Jobs in Norway → Norway guide → 50 largest cities → Tromsø

Working in Tromsø

City dossier for Tromsø: live jobs, official statistics, commuting, large employers, a pay-versus-cost calculator and how it compares.

In short: Tromsø is the #12 largest municipality in Norway (79,943 residents, SSB 1 Jan 2026) in Troms county. It has 48,081 jobs by workplace, 12% of them held by commuters from other municipalities, and 298 live job ads today. Biggest industries: Health and social work (27% of jobs), Retail and wholesale trade (11% of jobs), Construction (7% of jobs).
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Tromsø on the map of Norway

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By AtiveSite · Published 06/11/2026 · Updated 06/11/2026 · Every figure is linked to its source below.

79,943residents, 1 Jan 2026 (SSB)
48,081jobs by workplace, Q4 2025
298live job ads (NAV)
6.2ads per 1,000 jobs
12%of local jobs held by commuters

Overview

Tromsø is Norway's #12 municipality by population: 79,943 residents (SSB, 1 Jan 2026). It lies in Troms county, 1755 km (1536 min) by road from Oslo centre and offers 48,081 jobs by workplace (Q4 2025); the largest employing industries are Health and social work (27% of jobs), Retail and wholesale trade (11% of jobs), Construction (7% of jobs). Tromsø is a regional job centre that draws commuters from the surrounding area. Compared with Norway as a whole, jobs are concentrated in accommodation and food service and health and social work. Today 298 job ads are live here (6.2 per 1,000 jobs).

See all 298 jobs in Tromsø →Troms county guideAll 50 cities

Jobs

LIVE · CITY (Tromsø) Live feed Source: NAV – Arbeidsplassen.no public feed · Data: live, checked 06/11/2026

298 active ads. Full-time 74% · permanent (Fast) 70% · substitute (Vikariat) 13% · private sector 52% · public sector 45%. Open the job search →

Fields (NAV occupational categories). Click a field for the county page

Sort:
Field ⇅Open ads ⇅Share ⇅
Health & social care (Helse og sosial)10535.2%
Sales & service (Salg og service)6120.5%
Education (Utdanning)3712.4%
Office & finance (Kontor og økonomi)3612.1%
Tourism & food (Reiseliv og mat)196.4%
Transport & warehouse (Transport og lager)93.0%
Construction (Bygg og anlegg)62.0%
Culture & creative (Kultur og kreative yrker)62.0%
Skilled trades (Håndverkere)51.7%
Nature & environment (Natur og miljø)41.3%
Security & emergency (Sikkerhet og beredskap)31.0%
IT (IT)31.0%
Industry & production (Industri og produksjon)20.7%

Top employers

Sort:

Most common sub-categories

Sort:
Sub-category (NAV, Norwegian) ⇅Field ⇅Open ads ⇅
Salg, butikk- og varehandelSales & service42
SykepleierHealth & social care33
Barnehage- og skolefritidsassistenterEducation15
HelsefagarbeiderHealth & social care13
Kontor, forvaltning og saksbehandlingOffice & finance13
Renholdere og renovasjonSales & service13
Hjemmehjelper og personlig assistentHealth & social care12
LegeHealth & social care11
Universitet og høyskoleEducation8
RestaurantTourism & food7
Reiseliv, hotell og overnattingTourism & food7
Bank finans forsikringOffice & finance7
Andre helseyrkerHealth & social care6
Leder innenfor helsetjenesterHealth & social care6
Ledelse, administrasjon og rådgivningOffice & finance6
Økonomi, statistikk og regnskapOffice & finance5
BarnehagelærerEducation5
MiljøarbeidereHealth & social care5
BioingeniørHealth & social care5
HelsesekretærHealth & social care4

Ads are job offers, not the number of jobs that exist. NAV does not publish salary, so none is shown or estimated. Ads are removed when NAV marks them inactive.

Economy

CITY (Tromsø municipality) Official statistics Source: SSB table 13470 · Data: 4th quarter 2025

Tromsø had 48,081 employed persons by place of work in Q4 2025 (+1.0% vs 2024). A specialisation index above 1 means the industry weighs more here than in Norway as a whole.

Health and social work13,004 (27.0%)
Retail and wholesale trade5,434 (11.3%)
Construction3,319 (6.9%)
Real estate, professional and technical services2,923 (6.1%)
Transport and storage2,712 (5.6%)
Accommodation and food service2,349 (4.9%)
Other services2,076 (4.3%)
Administrative and support services2,050 (4.3%)
Information and communication1,532 (3.2%)
Manufacturing1,373 (2.9%)
Finance and insurance769 (1.6%)
Agriculture, forestry and fishing634 (1.3%)
Sort:
Industry (SSB divisions) ⇅Employed ⇅Share here ⇅Share Norway ⇅Specialisation index ⇅
Agriculture, forestry and fishing6341.3%2.3%0.58
Mining and quarrying140.0%2.3%0.01
Manufacture1,3732.9%7.7%0.37
Electricity, water supply, sewerage, waste management5221.1%1.3%0.83
Construction3,3196.9%8.1%0.85
Wholesale and retail trade: repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles5,43411.3%12.4%0.91
Transportation and storage2,7125.6%4.8%1.18
Accommodation and food service activities2,3494.9%3.7%1.31
Information and communication1,5323.2%4.0%0.79
Financial and insurance activities7691.6%1.8%0.86
Real estate, professional, scientific and technical activities2,9236.1%6.8%0.89
Administrative and support service activities2,0504.3%4.4%0.96
Human health and social work activities13,00427.0%20.8%1.30
Other service activities2,0764.3%4.3%1.00

Commuting

CITY (workplace or residence = Tromsø) Official statistics Source: SSB table 03321 · Data: 4th quarter 2025

Of the 48,083 people who work in Tromsø, 42,399 (88%) also live there and 5,684 (12%) commute in. Of the 45,745 residents who are employed, 93% work inside Tromsø and 3,346 (7%) work elsewhere.

