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SafetyScorer

Safety scores

Cities

We score cities on six factors. Violent crime, based on police homicide and assault data, counts for 25%. Theft and scams count for 20%, and walking at night, traffic deaths, and health and air quality (annual PM2.5, water, emergency care) for 15% each. Natural hazards such as earthquakes, floods and heat make up the last 10%. Every page links its sources. Crime is usually concentrated in a few districts, so read the advice on where to stay as well as the score.

All rated cities

  1. #1 of 68

    Singapore

    Singapore is one of the easiest cities in the world to walk around at any hour. Violent crime and theft are rare. What visitors actually deal with is tropical heat, phone and online scams, the occasional overcharge at electronics shops, and alcohol and drug laws that are far stricter than at home.

    Score 91, grade A

  2. #2 of 68

    Kyoto

    Kyoto is one of the safest cities you can visit, with very little violent or street crime. The things to plan for are packed buses and temples, narrow lanes shared with cars, intense summer heat, and earthquake and flood risk in the Kyoto basin.

    Score 90, grade A

  3. #3 of 68

    Tokyo

    Tokyo is one of the safest big cities in the world for visitors, by day and by night. Watch out for drink spiking and inflated bar bills in nightlife districts, and know what to do in an earthquake.

    Score 90, grade A

  4. #4 of 68

    Hong Kong

    Hong Kong is a very safe city for visitors on the street, with pickpocketing and robbery at very low levels. The things to plan for are typhoon season from May to November, phone and online fraud, crowds in nightlife areas, and national security laws that apply to what you say and post.

    Score 88, grade A

  5. #5 of 68

    Osaka

    Osaka is a very safe city for visitors, a little rougher around the edges than Tokyo but with very little violent crime. The things to plan for are nightlife touts and bar bills in Minami, bag theft in crowds, extreme summer heat, typhoons and the long-term risk of a Nankai Trough earthquake.

    Score 87, grade A

  6. #6 of 68

    Seoul

    Seoul is a very safe city for visitors, including at night and for women travelling alone. Crime against foreigners is rare. The risks worth planning for are packed nightlife streets (the 2022 Itaewon crush killed 159 people), illegal filming, fine dust in spring, and heavy summer rain.

    Score 87, grade A

  7. #7 of 68

    Taipei

    Taipei is a very safe city for visitors, with almost no street robbery and busy, well-lit streets late at night. Plan for scooters and turning cars at crossings, a fast-growing fraud problem, typhoons from July to September and earthquakes. Tension with China has not changed travel advice.

    Score 87, grade A

  8. #8 of 68

    Edinburgh

    Edinburgh is one of the safest big cities in Britain, with under 1 homicide per 100,000 people, air close to the WHO guideline and few road deaths. The main risks are pickpockets in the August festival crowds and drunken trouble in the Old Town late at night.

    Score 86, grade A

  9. #9 of 68

    Sydney

    Sydney is one of the safest big cities we cover, with fewer than 1 murder per 100,000 people and street theft at a fraction of its 2016 level. The risks a visitor should plan for are the ocean, the sun and summer bushfire smoke, plus a terrorism threat that the December 2025 Bondi attack made real.

    Score 86, grade A

  10. #10 of 68

    Macau

    Macau is very safe on the street, with violent crime and road deaths at very low levels. The risks are typhoons and storm surge from May to November, crowds at the main sights, crime around casinos including illegal lending to gamblers, and laws that limit speech and consular help.

    Score 85, grade A

  11. #11 of 68

    Vienna

    Vienna is a very safe city for visitors, with few killings, among the fewest road deaths of any big European city and a calm centre at night. Pickpocketing in crowds and on the U-Bahn is the main nuisance, and the FCDO rates the terrorism threat in Austria as likely.

    Score 85, grade A

  12. #12 of 68

    Auckland

    Auckland is a low-risk city for visitors, with a homicide rate around 1.5 per 100,000 nationally, clean air and about 2 road deaths per 100,000 people. Theft from hire cars, late-night trouble in the city centre and heavy rain that can flood whole suburbs are the things to plan for.

    Score 84, grade B

  13. #13 of 68

    Dublin

    Dublin is a safe city for visitors, with about 13 killings a year in a region of 1.5 million people and some of the safest roads of any European capital. The catch is the city centre late at night, where assaults and anti-social behaviour have become a national debate.

