Bergen vs Gothenburg for couples
Bergen, in Norway, and Gothenburg, in Sweden, are about 483 km apart. Every figure below comes from the data behind our city pages: an estimated monthly cost for a couple, tax tier, annual climate, safety, healthcare, internet speed, language and residency rules. Bergen leads on safety and healthcare; Gothenburg on cost and internet speed.
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Side by side
Source: the datasets behind our city pages. Cost is our model estimate (a country-level cost index scaled for city size); tax tiers are assigned by hand from each country's top marginal income tax rate and overall tax reputation; temperature from the Open-Meteo archive (2019 to 2023 averages); rainfall from TerraClimate (1991 to 2020 normals); safety and healthcare are our own country-level estimates; internet from the Ookla Speedtest Global Index; English from the EF English Proficiency Index; residency from our hand-reviewed residency dataset (not legal advice); short-stay entry from the passport-index dataset.
Factor by factor
Cost of living
Gothenburg is cheaper: we estimate about €3,669 a month for a couple living centrally, against €4,346 in Bergen. That is €677 a month, or 16%, less.
Taxes
A tie: Norway and Sweden both sit in our high tax tier.
Climate
Gothenburg is 2°C warmer on average over the year: 9°C against 7°C in Bergen. Gothenburg is drier, with about 882 mm of rain a year against 2,356 mm in Bergen (63% less).
Safety
Bergen is the safer pick: Norway scores 75 out of 100 on safety, 15 points above Sweden (60).
Healthcare
Bergen has the stronger healthcare: Norway scores 75 out of 100 on healthcare, 5 points above Sweden (70).
Internet
Gothenburg has faster home internet: about 180 Mbps median fixed download against about 130 Mbps in Bergen.
Language
Main languages: Norwegian, English in Bergen; Swedish, English in Gothenburg. English proficiency is rated the same in both: good English.
Residency and visas
Both are rated possible, with conditions for long-term residency for people from outside the EU, EEA and Switzerland. Norway has a self-funded route from about $3,062 a month in income; we track no income-based route for Sweden. Citizens of the EU, EEA and Switzerland have freedom-of-movement or simplified residency rights in both. For short visits, 93 of 198 passports can enter Norway visa-free and 93 can enter Sweden.
Which one fits a couple
If one of you puts safety (75 against 60 out of 100) and healthcare (75 against 70 out of 100) first, Bergen comes out ahead. If the other cares more about cost (€3,669 against €4,346 a month) and internet speed (180 Mbps against 130 Mbps), Gothenburg does.
Climate can pull the two of you apart too: a partner who wants warmth leans toward Gothenburg (9°C on average), while one who minds the heat leans toward Bergen (7°C), and whoever minds rain will prefer Gothenburg (882 mm a year against 2,356 mm).
OurNextCity has each partner answer 12 questions privately, then ranks Bergen, Gothenburg and 913 other cities for both of you at once.