City Safety Index 2026
The world's 50 major tourist cities, ranked by a transparent 7-criteria formula. Every sub-score is published, every government advisory is linked, and every score can be recomputed by hand. No vibes — arithmetic.
How the score works
Each city gets seven sub-scores (1 = safest, 10 = riskiest): crime 25%, scams 20%, political stability 15%, health infrastructure 15%, traffic safety 10%, natural disaster risk 10%, tourist police 5%. The weighted sum is the base score — full details on the methodology page.
The adjustment column: a steady-state formula cannot express "safe streets, but armed conflict may arrive." When a country-wide acute advisory applies (US Level 3 / AU "Reconsider"), we add a fixed +1.5 (+3.0 for Level 4 / "Do Not Travel") — shown separately, so you always see both truths: what the city is like day-to-day, and what the geopolitical overhang costs it. Remote regional warnings (e.g. border provinces 1,000 km away) do not trigger it.
Six findings that surprised us
Zurich and Singapore share the top spot at 1.4 — for opposite reasons. Zurich simply has nothing to worry about; Singapore engineers safety through strict law. Know the rules (vaping, drugs, even gum) and it is untouchable.
NYC (3.0) lands safer than London (3.2) and well ahead of Paris (3.9). Screen reputation says otherwise, but the data is clear: Manhattan tourist crime sits near multi-decade lows, while Paris logs ~150 tourist theft reports a day.
Doha, Abu Dhabi and Dubai all carry a +1.5 acute-advisory adjustment — their street crime columns rival Zurich's, but active regional conflict (US Level 3 advisories) is a risk no pickpocket statistic can offset. The base + adjustment columns show both truths at once.
Istanbul (4.9) scores fractionally worse than Dubai (4.8) even with Dubai's conflict premium — driven by earthquake vulnerability, traffic risk and scam pressure rather than violent crime, which stays rare in both.
Delhi's 6.1 is the highest unadjusted score in the index: an aggressive scam ecosystem, hazardous winter air, and some of the world's most lethal traffic. Medellín (6.7) only passes it after Colombia's country-wide US Level 3 advisory is applied.
Bali and Phuket (both 4.6) owe their scores to two-wheeled traffic and nature — volcanoes, tsunamis, rip currents — not crime. The most likely way a tourist gets hurt there is a rented scooter, not a robbery.
The full ranking — all 50 cities
Click a column to sort. Click a city row to expand its seven sub-scores. Cities with a full TripGuards guide link to it.
Limitations — read before quoting
Scores are a point-in-time assessment (data frozen 2026-07-23) calibrated for an average tourist taking standard precautions. A solo female traveler, a business traveler, or a visitor with medical needs faces a different profile. Sub-scores are editorial judgments informed by the sources on our methodology page — they are transparent and consistent, not laboratory measurements.
Always verify with your government's official travel advisory before booking. Every row links the current US advisory; conditions in adjusted cities can change fast.