Municipalities above and below the national average
The national average in merit value year 9 is the benchmark against which all municipalities are compared. But being above or below the average does not tell the whole story.
Municipalities with high socioeconomic status — high median income, high parental education level — tend to be above the national average regardless of the pedagogical quality of their schools. Conversely, municipalities with demographic challenges can fall below the average despite dedicated teachers and good instruction.
The interesting picture emerges when you compare municipalities with similar demographic profiles. Among municipalities with similar median incomes there is wide variation in merit value — that is where the difference in school quality truly shows.
The chart sorts Sweden's municipalities by deviation from the national average. The green bars show municipalities above the average, the red below. Note that the difference between the top and bottom can exceed 100 merit value points — that corresponds to roughly 6 grade steps.
Statistics: academic year 2023/24. Source: Skolverket open data, Kolada and SCB. Processed by Skolkoll. Glossary · About the data.