    Score 84, grade B

  14. #14 of 68

    Kraków

    Kraków is a safe city with very little serious violence, very few road deaths and 79% of residents feeling safe walking alone at night. Visitors mostly meet pickpocketing around the Old Town and stations, overcharging in some bars and clubs, and smog on still winter days.

    Score 84, grade B

  15. #15 of 68

    Shanghai

    Shanghai is very safe on the street, with little violent crime and very high feelings of safety at night. The risks are e-bikes and turning cars, air well above the WHO guideline, late-summer typhoons, tea-house scams and mainland China's legal risks, including exit bans.

    Score 84, grade B

  16. #16 of 68

    Toronto

    Toronto is one of the safest large cities in North America. Homicides nearly halved in 2025 to 45, about 1.4 per 100,000, and traffic deaths are low. Car theft and break-ins worry residents more than visitors, and the main things to watch are disorder on the TTC and around a few downtown corners late at night.

    Score 84, grade B

  17. #17 of 68

    Dubai

    On crime alone, Dubai is one of the safest cities in the world. The 2026 Iran war changed the picture, with strikes that damaged the airport and the Burj Al Arab, so check advisories before you book and again before you fly.

    Score 83, grade B

  18. #18 of 68

    Melbourne

    Melbourne is a safe city for visitors, with a low homicide rate, good trams and clean air. Car theft and youth robberies and burglaries drove a loud crime debate in 2024–25, though they are now falling. Summer heat, bushfire smoke and spring thunderstorm asthma are the natural risks.

    Score 83, grade B

  19. #19 of 68

    Amsterdam

    Amsterdam is safe for visitors, with killings rare and falling. The catches are pickpockets around Centraal Station and the Red Light District, street dealers, drunken nights in the old centre, and a cycling culture that punishes pedestrians who step into a bike lane.

    Score 82, grade B

  20. #20 of 68

    Berlin

    Berlin is a safe city for visitors with low lethal violence and a calm traffic record. The risks are pickpockets on the U-Bahn and at Alexanderplatz, and a handful of drug-dealing hot spots in Kreuzberg and Neukölln that are best avoided late at night.

    Score 82, grade B

  21. #21 of 68

    Madrid

    Madrid is one of Europe's safest big capitals for violent crime and a city that stays out late without much trouble. Pickpockets in the centre and on the metro are the main risk, and summer heat is the hazard visitors underestimate.

    Score 82, grade B

  22. #22 of 68

    Prague

    Prague is a safe city with little serious violence and very few road deaths. What visitors meet is petty crime in the Old Town, on trams and on the airport bus, plus exchange offices, taxis and nightclubs that overcharge.

    Score 82, grade B

  23. #23 of 68

    Doha

    On crime alone, Doha is among the safest cities in the world, and women walk the Corniche late at night without concern. Iranian missile and drone attacks on Qatar since March 2026 keep the US advisory at Level 3, and dusty air and fierce summer heat are the everyday health risks.

    Score 81, grade B

  24. #24 of 68

    London

    London is safe for visitors, with a homicide rate below Paris or New York and record-low violence in 2025. The real risk is having your phone snatched in the West End, often by thieves on bikes.

    Score 81, grade B

  25. #25 of 68

    Budapest

    Budapest is a safe city for visitors, with record-low street crime and few killings. The risks are about money and nightlife, chiefly bars and clubs that overcharge tourists, sometimes with taxi drivers in on it, plus pickpocketing on busy transport.

    Score 80, grade B

  26. #26 of 68

    Lisbon

    Lisbon is one of the calmer capitals in Europe for violent crime and road deaths. Pickpockets on the old trams and in the Baixa are the main risk; late at night, trouble clusters in Cais do Sodré, Bairro Alto and around Martim Moniz. Steep, slippery streets cause more falls than crime causes injuries.

    Score 80, grade B

  27. #27 of 68

    New York City

    New York is safer than at any time in decades, with record-low shootings, murders and traffic deaths in 2025. Violent crime is still higher than in London or Paris, and the subway at night calls for some street sense.

