between Varberg and Halmstad, has an Öresund train every hour and employment clearly above the national average. It is a mid-sized town that is easily overlooked, even though it handles everyday life on its own.

Southwards and inland

Laholm is the county's oldest municipality, with an average age above 45. The town lies on the Lagan river, just under 10 km from the coast, and is quiet in the evenings. The beach at Mellbystrand is what stands out, and it has become a local bone of contention since a court stopped cars driving on it at the end of 2023. Jobs and shops are in Halmstad, and almost half of those in work commute out. Incomes are highest on the coast and lowest in the inland villages of Knäred and eastern Laholm.

Hylte is the county's downside. The municipality has just over 10,000 inhabitants and has lost four per cent of them in three years, while all the others are growing. Unemployment is above seven per cent, almost one in five live on a low economic standard and the share with post-secondary education is among the lowest in the country. What there is plenty of is forest, lakes and nature reserves. Services are thin, and for a cinema, a gym or big shopping you go to Halmstad. It is not the countryside that is worst off here, but the town of Hyltebruk.

What you should know

Compared with the country as a whole, Halland does well. Incomes are on average just above the national average and unemployment clearly below, but the gap between municipalities is wide, from just over SEK 330,000 in Hylte and Laholm to more than SEK 420,000 in Kungsbacka. Reported crime is below the national average, with Halmstad as the exception, and the police do not list any police-designated vulnerable areas in the county. The Halmstad figure should be read with care, since shopping and summer tourism push it up.

Commuting shapes a lot. If you work in Gothenburg, Kungsbacka or Varberg are the easiest places to live. If you want mid-sized town life, choose Halmstad or Falkenberg. If you are after calm, the sea and a child-friendly beach, look at Laholm. If you depend on a broad job market or a wide range of services, be cautious about Hylte. And everywhere on the coast the same applies: summer is packed, winter is quiet, and the housing market is toughest in the north.