Where people who work in Tromsø live

Balsfjord435 (0.9%)
Oslo367 (0.8%)
Bodø280 (0.6%)
Harstad271 (0.6%)
Senja267 (0.6%)
Karlsøy210 (0.4%)
Alta203 (0.4%)
Trondheim175 (0.4%)
Målselv168 (0.3%)
Narvik142 (0.3%)

Where Tromsø residents work (besides Tromsø)

Oslo594 (1.3%)
Trondheim200 (0.4%)
Bergen179 (0.4%)
Senja176 (0.4%)
Bodø171 (0.4%)
Karlsøy163 (0.4%)
Balsfjord139 (0.3%)

Employed persons aged 15–74 by workplace and residence municipality. A high share of in-commuters means jobs here are open to people living in neighbouring municipalities, which widens where you can live.

Companies

No company headquartered in Tromsø is among Norway's 100 largest employers; employers with open jobs are listed on the Jobs tab.

Pay & cost

Does this salary work here? (estimate)

Type the gross monthly salary you were offered. We apply the 2026 tax rules and subtract an average rent from SSB.

Method: national insurance 7.6%, standard deduction 46% (max NOK 95,700), personal allowance NOK 114,540, ordinary income tax 22% (assumed unchanged; verify), bracket tax 1.7/4.0/13.7/16.8/17.8%. Ignores pension, union fees, deductions, municipal differences and holiday-pay timing. Rent = SSB 2025 survey average, not a current asking price. Food, energy, transport and insurance must still come out of what is left. Not advice.

NATIONAL Official rules Source: Regjeringen – tax rates 2026 · Skatteetaten – personal allowance · Data: income year 2026

Sort:
Item (wage earners, 2026) ⇅Value ⇅
National insurance contribution on wages7.6%
Personal allowance (personfradrag)NOK 114,540
Standard deduction on wages46% (max NOK 95,700)
Bracket tax step 1 from NOK 226,1001.7%
Step 2 from NOK 318,3004.0%
Step 3 from NOK 725,05013.7%
Step 4 from NOK 980,10016.8%
Step 5 from NOK 1,467,20017.8%

Ordinary income tax (22%) is applied on income after deductions; lower rates apply in parts of northern Norway. Confirm current rates on Skatteetaten before relying on them.

SSB publishes rent only for some areas (Oslo+Bærum, Akershus except Bærum, Bergen, Trondheim, Stavanger and the whole country). For Tromsø we preselect Whole country; see the rent table.

Foreigners

CITY (Tromsø ads) Indicator: keyword counts Source: NAV – Arbeidsplassen.no public feed (live) · Data: 06/11/2026

Sort:
Indicator ⇅Ads ⇅Share ⇅
Ads whose description is mostly in English155.0%
Ads asking for Norwegian language skills (phrase match)7424.8%
Ads mentioning visa, work permit, relocation or sponsorship51.7%
Ads mentioning authorisation or licence6321.1%
Ads mentioning remote or hybrid work62.0%

These are simple text searches in the ad descriptions (Norwegian and English keywords). They are a rough guide, not a legal reading of each ad: always read the ad itself.

Rules and routes: Permits and first steps · Recognition and authorisation · Law.

Nearby cities

CITY → nearest of the 50 largest Modelled + official + live Source: Kartverket place names (straight-line distance), SSB 06913, NAV feed · Data: 2026

Sort:
City ⇅Straight-line km ⇅Population ⇅Live ads ⇅
Harstad134 km25,20478
Bodø323 km53,638186
Rana422 km25,84459
Trondheim787 km218,460423
Molde930 km33,29166
Ålesund981 km59,663165
Lillehammer1025 km29,66971
Ringsaker1042 km36,19956

Compare

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Momentum

LIVE (NAV feed, daily snapshot kept by AtiveSite) Own time series Source: AtiveSite daily counts of NAV ads · Data: tracking since 06/11/2026

Every day we store how many NAV ads are live for Tromsø. NAV itself publishes no history, so this series will become unique data. The trend line appears from the second day of tracking; today: 298 live ads.

FAQ

How many people live in Tromsø?

79,943 residents in the municipality on 1 January 2026 (SSB), rank 12 among Norwegian municipalities.

How many jobs are there in Tromsø?

48,081 jobs by workplace in Q4 2025 (SSB), and 298 live job ads on 06/11/2026 (NAV).

Do people commute to work in Tromsø?

12% of the people who work in Tromsø live in other municipalities (SSB, Q4 2025).

What are the main industries in Tromsø?

Health and social work (27% of jobs), Retail and wholesale trade (11% of jobs), Construction (7% of jobs).

Sources

Data gaps we know about (not guessed)

Jobs in other countries

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