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Moving to Sweden · Taxes · Reviewed September 4, 2026

Taxes in Sweden for US citizens

Two systems will have a claim on you: Sweden's, because you live there, and the American one, because you are a citizen. This page sets out how they fit together, what Sweden's agreements with the US do and do not cover, and the order things happen in during your move year.

Top personal rate52.4%US federal top rate 37%
VAT / consumption tax25%US sales tax averages 7.5%
US income tax treatyIn forceTie-breaker available
Totalization agreementIn forceOne social security system

This is not tax advice. Cross-border outcomes turn on facts this page cannot know: your visa category, your income mix, where your employer is incorporated, what you own and when you bought it. Use this to ask a qualified cross-border accountant better questions, and verify every figure against Sweden's tax authority and, for the US side, the IRS guidance for citizens abroad.

Your position in Sweden

When you become tax residentYou are subject to unlimited Swedish tax on worldwide income if you are domiciled in Sweden, if you stay in Sweden for six consecutive months or more (short trips home do not break the count), or if you have kept significant connections such as a home or family here after moving away. Everyone else is subject to limited tax liability on Swedish-source income only, typically under the flat 25 percent SINK regime for non-residents.
US income tax treatyIn force
Totalization agreementIn force
Top personal income tax rate52.4% · US federal 37%
VAT / consumption tax25% · US sales tax averages 7.5%
Official sourceSweden tax authority →
NotesYou keep filing a US return. The Foreign Earned Income Exclusion is $132,900 for tax year 2026 (Rev. Proc. 2025-32), but for most people in Sweden the Foreign Tax Credit is the better tool because Swedish tax is usually higher than US tax on the same income: average municipal tax is 32.38 percent in 2026, plus 20 percent state tax on taxable income above SEK 643,000. The US-Sweden income tax treaty (1994, amended by the 2005 protocol) sets tie-breaker residence rules and handles pensions and dividends; the saving clause means it does not exempt US citizens from US filing. The social security convention of 27 May 1985, amended 22 June 2004 and enacted in Sweden as Lag (2004:1192), stops double social contributions and lets you combine credits toward a pension. Newly arrived foreign employees earning at least SEK 88,801 a month in 2026 can apply within three months of starting work for expert tax relief, which exempts 25 percent of salary from Swedish tax for up to seven years. Capital gains and dividends are taxed at a flat 30 percent, and Sweden has no wealth tax, no inheritance tax and no gift tax.

Swedish tax residence attaches faster than most Americans expect. You are taxed on worldwide income if you are domiciled here, if you stay six consecutive months, or if you keep a home or family here after leaving. There is no 183-day-in-a-calendar-year safe harbour.

The headline rates are less punitive than the reputation. Average municipal tax is 32.38 percent in 2026, and the 20 percent state surcharge only bites on taxable income above SEK 643,000, roughly $67,000, giving a top marginal rate near 52.4 percent. There is no wealth tax, no inheritance tax and no gift tax, and investment income is a flat 30 percent. The valuable provision for a US mover is expert tax relief: if your contracted gross salary is at least SEK 88,801 a month in 2026, apply to the Taxation of Research Workers Board within three months of starting work and 25 percent of your salary is exempt from Swedish tax for up to seven years.

On the US side, you still file. The Foreign Earned Income Exclusion is $132,900 for 2026, but because Swedish tax typically exceeds US tax on the same income, the Foreign Tax Credit usually leaves you better off and preserves the Child Tax Credit. The 1994 treaty and its 2005 protocol resolve dual residence and pensions, and the 1985 social security convention means you pay into one system, not both. FBAR and FATCA reporting still apply, and Swedish investment savings accounts (ISK) are a PFIC trap worth raising with a cross-border accountant.

The United States does not stop taxing you

The US taxes citizens on worldwide income regardless of where they live. Moving to Sweden adds a second tax system; it does not remove the first one. Most Americans abroad end up owing little or nothing to the IRS, but that outcome is produced by filing correctly, not by leaving.

