Crime

Most Dangerous Cities in Mexico 2026

State

Baja California

Zacatecas

San Luis Rio Colorado

Sonora

City	Country	State↓	Homicide Rates 2024 (per 100k)	Homicide Cases 2024
Guadalupe	Mexico	Zacatecas	45.7	77
Fresnillo	Mexico	Zacatecas
Zacatecas	Mexico	Zacatecas
Coatzacoalcos	Mexico	Veracruz
Reynosa	Mexico	Tamaulipas
San Luis Rio Colorado	Mexico	Sonora	147.0	243
Guaymas	Mexico	Sonora	48.2	63
Culiacan	Mexico	Sinaloa	64.0	541
Cancun	Mexico	Quintana Roo
Benito Juarez	Mexico	Quintana Roo
Garcia	Mexico	Nuevo León	49.3	196
Tepic	Mexico	Nayarit
Cuernavaca	Mexico	Morelos	67.2	226
Jiutepec	Mexico	Morelos	64.3	123
Guadalajara	Mexico	Jalisco
Chilpancingo de los Bravo	Mexico	Guerrero	47.6	113
Iguala de la Independencia	Mexico	Guerrero	52.7	68
Leon	Mexico	Guanajuato	41.3	598
Irapuato	Mexico	Guanajuato	52.5	262
Celaya	Mexico	Guanajuato	101.0	444
Salamanca	Mexico	Guanajuato	64.8	149
Manzanillo	Mexico	Colima	154.0	266
Colima	Mexico	Colima	172.0	244
Juarez	Mexico	Chihuahua	72.4	945
Chihuahua	Mexico	Chihuahua	43.6	353
Cuauhtemoc	Mexico	Chihuahua	70.6	110
Tijuana	Mexico	Baja California	92.3	1,591
Ensenada	Mexico	Baja California

The municipal homicide rate has been estimated by adjusting the municipal homicide case rate based on state-wide discrepancies between the recorded numbers of victims and cases.
List only includes municipalities with a population of at least 150,000.
Rates for some years appear to have been rounded to the nearest whole number.

According to the Global Peace Index, Mexico is the 24th least peaceful and 140th most peaceful country in the world. The Global Peace Index measures the relative peacefulness of 172 independent states and territories around the world.

The GPI weighs both internal peace (60%) and external peace (40%). Internal peace is weighted 1 to 5 using indicators such as homicide rate, the intensity of internal conflict, violent crime, political instability, political terror, and more. External peace is weighted 1 to 5 as well using indicators such as military expenditure, nuclear and heavy weapons capabilities, external conflicts fought, and more. A score of 1 is the most peaceful and a score of 5 is the least peaceful. Mexico has an index score of 2.600.

While Mexico is a popular vacationing destination, especially for U.S. tourists, the country has many dangerous areas and cities that should be avoided. Mexico is currently dealing with drug trafficking, organized crime, political corruption, violence against journalists, violence against women, and more. Those visiting Mexico should be cautious of kidnappings, homicides, robberies, and carjacking.

The ten most dangerous cities in Mexico, based on number of homicides per 100,000 residents are:

Tijuana (138)
Acapulco (111)
Ciudad Victoria (86)
Ciudad Juarez (86)
Irapuato (81)
Cancun (64)
Culiacán (61)
Uruapan (55)
Ciudad Obredón (52)
Coatzacoalcos (48)

Tijuana, which is the world’s busiest land border crossings with over 50 million people passing through it every year, is the most dangerous city in Mexico. Tijuana’s homicide rate is 138 homicides per 100,000 people with a total of 2,640 homicides in 2018. With San Diego right across the border, there are concerns of such violence carrying over, but San Diego has remained relatively safe due to the hundreds of law enforced from U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency, the FBI, and the U.S. Coast Guard. In 2018, San Diego had a homicide rate of 2.5 per 100,000 people.

The five most dangerous cities in Mexico are also among the top ten most dangerous cities in the world. Tijuana also ranks as the most dangerous city in the world, Acapulco takes the second spot, Ciudad Victoria takes the fourth, Ciudad Juárez takes the fifth, and Irapuato takes the sixth.