Children without parents or guardians who leave their home country to start a new life somewhere else are a contemporary and global phenomenon that represents a significant proportion of the migration to developed states. Although, historically, Swedish municipalities have been, through traditions of local self-government, able to decide whether to receive unaccompanied children or not, a significant subnational variation does exist. This study addresses this variation by examining the factors that explain whether a municipality offers to receive such children. To examine these factors, we derive from structural conditions and form a set of hypotheses that is based on assumptions about municipalities’ rational action and then continue with a statistical examination of all municipalities for a number of years. We complement these findings with intensive inquiries into two municipalities that have established a reception during the examined time period. The findings reveal that political factors, such as support for parties that are sceptical about immigration, are negatively related to a receiving policy. In addition, structural characteristics such as population size and levels of human capital have a positive effect on the outcome of the policy. The results from case studies add to such findings and emphasize that, although economic aspects are ubiquitous and hard to neglect, decision makers do stress the real and long-term benefits of reception.