Two mechanisms produce that result. The foreign earned income exclusion removes foreign wages and self-employment profit up to an annually indexed cap, but reaches earned income only and does nothing about self-employment tax. The foreign tax credit offsets US tax dollar-for-dollar with income tax actually paid to Sweden, reaches passive income the exclusion cannot, and can leave credits to carry forward. You cannot apply both to the same dollar. Separately, FBAR and FATCA reporting is triggered by account balances rather than by tax owed, and carries penalties out of all proportion to the tax at stake.

The full mechanics are the same wherever you move, so they live in one place: US taxes when you live abroad covers the exclusion tests, the credit, treaties and the saving clause, FBAR and FATCA thresholds, self-employment tax and state residency. The rest of this page is what Sweden specifically changes.

Which mechanism fits Sweden

Sweden's top rate of 52.4% sits at or above the US federal top rate of 37%. Local tax is doing the heavy lifting, so the foreign tax credit is the mechanism worth modelling first: it usually eliminates the US liability outright and leaves excess credits to carry forward.

Self-employment in Sweden

A totalization agreement covers Sweden, so a self-employed American here can normally be assigned to one social security system and exempted from the other, evidenced by a certificate of coverage. Arrange it at the start of the engagement, not at filing time.

US-side official references: FEIE ·Foreign tax credit ·FBAR ·FATCA reporting ·Totalization agreements

Which relief mechanism reaches which income

The most common planning error is assuming the exclusion covers everything. It covers one category. This table maps each kind of income against the mechanisms available to you, with the last column set to Sweden's recorded agreement status.

General map of relief by income type, with the treaty column reflecting Sweden's recorded status. A starting point for a conversation with an accountant, not a determination.
Income typeForeign earned income exclusionForeign tax creditTreaty position for Sweden
Wages earned while living in SwedenYes, up to the annual cap, if you pass the residence or presence testYes, on anything above the cap or not excludedThe employment income article assigns the primary taxing right
Self-employment profitIncome tax only. Self-employment tax survives the exclusionYes, against income tax on the same profitTotalization decides which social security system you pay into
Dividends and interestNo. It reaches earned income onlyYes, for foreign tax actually paid on itDividend and interest articles usually cap withholding
Capital gains on investmentsNoYes, where a foreign tax is paid on the same gainA gains article assigns the taxing right by asset type
Rental income from propertyNoYes, for foreign tax charged on foreign propertyImmovable property is normally taxed where it sits
Pensions and retirement account withdrawalsNoYes, where foreign tax is charged on the withdrawalThe pension article decides. Read it before you draw
US Social Security benefitsNoDepends which country is entitled to tax themMany treaties assign them to one country only

Read the rows against your own income mix. Someone on a local salary and nothing else uses one row of this table. Someone with a brokerage account, a rental at home and vesting equity uses five, and each one can land in a different country.

What Sweden's agreements with the US actually change

The general mechanics above apply to every American abroad. What differs country by country is which of them Sweden has an agreement to soften. Of the 15 countries covered on this site, 15 have a US income tax treaty, 12 have a totalization agreement and 12 have both. Sweden is the case below.

Treaty and totalization status for Sweden, and the mechanism each one affects
IssueStatus for SwedenWhat that means for you
Double tax on employment incomeTreaty in forceA US–Sweden income tax treaty exists, so each type of income has an assigned taxing country and there is a defined route to relief rather than an argument. You still file both returns; the treaty decides who taxes what first.
Being treated as resident by both countriesTie-breaker availableTreaties carry a residence tie-breaker: permanent home, then centre of vital interests, then habitual abode, then nationality. It gives you a defensible answer in the year you move, when both countries can plausibly claim you.
Social security and payroll contributionsTotalization in forceA totalization agreement covers the US and Sweden, so the same earnings are not charged to both social security systems. It also lets contribution periods in each country count toward qualifying for a benefit in the other.
Self-employment and freelancingCertificate of coverage routeWhere an agreement applies, a certificate of coverage from the system you do pay into is what you show the other one. Get it before the first invoice, not after the first assessment.
Pensions, retirement accounts and investment incomeTreaty articles applyTreaty articles usually address pensions, dividends, interest and capital gains separately from wages. Read the specific articles: a treaty that solves your salary can leave your brokerage account taxed in a way you did not expect.

