Örebro County

Örebro County is the forests of Bergslagen, the old mining and mill country, to the north and west, the shore of Lake Vättern to the south and a dense knot of railways and roads in the middle. Just over 300,000 people live here, spread across twelve municipalities that resemble one another less than the county border suggests. At one end is a growing county seat with a university. At the other are small mill communities where the population has been shrinking for years. Most of what is worth knowing comes down to where in the county you end up.

Örebro and the towns around it

Örebro is the county's centre of gravity, with just over 160,000 residents, a castle, a university and a hospital. It is the youngest municipality (kommun) in the county and one of the few that is growing properly. This is where the jobs, the range of services and the highest education levels are, but also the county's police-designated vulnerable areas: Vivalla is classed as especially vulnerable, Oxhagen and Varberga as vulnerable. Many newcomers discover that the job market is harder to get into than it looks.

Around the city lie towns that live in its shadow, for better and for worse. Kumla is growing fastest of the county's municipalities, has higher incomes than most Swedish municipalities and one of the lowest shares in the county of people on tight finances. Even so, roughly six in ten Kumla residents commute out, and the wider range of shops and services is found in Örebro. Lekeberg is an even clearer case. It has the county's highest incomes, lowest unemployment and lowest crime levels, but the municipality is in practice a quiet hinterland where life depends on a short drive. Hallsberg is a different kind of commuter town. The railways meet in the middle of town, roughly half of those who work there live in another municipality, and the high-speed train makes it possible to live cheaply and still work in Stockholm a few days a week.

The mill towns and the sparsely populated areas

Head west and north and the picture changes. Karlskoga is an industrial town with defence and chemical companies, where the jobs are on the spot and many commute in from neighbouring towns. Housing is cheap, but the population is shrinking slightly and parts of the centre are grey. Lindesberg and Nora are within commuting distance of Örebro, Lindesberg by train. Lindesberg has an unusually wide range of services for its size, Nora one of the best-preserved wooden towns in the country and a modest but complete town centre. Both have an older population than the middle of the county, and both are slowly losing people.

In the small municipalities things are harder. Degerfors lost hundreds of jobs when the steelworks closed, and its education level is among the lowest in the country. Laxå is mostly an exit off the E20, with Tiveden National Park as its real asset. Hällefors has lost almost eight per cent of its population in three years, has some of the lowest incomes in the country and one of the highest shares of people with a low economic standard. There is still more on offer than the population suggests, thanks to the food culture of Grythyttan and the spa at Loka Brunn. Ljusnarsberg is the county's smallest and oldest municipality, with an average age of over fifty, one grocery shop in the main town and an unexpected opera stage by Lake Usken.

What to know before you move

Incomes in the county are below the national average, and the range is wide, from just over SEK 280,000 in Ljusnarsberg to just over SEK 360,000 in Lekeberg. Fewer people have post-secondary education than in the country as a whole, and unemployment is at the national level, but it varies from just under three per cent in Lekeberg to over six in Hällefors, Degerfors and Örebro. The average age is in line with the country, but that hides the fact that Örebro pulls the average down while the mill communities push it up.

By the water in the south lies Askersund, with the Vättern archipelago, bathing spots and campsites. It is quiet and good value, but the range of services is limited and a car is necessary. Everywhere outside the municipal centres the same applies: distances are long, and a car is a must.

Reported crime for the county as a whole is slightly above the national level, but the figure is driven by a handful of municipalities. Örebro, Hallsberg, Degerfors and Ljusnarsberg are above the national level, mostly because shopping, nightlife or a transport hub attract crimes that are counted where they are committed. Most municipalities are safer than that, and only Örebro has areas on the police list.

Örebro County suits those who want a city within reach without big-city prices, either in the city itself or in a commuter town with train and car. Anyone looking for a rich range of services close to home should choose Örebro. Anyone who wants peace, forest and cheap housing will find it in the mill communities and Askersund, but should expect to commute, drive a lot and watch the neighbours become fewer.