Kalmar County

Kalmar County is a long stretch of coast in eastern Småland, plus Öland on the other side of the Kalmar Strait. Behind the coast lie forest, lakes and old mill and factory towns. Just under 250,000 people live here, spread across twelve municipalities that have less in common than the map suggests. The county has one of the oldest populations in the country and incomes sit below the national average, but that generalisation hides a great deal. Kalmar, Oskarshamn and Mörbylånga live quite differently from Högsby and Hultsfred.

The coast, Öland and the interior

Kalmar is the county's centre of gravity. The city has just over 73,000 residents, a university, the county hospital and the widest range of shops, restaurants and culture. It is also the county's youngest municipality and one of only two that are growing. Further north along the coast lie Oskarshamn and Västervik, both with a hospital and a broad range of everyday services. Ferries leave Oskarshamn's harbour for both Öland and Gotland. Västervik's archipelago fills the town with tourists, and in November it can feel deserted.

Öland is two municipalities with different circumstances. Mörbylånga, the southern half, is the county's fastest growing municipality and also has the lowest unemployment. Borgholm in the north has the county's oldest population, and an economy that rests heavily on tourism. In both municipalities summer is full of life and winter is long and quiet.

The interior and the old industrial communities of Småland are something else. Vimmerby with Astrid Lindgren's World, Nybro and Emmaboda in the Kingdom of Crystal, Hultsfred and Högsby are forest and industrial communities where the main town has most things and the villages around it only the essentials. Torsås lies on the coast but is small and rural, with the E22 as its lifeline.

Money, jobs and commuting

The range in median income is wide, from just under SEK 280,000 in Högsby to just over SEK 357,000 in Oskarshamn, where jobs pay well without demanding a long education. Kalmar and Mörbylånga are also high, while Hultsfred, Borgholm and Högsby are among the lowest in the country. The share of people with a low economic standard is highest in Högsby, where one in four gets by on very little, followed by Hultsfred, Emmaboda and Nybro. Unemployment is broadly around the national average, but lowest in Mörbylånga and highest in Högsby, at just over seven and a half per cent. Graduates are found mainly in Kalmar, where a third have at least three years of university, and in Mörbylånga. In Hultsfred they are few.

Commuting shows how much the jobs cluster around a few towns. Mörbylånga has the county's highest share of outbound commuters, just over half of those in work, and Kalmar is just across the bridge. Torsås, Högsby, Mönsterås and Nybro are also high, and for people living there the job is often in another municipality. Kalmar and Oskarshamn, on the other hand, take in more commuters than they send out, as do Vimmerby and Emmaboda. Trains exist but cannot be taken for granted. Högsby is on the line between Kalmar and Linköping, Emmaboda is the place to change for Copenhagen, but most villages in Mönsterås have no station and Västervik is not on a main line. In practice a car is necessary almost everywhere.

The downsides

Depopulation is the county's big issue. The county shrank slightly between 2021 and 2024 while the country grew. Högsby lost close to six per cent and Emmaboda more than three, and in Hultsfred the population has been falling since the 1970s. In that situation a cheap house is both an opportunity and a warning. Services thin out quickly outside the main towns, and in Högsby there is only one restaurant and no branch of the state-run off-licence Systembolaget.

Kalmar has its divides too. Median income ranges from just over SEK 436,000 in Berga down to just under SEK 256,000 in Norrliden, where four in ten live with a low economic standard. And in Nybro the hardship in Kungshall is real, with just over half of residents on a low economic standard. Even so, no area in the county is on the police list of designated vulnerable areas, and reported crime overall is below the national average. That figure should be read with caution in the tourist municipalities, where visitors add to the reports but not to the population.

Kalmar County suits people who want coast, forest and calm without big-city prices, especially families with children and those planning for the second half of life. Anyone who needs a broad job market for graduates or fast connections should work out the distances first, because it is the location in eastern Småland that is the county's real catch.