Treaty and totalization status is recorded from the sources listed at the foot of this page. Agreements are amended and protocols enter force on their own timetable, so check the current text before taking a position on a return.

Two numbers worth running before you move

Consumption tax, which nobody models

Income tax gets the attention. Consumption tax takes its slice every month without appearing on any return. A US household spending the national average net salary of $4,230 a month would need roughly $3,892 a month in Sweden for the same basket, at Sweden's overall price level. Of that, the VAT embedded in the prices is up to about $778 a month, against roughly $295 in embedded sales tax at home.

Indicative consumption tax inside an equivalent monthly basket
MeasureUnited StatesSweden
Headline consumption tax rate7.5%25%
Equivalent monthly basket$4,230$3,892
Tax inside that basket, per month$295$778
Per year$3,540$9,336

A ceiling, not a bill. It assumes the whole net salary is spent, and in practice rent sits outside VAT in most systems while food, medicine, books and transport often carry reduced or zero rates, so real exposure lands below this line. The direction of the gap is the useful part: about $483 more per month than at home, before any reduced rate applies.

Marginal rate, read honestly

Sweden's top personal rate is 52.4% against a US federal top rate of 37%, a gap of +15.4 points. That comparison is weaker than it looks in both directions. The US figure excludes state income tax, which can add several points on top. The Swedish figure bites at its own threshold, which may be far lower or far higher in income terms than the US bracket it is being compared to. Top rates tell you the shape of a system, not your bill. Model your actual income against the brackets on the official site before you decide anything.

Check what your salary is worth in Sweden →

How Sweden compares on tax across our dataset

Sweden ranks 13 of 15 on headline top personal rate, lowest first, with 2 countries charging a higher top rate. Every row links to that country's own tax page.

Top personal rate, VAT and US agreement status, lowest top rate first
CountryTop rateVATUS treatyTotalization
United States (baseline)37%7.5%Not applicableNot applicable
Mexico35%16%YesNo
Thailand35%7%YesNo
New Zealand39%15%YesNo
Italy43%22%YesYes
Australia45%10%YesYes
United Kingdom45%20%YesYes
Spain47%21%YesYes
Norway47.4%25%YesYes
Germany47.5%19%YesYes
Portugal48%23%YesYes
Netherlands49.5%21%YesYes
Ireland52%23%YesYes
Sweden · this page52.4%25%YesYes
Canada53.5%5%YesYes
Japan55.9%10%YesYes

Headline rates only. They ignore social contributions, local surtaxes, wealth and inheritance taxes, and the very different incomes at which each top rate starts. A country with a high top rate that begins at a high threshold can cost a middle earner less than one with a lower rate that begins early.

The sequence of tax events in your move year

The move year is the messy one: part-year residence in two systems, two calendars, and deadlines that do not line up. This is the order things generally happen in.

  1. Before you leaveFix the date you stop being a US state resident and the date you land, because almost every later question is answered by those two dates. Take a snapshot of account balances, unrealised gains and any equity vesting schedule. Selling before you become Sweden tax resident is a different transaction from selling after.
  2. The day you arriveRecord the arrival date against something durable, such as a boarding pass, a lease or a registration receipt, because you may have to evidence it years later. It is the day the clock starts on the rule that decides your Swedish tax residency: You are subject to unlimited Swedish tax on worldwide income if you are domiciled in Sweden, if you stay in Sweden for six consecutive months or more (short trips home do not break the count), or if you have kept significant connections such as a home or family here after moving away. Everyone else is subject to limited tax liability on Swedish-source income only, typically under the flat 25 percent SINK regime for non-residents.
  3. Weeks 1 to 8: register locallyA local tax number is usually a precondition for a bank account, a lease and a payroll run, so it happens early whether or not you feel like a taxpayer yet. Registering does not by itself make you resident; the residency rule above does.
  4. First local filingYour first Swedish return covers only the part of the year you were resident, in most systems, and it is the return where split-year treatment is claimed if the country offers it. Deadlines rarely match the US calendar.
  5. First US filing from abroadTaxpayers whose tax home is abroad get an automatic extension beyond the April deadline, and a further extension on request. The extension is for filing, not for paying: interest runs from the original date.
  6. The same season: information returnsThe FBAR and, above higher thresholds, Form 8938 are filed on their own schedules and carry their own penalties. They report balances, not income, so people who owe nothing still miss them and still get penalised.
  7. Month 12 onwardThe bona fide residence test needs an uninterrupted tax year abroad, so the first full calendar year is often the first year you can use it. Until then the physical presence test, 330 full days abroad in a 12-month window, is usually the only route to the exclusion.