    Score 80, grade B

  28. #28 of 68

    Barcelona

    Barcelona is very safe from violent crime and traffic, but it is Europe's best-known city for pickpocketing. Expect to be targeted on La Rambla, metro line 3 and Barceloneta beach, and plan for it.

    Score 78, grade B

  29. #29 of 68

    Paris

    Paris is safe from serious crime for almost all visitors, but it has some of Europe's busiest pickpocket gangs. Guard your phone and bag on the Metro, the RER B airport train and around the big monuments.

    Score 78, grade B

  30. #30 of 68

    Antalya

    Antalya is one of the calmer places in Turkey for a holiday, with low street crime and 80% of residents feeling safe walking alone at night. The real risks are the province's roads, summer heat and wildfires, and drowning, plus overcharging and a small number of assaults in resort hotels.

    Score 76, grade B

  31. #31 of 68

    Venice

    Venice is one of the safest cities in Italy for violence, and its car-free centre removes the main traffic risk. Pickpocketing in the crowds at Rialto, St Mark's and the station, inflated bills, and high tides that flood the lowest squares in autumn and winter are what visitors need to plan for.

    Score 76, grade B

  32. #32 of 68

    Milan

    Milan is safe from serious violence and has the safest roads of any big Italian city, but it tops Italy for reported thefts and street robberies. Phone and bag theft around Centrale station, the Duomo and the metro, and youth robbery gangs at night, are the risks; winter smog is the other.

    Score 74, grade B

  33. #33 of 68

    Florence

    Florence is safe from serious crime, but pickpocketing has reached record levels, with more thefts per head than anywhere else in Italy. Crowds around the Duomo, the Ponte Vecchio and Santa Maria Novella station are where you lose things; heat and river floods are the other risks.

    Score 73, grade B

  34. #34 of 68

    Rome

    Rome is safe from serious crime, but pickpocketing at Termini, on the 64 bus and at the big monuments is common. Its traffic kills more people per head than any other large Italian city, so crossing the road deserves real care.

    Score 73, grade B

  35. #35 of 68

    San Francisco

    San Francisco had 28 homicides in 2025, the fewest since 1954, and its streets are among the least deadly of any big US city. The visitor risks are a smashed car window at a viewpoint, open drug use in the Tenderloin and the long-term chance of a major earthquake.

    Score 72, grade B

  36. #36 of 68

    Athens

    Athens has little serious violence and visitors are rarely hurt. Theft is the everyday risk, above all on metro line 1 and around Monastiraki, Omonia and the Acropolis. Heatwaves, nearby wildfires and unruly traffic weigh more on safety here than in most European capitals.

    Score 71, grade B

  37. #37 of 68

    Kuala Lumpur

    Kuala Lumpur is a reasonably safe city for visitors, with low homicide and falling police-recorded crime. The risks are street-level ones, such as bag snatchers on motorbikes, card skimming, drink spiking in nightlife areas, pavements and roads built for cars, and sudden flash floods.

    Score 70, grade B

  38. #38 of 68

    Orlando

    Orlando's theme park resort areas are some of the most closely guarded places in the US, and the city recorded only 10 murders in 2025. The bigger risks for visitors are the roads, car break-ins, summer lightning and heat, and hurricanes that bring wind and floods inland.

    Score 70, grade B

  39. #39 of 68

    Buenos Aires

    Buenos Aires is a low-murder city by Latin American standards, with 78 homicides in 2025 and the fewest robberies in 25 years. Theft is still the catch, with motorbike snatch thieves, the mustard scam and pickpockets in San Telmo, La Boca and the centre. Watch your phone more than your safety.

    Score 69, grade C

  40. #40 of 68

    Ho Chi Minh City

    Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) is a safe city for visitors in terms of serious crime. The everyday risks are a phone or bag snatched by a passing motorbike, crossing streets full of scooters, polluted air and street flooding in the rainy season.

    Score 69, grade C

  41. #41 of 68

    Istanbul

    Istanbul is a reasonably safe city for visitors, with lower traffic death rates than its reputation suggests. Watch for bar and shoe-shine scams around Taksim and Sultanahmet, avoid protests, and know what to do in an earthquake.

