By focusing on the Swedish municipality level, we provide an intensive examination of how several Swedish municipalities design their local refugee policy, according to which they either accept or do not accept refugees. This can vary because of either instrumental or symbolic reasons. Combining this local perspective with actor-oriented theory, we derive from rationalistic premises concerning how political leaders and bureaucrats act to maximize their interests. By selecting municipalities that share important characteristics except their attitude towards the reception of refugees, we can, through analysing interviews and documents, show how a pragmatic view and internal constraints often shape local decision-making in terms of shaping refugee policy. Rationalistic perspectives do not prevail completely, though implying that other factors influence decision-making in this area.