State residency: the bill people do not expect

Federal filing is the obligation everyone knows about. The one that catches people is the state they left. States set their own residency rules, and several test domicile, meaning your permanent home in intent, rather than where you physically are. Under a domicile test you can spend a full year in Sweden and still be assessed as a resident of your old state, on your worldwide income, with none of the federal relief above available against it. The FEIE and the foreign tax credit are federal mechanisms, and a state is not required to follow them.

What severing residency usually rests on, and what to be able to evidence:

  • Ending the lease or selling the home, rather than keeping it available to you.
  • Surrendering the state driver's licence and voter registration.
  • Moving vehicle registration, professional licences and mailing address out of state.
  • Where dependants live and where school-age children are enrolled.
  • Day counts, kept contemporaneously. A calendar reconstructed three years later convinces nobody.
  • Filing a final part-year return for the state, which is what formally closes the file.

Check your specific state's rule before you leave, not after. It is easier to establish that you left cleanly on the way out than to argue it from Stockholm two years later.

What to keep, from day one

  • A day-count log with arrival and departure dates for every trip, including trips back to the US. Both the physical presence test and Sweden's own residency rule are decided on days.
  • Local payslips and the annual Swedish tax assessment, which is the evidence of foreign tax paid that a credit claim rests on.
  • Year-end statements for every non-US account, plus the maximum balance during the year, which is what the FBAR asks for and what banks rarely show by default.
  • Cost basis and acquisition dates for anything you owned before you moved, in USD at the time.
  • Your certificate of coverage, if a totalization agreement applies to you.
  • The exchange rates you used, and the source of them, applied consistently across the year.

Tax questions about Sweden

Will I be double taxed by the US and Sweden?

Effectively no, but you still file in both. Sweden taxes your worldwide income once you are resident, and the US taxes citizens wherever they live. The 1994 tax treaty and its 2005 protocol plus the Foreign Tax Credit normally eliminate double taxation, and because Swedish tax usually exceeds US tax on the same income, the credit is often better than the $132,900 Foreign Earned Income Exclusion. The 1985 social security convention prevents paying into both pension systems.

What is expert tax relief and would I qualify?

It exempts 25 percent of your salary from Swedish income tax for up to seven years. You qualify automatically on pay alone if your contracted gross monthly remuneration is at least SEK 88,801 in 2026, which is 1.5 times the price base amount, or on the basis of specialist expertise at lower pay. You must not have been resident in Sweden in the previous five calendar years, and you must apply to the Taxation of Research Workers Board within three months of starting work.

Sources and review

The Sweden-specific figures on this page, meaning the residency rule, treaty and totalization status, rates and notes, come from the sources below. The general US mechanics are described from published IRS, FinCEN and SSA guidance, linked inline above.

What these numbers are. The headline figures were re-derived from primary sources during review. Some category indices could not be matched to a published statistic and are reasoned estimates, marked as such in the list below. Where a source entry says a value is derived, estimated or crowd-sourced, that is exactly what it is: no international body publishes a like-for-like index for every category, and private insurance premiums are not published at all in most countries. Rent figures are national market averages, so a capital city will run above them. How the dataset is built.

