Värmland County

Värmland is forest, lakes and rivers, with Lake Vänern to the south and the Norwegian border to the west. Just over 283,000 people live here, and slightly more than one in three of them live in Karlstad. The rest are spread across fifteen municipalities that differ from one another more than the county average would suggest. There is a growing city on the Klarälven river, a prosperous commuter island, border areas that live off Norwegian shoppers and old mill towns that people are moving away from. If you want to understand what it is like to live in Värmland, you first need to know which of these parts you are talking about.

Karlstad and the suburbs around it

Karlstad, with just under a hundred thousand residents, is by far the county's largest city and the municipality (kommun) growing fastest, followed by Hammarö. This is where you find the university, the Värmland Museum, the opera, the ice rink where Färjestad play and shopping that draws customers from the whole county. The city is easy to get your bearings in and friendly, but anyone after nightlife and big-city buzz may feel that not much happens. The rest of Värmland comes here for the wider range, and plenty of people commute in. Hammarö, on its island in Vänern, has the county's highest incomes, a median of just over SEK 411,000, and roughly half of those who work there commute in. At the same time, almost three in four people in work travel out. Families with children choose the island for its schools and its safety. Kil and Forshaga work the same way, with quiet communities within commuting distance of Karlstad where a large share of those in work commute out. Grums, on the northern bay of Vänern, is a mill town built around the Gruvön paper mill, twenty minutes from Karlstad. Housing is cheap there, but the smell from the mill is something you should check for yourself first.

Mill towns, border country and sparsely populated areas

Head east and north and the picture changes. Filipstad has lost around six per cent of its population in just a few years, its median income is the lowest in the county, just under SEK 292,000, and its unemployment is the highest in the county. Flats can cost less than SEK 100,000, and that is because the jobs are missing. Storfors and Munkfors, the county's two smallest municipalities, Hagfors and Säffle have also shrunk and have some of the oldest populations in the county. In Storfors and Hagfors the average age is close to or above 48. Education levels are low in several of them, and in Filipstad, Munkfors and Hagfors only between twelve and just over sixteen per cent have at least three years of post-secondary education. Housing here is cheap and nature is close, but most other things require a car.

Torsby stretches up the Klarälven valley towards the mountains and Branäs, around 100 km from Karlstad. Unemployment is low and young people get into work early, but incomes are below the national median and the range of services runs out fairly quickly. Furthest west are Årjäng and Eda, where trade with Norway provides jobs that would otherwise not exist. Unemployment in Årjäng is among the lowest in the country, but border trade is vulnerable, as the closed borders of the pandemic showed in Charlottenberg. Arvika and Sunne are smaller towns with a cultural life of their own, the Rackstad Museum in one and Selma Lagerlöf's Mårbacka in the other. Kristinehamn, on Vänern, has cheap housing and commuting distance to several towns, but also a stubborn image of itself as a place in decline.

Jobs, money and safety

The county as a whole lies below the national level. Incomes are lower, fewer people have long post-secondary education and the population is older than average. Population growth is almost zero, and it comes entirely from Karlstad and Hammarö. Unemployment, on the other hand, is slightly below the national average. Mill industry and border trade provide jobs in several places, and anyone wanting a career in a narrow field will often have to commute or work remotely.

Safety is a strength. Värmland has the lowest number of reported crimes per resident of all Sweden's counties, and none of the county's municipalities has an area that the police classify as a police-designated vulnerable area. That says a lot about everyday life, even if crime figures in the shopping municipalities can be inflated. The downside is distance. Trains towards Stockholm, Göteborg and Oslo from Karlstad and railway stations in several municipalities make life easier, but in the north and east a car is essential, and for young people in several municipalities there are few jobs close to home. Värmland suits those who want nature, quiet and cheaper housing than the big cities, and who are prepared for everyday life often depending on the car. Anyone looking for a broad job market, a rich range of services close to home or lively nightlife should stay in or near Karlstad.