    Score 69, grade C

  42. #42 of 68

    Bali

    Bali is relaxed and violent crime against visitors is uncommon, but it is not as easy as it looks. The island's roads kill about 600 people a year, theft from foreigners rose sharply in 2025, and rabies, methanol-laced drinks and seasonal floods are real hazards.

    Score 67, grade C

  43. #43 of 68

    Hanoi

    Hanoi is safe from serious crime and most visitors feel at ease walking the Old Quarter at night. The real risks are the air, which averaged more than nine times the WHO guideline in 2024, streets full of motorbikes, snatch theft and small scams, and floods like those Typhoon Yagi brought in 2024.

    Score 67, grade C

  44. #44 of 68

    Las Vegas

    The Strip is one of the most watched and policed places in the US, and homicides fell to 90 in 2025. The real dangers are on the roads, where deaths rose for a fifth year, and in the desert heat, which killed 284 people in Clark County in 2025.

    Score 67, grade C

  45. #45 of 68

    Washington DC

    The parts of Washington most visitors see, from the National Mall to Georgetown and Capitol Hill, are busy and heavily policed, and murders have more than halved since 2023. Gun violence is still high in some neighbourhoods east of the Anacostia River, and assaults with weapons rose in 2026.

    Score 67, grade C

  46. #46 of 68

    Bangkok

    Bangkok is friendly and generally safe from serious crime, but it asks more of visitors than Tokyo or Dubai. The roads are the biggest danger, tourist scams are everywhere, and the air from January to March can be among the worst in the world.

    Score 66, grade C

  47. #47 of 68

    Chicago

    Chicago's violence is real but concentrated on parts of the South and West Sides that most visitors never see, and 2025 brought the fewest murders since 1965. Downtown, the lakefront and the North Side neighbourhoods are busy and generally safe; phone snatching on the L and late-night trains are the everyday risks.

    Score 66, grade C

  48. #48 of 68

    Mumbai

    Mumbai is one of India's easier big cities for visitors, with about one murder per 100,000 residents and busy streets late into the night. The risks are crowds and pickpockets, overloaded local trains, roads hostile to pedestrians, polluted winter air and monsoon flooding from June to September.

    Score 66, grade C

  49. #49 of 68

    Los Angeles

    Los Angeles had its fewest homicides since 1966 in 2025, and serious crime against visitors in Hollywood, Santa Monica or Downtown is uncommon. The everyday risks are car break-ins, fast roads that kill more people than guns, smog, earthquakes and wildfire.

    Score 65, grade C

  50. #50 of 68

    Miami

    Miami's violent crime has fallen to near-record lows, with 27 homicides in 2025, and the areas visitors use are generally safe. The bigger dangers are dangerous roads, nightlife theft and overcharging in South Beach, and the June to November hurricane season.

    Score 65, grade C

  51. #51 of 68

    Manila

    Metro Manila is manageable for visitors who stay in Makati, BGC or Ortigas, use ride apps and keep valuables out of sight. Street robbery, sometimes armed, is the main crime risk, and typhoons and monsoon floods shut the city down several times a year. The US rates the Philippines Level 2.

    Score 62, grade C

  52. #52 of 68

    Marrakech

    Marrakech is generally safe for visitors who expect hassle. Violent crime is uncommon, but the medina is full of fake guides, overcharging and motorbike bag-snatchers, women get persistent unwanted attention, and the roads, the summer heat and the 2023 earthquake zone are real risks.

    Score 62, grade C

  53. #53 of 68

    Tel Aviv

    Tel Aviv is a low-crime, easy city day to day, with busy beaches and nightlife and excellent hospitals. The risk is conflict. Iranian missiles hit the city in 2026, and attacks on buses and in Jaffa have killed people in recent years. Know where your nearest shelter is and check the advice before you go.

    Score 60, grade C

  54. #54 of 68

    Cairo

    Cairo is safer from crime than many visitors expect, with low pickpocketing and heavy security at tourist sites. The real dangers are crossing the road, some of the most polluted air of any capital, weak emergency care, persistent touts and harassment of women.

    Score 59, grade C

  55. #55 of 68

    Punta Cana

    Punta Cana's gated all-inclusive resorts are calm, and the Dominican Republic's murder rate fell to a record low of about 8 per 100,000 in 2025. The real dangers are the roads of La Altagracia province, motorbike taxis, unguarded beaches, card fraud and sexual assaults reported at resorts.