  1. OECD, PPP detailed results 2024, price level indices for Sweden with United States = 100 (verified from this endpoint): household final consumption 81.2; food and non-alcoholic beverages 90.8; housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels 64.2; transport 117; restaurants and accommodation 97. Every index on this page except utilities is one of these 2024 figures multiplied by 1.147, the ratio of the 2026 overall price level of 93.1 derived below to the OECD's 81.2 for 2024, which carries the stronger krona and Sweden's faster inflation since the 2024 annual average: housing 64.2 x 1.147 = 74 (rent_index_vs_us), transport 117 x 1.147 = 134, restaurants 97 x 1.147 = 111 (dining_index_vs_us). Groceries take a further cut for the fall in food VAT from 12 to 6 percent on 1 April 2026: 90.8 x 1.147 x 1.06/1.12 = 98. utilities_index_vs_us is deliberately not scaled this way; it is built bottom-up from Swedish and US monthly bills, see the derivation entry below. — accessed September 4, 2026
  2. World Bank, PPP conversion factor for private consumption, Sweden: 8.578 LCU per international dollar in 2024 and 8.889 in 2025. Divided by the World Bank official exchange rate of 10.568 SEK per USD for 2024 this reproduces the OECD price level of 81.2, which validates the series; the 2025 factor divided by the 4 September 2026 rate of 9.551 gives 93.1, reduced to about 92 for the 1 April 2026 cut in food VAT. This is the derivation behind col_index_vs_us. — accessed September 4, 2026
  3. European Central Bank euro reference rates, 4 September 2026: EUR/SEK 11.1005 and EUR/USD 1.1622, giving 9.5513 SEK per USD. All conversions in this profile use this rate. — accessed September 4, 2026
  4. Eurostat, comparative price level indices (prc_ppp_ind) - independent cross-check on Sweden and the United States relative to the EU27 — accessed September 4, 2026
  5. Statistics Sweden (SCB), Salary structures whole economy 2025, published 16 June 2026 (figures retrieved from SCB table TAB5709, all sectors, all occupations, both sexes): average monthly salary SEK 42,900, median SEK 38,300, 25th percentile SEK 32,000, 90th percentile SEK 61,700. The work permit threshold is 90 percent of the median (SEK 34,470) and the EU Blue Card threshold is 1.25 times the average (SEK 53,625). — accessed September 4, 2026
  6. OECD Taxing Wages 2025: net personal average tax rate for a single Swedish worker with no children at 100 percent of the average wage is 22.64 percent of gross earnings. Applied to the SCB average salary of SEK 42,900 this gives SEK 33,187 net a month, or $3,475. — accessed September 4, 2026
  7. Statistics Sweden (SCB), Rents for dwellings 2025 (figures retrieved from SCB table TAB4618, average annual rent per dwelling, all ownership categories): two-room apartments SEK 89,030 a year nationally (SEK 7,419 a month) and SEK 100,817 in Greater Stockholm (SEK 8,401 a month); three-room apartments SEK 108,968 nationally. These are regulated first-hand rents and normally include heating and water. — accessed September 4, 2026
  8. Statistics Sweden (SCB), Rents in newly constructed dwellings 2024 (figures retrieved from SCB table TAB6421): two-room apartments averaged SEK 11,522 a month in Greater Stockholm and SEK 9,875 nationally. Used for rent_1bed_center_usd because new-build and second-hand contracts, not queue-allocated first-hand contracts, are what a new arrival can actually rent. — accessed September 4, 2026
  9. Eurostat, electricity prices for household consumers (nrg_pc_204), consumption band DC (2500-4999 kWh), all taxes and levies included: Sweden EUR 0.2711 per kWh in 2025-S2, about 31.5 US cents at the ECB rate above. Used only as a cross-check on the SCB national price below; a unit price is not the basis of utilities_index_vs_us. — accessed September 4, 2026
  10. US Energy Information Administration, average price of electricity to ultimate customers, residential sector: 17.30 cents/kWh for calendar year 2025 and 17.45 to 18.83 cents across January-May 2026. Against the Swedish price this makes Swedish household electricity about 1.8 times the US level per kilowatt-hour, which is the figure quoted in watch_out_for. It is deliberately NOT the utilities index: a unit price says nothing about how much energy a Swedish dwelling uses, and Swedish rents normally bundle heating and water. See the utilities_index_vs_us derivation below. — accessed September 4, 2026
