Crime Index by City

Crime Index by City: The Cost of Violence

Safety is a top priority for travelers, expatriates, and businesses operating internationally. However, quantifying safety isn't always straightforward. Our Crime Index by City provides a comparative overview of reported homicide rates across major metropolitan areas worldwide. This data serves as a starting point to help you understand the relative safety landscape of different cities, empowering you to make more informed decisions about travel, relocation, or investment.

At this time, our crime tracking focuses exclusively on homicide rates. Due to the nature of international statistics, the information presented is from a few years ago. Official homicide rates require rigorous confirmation from national governments before they can be published, and these verification processes often involve significant delays. We are committed to updating our figures as soon as new, government-confirmed data becomes available.

It is also important to note that a city's safety is not defined by homicide rates alone. Even if your specific city is not prominently featured on this list, other serious crimes can significantly affect the overall sense of security. These include aggravated assaults, armed robberies, vehicle thefts, residential and commercial break-ins, arson, fraud schemes, cybercrime, and other criminal acts. Each of these offenses can impact daily life, business operations, and personal well-being in ways that homicide statistics alone cannot capture. We hope to better track and present these additional crime categories in the future as more detailed information becomes accessible and verified by governmental and law enforcement agencies.

How to Interpret the Homicide Rate Scale

To help you make sense of the data, we've established the following general benchmarks for interpreting homicide rates per 100,000 residents. These categories provide a framework for understanding the relative severity of violence in a given city, though they should always be considered alongside other factors such as local context, reporting accuracy, and the full spectrum of crime.

Note: These ranges are general guidelines only. Actual lived experience in any city depends on many factors beyond homicide statistics, including neighborhood-level variations, time of day, and local law enforcement effectiveness.

Disclaimer

The Crime Index data presented on this page is for informational and comparative purposes only and should not be considered a definitive measure of absolute safety or danger. Crime rates and statistics are subject to change, underreporting, and varying definitions across jurisdictions. The data for homicide rates is historical and may not reflect current conditions, as it relies on official government confirmation, which can take years to finalize. This information is not a substitute for up-to-date travel advisories, local news, or professional security assessments. Always consult official government travel advisories and local authorities for the most current safety information before making any decisions based on this data. Please see our Terms of use for more details.