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- What it is: a 1970s Million Programme suburb on the western edge of Västerås, mostly rental apartment blocks around its own square, schools and woodland.
- Who it suits: people who want an affordable, practical, well-connected flat with green space on the doorstep, and do not need a central address.
- What it costs: low, the cheapest area in this set, and almost entirely rented.
- What people complain about: a reputation heavier than daily life deserves, dense and dated blocks, mixed upkeep, and thin choice at the local centre.
First impressions
Bäckby is a planned suburb of its time. Built mainly in the 1970s as part of Sweden's Million Programme, it sits on the western edge of Västerås as a self-contained district: rows of apartment blocks set among lawns and parking, wrapped around Bäckby centrum with its square, shops, library, health centre and church, and backed by the woodland of Bäckbyskogen. Everything a household needs day to day was designed to be within the suburb, reachable on foot.
It is a diverse, practical, lower-cost place, younger and less affluent than Västerås as a whole, mostly rented rather than owned. It also carries a heavier reputation than daily life here tends to warrant, having been on the police's list of vulnerable areas since 2016, and there is an active, visible effort to rebuild the centre and lift the district.
This is an affordable, green-edged suburb with real everyday convenience, honest about its challenges and in the middle of change.
Who lives here, and what the streets look like
Bäckby is a mixed, international community in mostly rented flats, with a younger age profile and lower incomes than the city average. It is one of Västerås's larger housing districts, so this is overwhelmingly rental rather than owner-occupied housing.
The streetscape is classic Million Programme: three and four-storey blocks in long rows, generous green space and mature trees between them, paths kept separate from the roads, and parking at the edges. Upkeep is mixed from block to block, and the newer quarters added in the early 2020s sit alongside the original 1970s stock.
Getting around
Västerås has no tram or metro, so Bäckby leans on the bus, and it is well served. Frequent VL city buses run from Bäckby centrum across the roughly five kilometres into the middle of town and Stora torget. From Västerås Centralstation, SJ trains reach Stockholm Central in about an hour and Arlanda airport in around an hour. The suburb is flat and easy to cycle.se and sj.se.
Typical weekday minutes from Bäckby centrum, with the icon showing how. Times via Google Routes API for a typical weekday ~08:00, measured from the neighborhood centre; the icon shows the fastest sensible way (walk, bike, transit or car), 2026-08.
Daily life
Day to day, Bäckby is built around its own centre. The square holds an ICA Supermarket, a pharmacy, the library and a pizzeria, which cover the week without a trip into town, though for a bigger choice you head to the city or an out-of-town centre. The rhythm is a short walk to the shops, the kids' school inside the suburb, and the woodland trails of Bäckbyskogen for air. For food delivery, Foodora and Wolt cover the area.
Local Places Worth Knowing
Independent and close by, chosen on merit. Nobody pays to appear here. Links are being confirmed.
The district's own square and everyday hub, with an ICA Supermarket, Kronans Apotek pharmacy, the Bäckby library and a health centre, being rebuilt step by step.
The woodland on the district's edge, threaded with lit exercise trails (motionsspår) and next to the football pitch by the torg, Bäckby's main green lung.
A long-standing neighborhood pizzeria at Bäckby centrum, the local go-to for a quick, fair-priced meal on the square.
A family-run pizza and kebab restaurant in the Bäckbypark area on Kokillgatan, run by brothers with twenty years in Västerås, open on weekdays.
Checked August 2026. Places close and change, so tell us if something here is out of date.
Schools and families
Bäckby is a family suburb, full of children, playgrounds and pram-friendly flat paths. Its own school, Bäckbyskolan, now runs only to year 6, its year 7 to 9 having closed in 2017, so the nearest municipal year-9 school is Rönnbyskolan in neighbouring Rönnby, whose leaving grades average a meritvärde of 221.9 out of 340 (Skolverket via Skolkoll, 2024/25), a little below the national mean. Västerås has free school choice, so this is the nearest school rather than a fixed catchment, and it is worth checking admission and the alternatives before you sign a lease or purchase.
Kids Friendly. Flat and pram-friendly throughout, with playgrounds between the blocks, preschools and a primary school inside the suburb, and woodland and a football pitch by the square; larger venues in town have changing tables and family toilets.
Pet Friendly. The lawns and green courtyards between the blocks, plus the exercise trails and open woodland of Bäckbyskogen right beside the district, make Bäckby easy, spacious walking territory for a dog.
Green space, leisure and eating out
Green space is one of Bäckby's real strengths. The lawns and courtyards between the blocks give room to breathe, and Bäckbyskogen on the district's edge adds lit exercise trails and open woodland, with a football pitch by the square. Leisure here is the outdoors, the local sports grounds and community life rather than nightlife. Eating out is modest and local, the square's pizzeria and the family-run place in the Bäckbypark area, with the city's wider choice a short bus ride away.
What it costs
Bäckby is an affordable, overwhelmingly rented district, and the cheapest area in this set. Buying here is unusual: it is largely Million Programme rental housing, few flats are sold, and no reliable per-area sale price is published. For context, the wider Västerås average for a bostadsrätt is about 24,000 kr per m² (Svensk Mäklarstatistik and Boio, early 2026), already well below the national norm, and Bäckby sits below the city average. First-hand rents are set city-wide rather than per neighborhood, so no area-specific rent figure is published either. In practice this is a place you rent, cheaply for the space, rather than a place you buy into.
Weather and climate
Seasonal averages for Västerås, one representative month per season. Temps SMHI (Vasteras); sunshine from Stockholm (nearest station) via Wikipedia climate box.
The honest downsides
The blocks are dense and dated. The 1970s stock is plain, upkeep varies from block to block, and the renewal is real but still under way.
The centre is basic. The square covers the essentials, but for real choice in shops, eating out or evenings you head into town.
Crime and safety
Bäckby has been on the police's list of vulnerable areas (utsatt område) since 2016 and has stayed on it in later reviews. That designation is about socioeconomic conditions and the local impact of crime, not about the residents, and it should be kept in proportion: most people here go about daily life without incident, and the everyday reality is far quieter than the label suggests. There have been recurring problems with vandalism and disturbances around the centre, which is exactly what the joint city, police, school and landlord programme, along with new housing and a rebuilt Bäckby centrum, is working to turn around. No standalone per-area crime rate is published, with the fuller picture on the Västerås safety page.
Is this you?
If you want an affordable, practical flat with green space at the door and a straightforward bus into town, and you are renting rather than buying, Bäckby is a sensible, honest choice, a suburb doing the work to improve. If you want a central address, a lively high street or a home to buy into, other parts of Västerås will suit you better.
Want to know what homes here are actually worth?
Join the waitlistHow we source this
How we put this together. Gathered on the ground by our local field team and written up by the Apraiz research team. Every figure above carries its own source and date. The scores are not computed by the build; walking and transport will use open map and transit data first, then Apraiz's own model. We update prices quarterly, transport and amenities twice a year, and school data when the source publishes.
Sources: Svensk Mäklarstatistik / Boio, Skolverket, via Skolkoll, Wikipedia, SVT Nyheter / Västerås stad, Brå (National Council for Crime Prevention).
Safety and crime in Västerås →Nearby: Centrum · Öster Mälarstrand · Viksäng