  11. Statistics Sweden (SCB), Electricity prices for households by consumer category (table SSDHalvarElHus, EN0301A): in 2025H2 the total price including energy, grid charge, electricity tax and VAT was SEK 3.3923 per kWh in band DB (1,000-2,499 kWh a year, the band a Swedish apartment household falls in) and SEK 2.9920 per kWh in band DC (2,500-4,999 kWh). The DC figure reproduces the Eurostat price above at the ECB rate, which validates the series. Band DB is used for the household-electricity leg of utilities_index_vs_us. — accessed September 4, 2026
  12. Swedish Energy Agency (Energimyndigheten), official energy statistics for multi-dwelling buildings, table EN0101_2 (energy use for heating and hot water per heating method, MWh per apartment and kWh/m2): in 2025 multi-dwelling buildings used 123 kWh per square metre and 10 MWh per apartment for space heating and hot water, actual rather than temperature-corrected (the temperature-corrected figures are 128 kWh/m2 and 10 MWh). This is the heating consumption assumption behind utilities_index_vs_us, and it is measured national consumption, not an assumed basket. — accessed September 4, 2026
  13. Swedish Energy Markets Inspectorate (Energimarknadsinspektionen), Ekonomiska uppgifter - fjarrvarme, file 'Prisinformation per prisomrade', which every Swedish district heating company must report to the regulator. Recomputed directly from the published workbook: for the standard apartment-building customer taking 193 MWh a year, the median reported annual cost across the 436 price areas carrying a 2024 figure was SEK 218,418, or SEK 1.132 per kWh (SEK 194,580 in 2023, SEK 178,923 in 2022). The comparable single-family case, 15,000 kWh a year, had a 2024 median of SEK 18,976, or SEK 1.265 per kWh. Two caveats carried into the index: the regulator's file does not state its VAT treatment, and the level implies these are gross customer bills rather than net; and the median is unweighted across price areas, so small rural networks pull it above what a city customer pays. — accessed September 4, 2026
  14. Derivation of utilities_index_vs_us = 93, on the basis of a typical monthly household bill rather than a unit price. Swedish side, an average apartment: 10,000 kWh a year of district heating for space heating and hot water (Energimyndigheten, actual 2025, 10 MWh per apartment) at SEK 1.132 per kWh (Energimarknadsinspektionen 2024 median, 193 MWh case) = SEK 943 a month; 2,200 kWh a year of household electricity at SEK 3.3923 per kWh all taxes included (SCB 2025H2, band DB, 1,000-2,499 kWh a year) = SEK 622 a month; water, sewerage and refuse SEK 294 a month, scaled from Eurostat's 2025 HICP expenditure weights for Sweden, where CP044 (water supply and miscellaneous services relating to the dwelling) is 9.75 per mille against CP045 (electricity, gas and other fuels) at 51.95 per mille, a ratio of 18.8 percent. Swedish total SEK 1,859 a month, which is $195 at 9.5513 SEK per USD. US side, the reference basket of about $210 a month that this site uses for every country: household electricity about $149 (EIA Table 5.a, a US residential average of 863 kWh a month, repriced at the 2025 average residential price of 17.30 cents per kWh), plus residential natural gas about $43 (EIA, 4,844,636 million cubic feet delivered to residential customers in 2025 at $15.34 per thousand cubic feet, spread over the 143.1 million residential electricity customers in Table 5.a), plus a small allowance for water, sewerage and refuse, which in an apartment is commonly billed to the landlord in both countries. 195/210 = 93. Because Swedish first-hand rents normally bundle heating, water and refuse, about SEK 1,237 of that SEK 1,859 is already inside the rent figures on this page and must not be budgeted twice; the index is nonetheless the like-for-like total, so that it is comparable with countries where those bills arrive separately. Two legs are modelled rather than measured, which is why data_confidence is medium: the 2,200 kWh of household electricity is an assumption (SCB publishes prices by consumption band but not apartment consumption), and the water, sewerage and refuse allowance on both sides is an estimate, because no national statistics office on either side publishes an average household water and refuse bill. — accessed September 4, 2026