    Score 59, grade C

  56. #56 of 68

    Mexico City

    Mexico City is much safer than Mexico's national figures suggest, and the neighbourhoods most visitors use are busy and well policed. Robbery, express kidnapping in street taxis and earthquakes are the risks to plan around.

    Score 58, grade C

  57. #57 of 68

    Cancún

    Cancún's hotel zone is one of the most heavily guarded tourist strips in Mexico, and murders in the city fell by about 40% in 2025. Gang violence downtown, taxi and price scams, fast roads, rip currents and the June to November hurricane season are the risks to plan for.

    Score 55, grade C

  58. #58 of 68

    São Paulo

    São Paulo's murder rate has fallen to one of the lowest of any big Brazilian city, but theft and robbery are everyday risks. Police logged about 250,000 thefts and 98,000 robberies in the capital in 2025, phone snatching is constant, and over 1,000 people died on its roads.

    Score 55, grade C

  59. #59 of 68

    Delhi

    Delhi is manageable for a careful visitor, and serious crime against tourists is uncommon. But it has some of the dirtiest air of any capital, the highest recorded crime against women among India's big cities, aggressive touts and roads that killed 1,658 people in 2024.

    Score 52, grade D

  60. #60 of 68

    New Orleans

    New Orleans has cut its murder count sharply since a 2022 peak and 2026 is on pace for the fewest killings since 1969, yet the rate is still about twice Chicago's. The French Quarter is busy and heavily policed; theft, deadly roads, summer heat and hurricane season are the risks most visitors need to plan for.

    Score 52, grade D

  61. #61 of 68

    Bogotá

    Bogotá is a manageable city for visitors who stay in the north, use ride apps and are careful with strangers, but crime is the real risk. It had about 1,170 homicides in 2025, theft is common, and criminals drug and rob foreigners met through dating apps. The US rates Colombia Level 3.

    Score 51, grade D

  62. #62 of 68

    Lima

    Lima is visited safely by most travellers who stay in Miraflores, Barranco or San Isidro and use app taxis, but crime has grown worse. Homicides in the metro area rose to 11.8 per 100,000 in 2024, extortion gangs drove a state of emergency, and armed robbery, fake taxis and earthquakes are real risks.

    Score 51, grade D

  63. #63 of 68

    Medellín

    Medellín is far safer than its 1990s reputation, with about 12 homicides per 100,000 in 2025, the lowest in 50 years. The risk for visitors is targeted crime, mostly drugging and robbery after meeting strangers on dating apps or in bars, plus street robbery and busy, deadly roads.

    Score 50, grade D

  64. #64 of 68

    Nairobi

    Nairobi is a city where your choices matter. Muggings, armed robbery and carjacking are frequent, the UK warns against walking alone in isolated areas even by day, and protests have turned deadly. Visitors who move by car, stay in the western suburbs and avoid crowds rarely have problems.

    Score 50, grade D

  65. #65 of 68

    Rio de Janeiro

    Rio de Janeiro can be visited safely, but it needs more care than most cities on our list; only Johannesburg, Cape Town and Kingston score lower. Robbery is common in tourist areas, and gun violence linked to gangs and police operations can spill close to where visitors go.

    Score 48, grade D

  66. #66 of 68

    Kingston

    Kingston is safer than it was even a year ago, with murders down about 29% in 2026 so far, but it remains one of the most violent capitals in the Americas. Visitors who stay in New Kingston and take the Humming Bird route from the airport usually have no trouble; gang violence is concentrated in named inner-city areas.

    Score 42, grade D

  67. #67 of 68

    Cape Town

    Cape Town has one of the highest murder rates of any city in the world, but the violence is concentrated in Cape Flats townships that most visitors never see. In tourist areas, the risks are muggings on mountain trails, car crime and robbery after dark.

    Score 40, grade D

  68. #68 of 68

    Johannesburg

    Johannesburg is manageable for visitors who stay in Sandton, Rosebank or Melrose and move by car, but robbery is a serious risk. Downtown precincts top South Africa's robbery tables, Gauteng has over half the country's carjackings, and criminals follow travellers from the airport.

    Score 39, grade F