Cost of living and salaries
General considerations and rules of thumb
- Salaries in Sweden are discussed in pre-tax, per month terms. Tax is a personal thing — some people are members of the church, which makes their tax higher. In certain contexts (like applying for a mortgage), income is discussed per year (but still pre-tax). If you see 30k SEK, that's probably a monthly salary; 300k SEK is probably a yearly one.
- A job offer for a permanent full-time position in Sweden has a decent salary as a rule. In the majority of the cases it will cause neither starvation nor enormous savings.
- Social security in Sweden is very high, it’s hard to be financially ruined by a health issue, for example, and education is free. But it's tied to your income history: if you've never worked, the parental leave benefits will be impossible to survive on.
- Swedish system favors "two working adults" approach, meaning that "one working adult and one stay-at-home parent" setup might be a strain.
- The biggest expense factor is housing; for an immigrant moving to Stockholm without having their employer arrange an apartment the only option might be to rent an overpriced sublet (think 12000+ for a modest apartment with one bedroom). In other cities and cases it’s possible to pay 3000 instead.
- Average salary in Sweden is around 40k SEK per month. This article from the Swedish government agency of statistics says that in 2023 the average salary was 39900 kronor, with significant variability depending on profession, age, education, and other factors. Statsskuld.se is one of the websites which allows to browse, filter and explore salary statistics for different positions (the link shows a common profession in the IT branch). SCB also provides these stats.
- Services are, as a rule, expensive in Sweden. Everything is relative but this is generally not the land of cheap haircuts and easily affordable car service.
- Inflation hit hard in 2022–2023, so any price estimates and expenses reports from before will probably give a picture that's too optimistic.
Monthly costs
According to Swedbank, this is what it cost to live in Sweden in 2023 (note that the housing is not included!):
| An adult | A couple | Child < 1 year | Child 1-3y | Child 4-6y | Child 7-10y | Child 11-14y | Child 15-19y | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Food | 3 420 | 6 840 | 1 010 | 1 060 | 1 350 | 1 810 | 2 250 | 2 680 |
| Clothes | 670 | 1 340 | 790 | 790 | 1 070 | 1 070 | 870 | 730 |
| Hygiene, healthcare | 730 | 1 460 | 470 | 740 | 210 | 210 | 430 | 740 |
| Sport and leisure | 690 | 1 380 | 120 | 220 | 450 | 580 | 590 | 690 |
| Local travels | 900 | 1 800 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Unemployment insurance | 140 | 280 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Insurance, accident | 0 | 0 | 210 | 210 | 210 | 210 | 210 | 210 |
| Home insurance | 130 | 160 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Electricity bill | 860 | 1 020 | 160 | 160 | 160 | 160 | 160 | 160 |
| TV, phone, internet | 1 760 | 2 170 | 250 | 250 | 250 | 330 | 360 | 410 |
| Supplies/consumables | 130 | 170 | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 |
| Car | 3 050 | 3 050 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Total per month | 12 520 | 19 750 | 3 100 | 3 520 | 3 790 | 4 460 | 4 960 | 5 710 |
| Total per year | 150 240 | 237 000 | 37 200 | 42 240 | 45 480 | 53 520 | 59 520 | 68 520 |
Swedish Consumer Agency prepares a report on estimates of living costs every year, and gives a lot of tips and orientation along the way:
The report from 2021 in English
The report from 2024 in Swedish
The full reports have more age groups and more categories of expenses, but here's an excerpt:
Shared costs | 1 person | 2 people | 3 people | 4 people |
Expendable items (e.g. laundry detergent) | 160 | 160 | 210 | 320 |
Household utensils and small appliances (e.g. furniture, TV) | 1100 | 1220 | 1570 | 1920 |
Media (e.g. internet, newspaper) | 1600 | 1850 | 2080 | 2330 |
Home insurance | 1 person | 2 people | 3 people | 4 people |
Big city (over 200k inhabitants) | 200 | 220 | 270 | 330 |
Medium-sized city (50–200k inhabitants) | 140 | 160 | 200 | 250 |
Small town (less than 50k inhabitants) | 130 | 140 | 160 | 200 |
Food costs | 18–30 year-olds | 31–60 year-olds | 61–74 year-olds |
Only home-cooked | 3940 | 3710 | 3330 |
All food cooked at home except lunch on weekdays (add separately) | 3070 | 2890 | 2590 |
Other costs | 18–25 year-olds | 26–49 year-olds | 50–64 year-olds | 65+ year-olds |
Clothes and shoes | 840 | 800 | 760 | 700 |
Leisure | 660 | 640 | 630 | 600 |
Mobile phone | 160 | 160 | 100 | 100 |
Hygiene | 820 | 770 | 750 | 700 |
Total | 2480 | 2370 | 2240 | 2100 |
Additional links
- Stockholm on Numbeo, the cost-of-living comparison site
- Apartments for rent in whole Sweden, filter by clicking on “Hela Sverige” and selecting the city or län of interest
- Prices on food and other stuff in supermarkets, asks for a zip code first; Stockholm is 11x xx, Gothenburg 41x xx, Malmö 21x xx. For the third digit, 2, 3, 4, 6, and 7 mean “regular mail delivery” and should work