  15. Skatteverket, Belopp och procent inkomstar 2026: average municipal tax 32.38 percent, state income tax 20 percent above a skiktgrans of SEK 643,000 taxable income (brytpunkt SEK 660,400), giving a top marginal rate of 52.38 percent; VAT 25 percent standard, 12 percent hotels and restaurants, 6 percent on food from 1 April 2026, books and passenger transport — accessed September 4, 2026
  16. Skatteverket, Liability for taxation: unlimited tax liability for those domiciled in Sweden, staying six consecutive months, or retaining significant connections after leaving — accessed September 4, 2026
  17. Skatteverket, Moving to Sweden - citizen of a non-EU/EEA country: population registration requires a valid residence permit card and an intended stay of at least one year; a personal identity number is assigned on first registration — accessed September 4, 2026
  18. Taxation of Research Workers Board (Forskarskattenamnden), Remuneration rate: the 2026 price base amount is SEK 59,200, so work beginning in 2026 qualifies for expert tax relief on remuneration alone at a monthly salary of at least SEK 88,801; relief runs for seven years and exempts 25 percent of salary — accessed September 4, 2026
  19. Swedish Migration Agency, Work permit for employees: salary requirement SEK 34,470 following the SCB median published 16 June 2026, fee SEK 2,200 for the employee and SEK 1,500 per adult family member, permit up to two years, comprehensive health insurance required for employment of one year or less — accessed September 4, 2026
  20. Swedish Migration Agency, EU Blue Cards: salary threshold SEK 53,625 a month since 15 July 2026, fee SEK 2,000 for the employee, SEK 1,500 per adult family member and SEK 750 per child, first permit nine months to four years — accessed September 4, 2026
  21. Swedish Migration Agency, Self-employed people: SEK 200,000 of own funds required, plus SEK 100,000 for an accompanying spouse and SEK 50,000 per child; fee SEK 2,000; permit a maximum of two years — accessed September 4, 2026
  22. Swedish Migration Agency, Residence permit for higher education studies: funds of SEK 10,656 a month required for 2026 applications, plus SEK 4,440 for a spouse and SEK 2,664 per child; fee SEK 1,500 for adults and SEK 750 for children — accessed September 4, 2026
  23. Swedish Migration Agency, Live with a partner: fee SEK 2,000 for adults and SEK 1,000 for children under 18, permit up to two years, maintenance requirement on the sponsor in Sweden with an exemption for Swedish citizens in well-established relationships — accessed September 4, 2026
  24. Swedish Migration Agency, Visiting Sweden for more than 90 days: a visitor's residence permit costs SEK 1,500 for adults and SEK 750 for children, is valid for one visit only, and does not give the right to work or settle in Sweden — accessed September 4, 2026
  25. Swedish Migration Agency, Extending a work permit: a work permit holder who has worked in Sweden for four of the past seven years can apply for a permanent residence permit alongside the extension; family members qualify after three years; the 2026 self-support buffer for a single adult is SEK 6,243 a month — accessed September 4, 2026
  26. Swedish Migration Agency, Permanent residence permit: confirms permanent residence permits are still granted to work, self-employment, family and doctoral permit holders, subject to financial maintenance and good conduct requirements, and have no expiry date — accessed September 4, 2026
  27. Swedish Migration Agency, Citizenship for adults: new rules in force from 6 June 2026, with a main rule of eight years of habitual residence, seven for the spouse or partner of a Swedish citizen where the couple has lived together for five years, plus self-support, good conduct, and Swedish language and civics requirements — accessed September 4, 2026
  28. 1177 (Swedish national healthcare guide), High-cost protection for outpatient care: patient fees for outpatient visits total at most SEK 1,450 over any twelve-month period, after which a frikort makes further visits free — accessed September 4, 2026
