The process of state formation has been described both as a form of bargaining between states and subjects and as an open-ended and dynamic process of trial and error. The regional state administration and the customs administration were the parts of the state network with the lowest proportions of noblemen. Between 1650 and 1780, the Swedish state administration did undergo change, but the continuities were stronger. In 1648, the Thirty Years War had come to an end, and not long after the peace the Swedish customs administration was expanded and reorganised. The case study of Örebro is only one of the legs on which the investigation stands. The other two being data from other Scandinavian small towns and information found in the Gender and Work (GaW) database. This database offers the possibility of finding evidence on lower state servants, and on married women in urban contexts, in Sweden.