  29. 1177, Patient fees: the fee for inpatient hospital care is capped by law at SEK 130 per day — accessed September 4, 2026
  30. 1177, Prescription medicine costs: you pay full price up to SEK 2,000 in a twelve-month period, then a sliding discount of 25, 75 and 90 percent applies in bands, and medicines are free once you have paid SEK 3,800 — accessed September 4, 2026
  31. Insurance Sweden (Svensk Forsakring), Vardforsakring statistics: about 830,000 people held private health insurance at the end of 2025, roughly 16 percent of employed people aged 15-74, with about 60 percent employer-paid; premium income was close to SEK 5.5 billion, which averages SEK 552 a month per policy, or about $58. This is the basis for typical_private_insurance_usd_month. — accessed September 4, 2026
  32. IRS, Sweden - tax treaty documents: income tax treaty signed 1994 and protocol signed 2005 — accessed September 4, 2026
  33. IRS Revenue Procedure 2025-32, section 3.39: the foreign earned income exclusion under section 911(b)(2)(D)(i) for tax years beginning in 2026 is $132,900 — accessed September 4, 2026
  34. Riksdagen, Lag (2004:1192) om konvention mellan Sverige och Amerikas forenta stater om social trygghet - the US-Sweden social security (totalization) convention signed 27 May 1985 and supplemented 22 June 2004 — accessed September 4, 2026
  35. Statistics Sweden (SCB), Population statistics: Sweden's population was 10,610,483 in June 2026, per the key figures published with the January-June 2026 statistical news on 21 August 2026 — accessed September 4, 2026
  36. US Energy Information Administration, Electric Sales, Revenue, and Average Price, Table 5.a (Residential average monthly bill by Census Division and State), 2024 data released 7 October 2025: 143,144,185 US residential customers, average monthly consumption 863.3 kWh, average price 16.48 cents/kWh, average monthly bill $142.26. Repriced at the 2025 average residential price of 17.30 cents/kWh this is about $149 a month, the electricity leg of the US side of utilities_index_vs_us. — accessed September 4, 2026
  37. US Energy Information Administration, Natural Gas Prices: price of natural gas delivered to US residential consumers, $15.34 per thousand cubic feet in 2025 and $14.50 in 2024. Used with residential volumes for the gas leg of the US side of utilities_index_vs_us. — accessed September 4, 2026
  38. US Energy Information Administration, Natural Gas Consumption by End Use: 4,844,636 million cubic feet delivered to US residential consumers in 2025 (4,389,004 in 2024). At $15.34 per thousand cubic feet this is about $74 billion, or about $43 a month spread across the 143.1 million US residential electricity customers, which is the gas leg of the US side of utilities_index_vs_us. — accessed September 4, 2026

Nathan Brooks · Editor, Your New Country

Nathan builds and maintains the Your New Country dataset, reconciling figures from the OECD, Eurostat, the World Bank and national statistics offices, and reading each country’s immigration and tax guidance at the source before it is published.

  • Reads each country’s immigration, tax and health guidance in the original official source rather than in secondary coverage
  • Reconciles every published figure against OECD, Eurostat, World Bank and national statistics releases on a quarterly cycle
  • Publishes the derivation and the access date beside each number, and marks estimates as estimates

Data reviewed September 4, 2026 · source confidence: medium ·methodology

Your New Country publishes reference information, not tax advice. Tax positions are fact-specific and the penalties for getting a cross-border position wrong are heavier than the fees for getting it checked. Before you file, take advice from an accountant who works both systems, and confirm everything against Sweden's tax authority and the IRS, which administers the US rules described here.

Keep going on Sweden

Cost of livingCategory-by-category price levels, rent and a worked monthly budget.Visas & residencyEvery route a US citizen can actually use, with costs and official links.HealthcareHow the system works, what foreigners can access, what cover costs.US vs SwedenEvery figure on this site, side by side against the US baseline.

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