Ashkelon scores 44 out of 100 (moderate safety) on World Safety Map, ranked 5640 of 6168 cities worldwide. The score combines the homicide rate, nearby conflict deaths, income equality and human development from published data (UNODC, UCDP, World Bank, UNDP).

Is Ashkelon safe?

Israel · Asia · data updated 2026-09-04

43.5Moderate · rank 5640 / 6,168
safer than 9% of ranked cities

Ashkelon is a city in Israel, home to about 109k people, and one of 6,168 cities worldwide ranked on this site from published safety data. It currently ranks 5,640 of 6,168, with a safety score of 43.5 out of 100, which lands it in the middle band of the ranking.

US 3/4 Reconsider travel UK FCDO advises against all travel to parts of this country

Emergency Ambulance 101 · Fire 102 · Police 100

Armed conflict nearbyUCDP recorded 48,255 deaths from organized violence within 100 km in 2022-2024 (4,138 events). Crime figures do not capture war risk.
US State Department: Reconsider travelOfficial travel advisory level 3 of 4 for Israel, updated 2026-08-25.
UK FCDO advises against all travel to parts of this country9 named areas - see "areas to avoid" below.

Deadliest recorded locations nearby

Khan Yunis581 deaths · 50 events
Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital in Gaza city471 deaths · 1 event
Rafah404 deaths · 42 events

UCDP-recorded organized-violence deaths within 100 km of Ashkelon, 2022-2024, at the locations the source itself names. Conflict deaths, not street crime.

Areas the UK FCDO advises against visiting country

Gaza
Areas near Gaza
The West Bank
Northern Israel and Occupied Golan Heights
Tulkarm Governorate, Jenin Governorate, and Tubas Governorate except Route 90
Areas north of Route 89 between Nahariyya and Dalton; north of a straight eastward line from Dalton to Route 91; and north of Route 91 across the Golan Heights, excluding routes 89 and 91 themselves
Within 500m of the Area of Separation in the occupied Golan Heights (the ‘Alpha line’). Do not attempt to enter the occupied Golan Heights through Syria
Sheba’a Farms and Ghajja
West Bank

Named in the official UK travel advice for Israel (in full or in part - the advisory lists exact boundaries and exceptions). These are country-level warnings and may be far from Ashkelon.

How safe is Ashkelon really?

No published homicide figure exists for Ashkelon itself, so the national rate stands in: Israel recorded 3.7 homicides per 100,000 people in 2024 - close to the global city median. The city itself may be safer or more dangerous than its country's average. Israel's income inequality is middling (Gini 38.3) - in this dataset inequality predicts city violence better than any other structural factor, so this neither raises nor lowers the picture much.

Crime statistics are not the main story here: the Uppsala Conflict Data Program recorded 48,255 deaths from organized violence - war, armed conflict, militia or cartel fighting - within 100 km of Ashkelon across 4,138 events in 2022-2024. That is active-conflict territory, and ordinary crime figures say nothing about it. The deadliest recorded locations in that radius were Khan Yunis (581 deaths), Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital in Gaza city (471 deaths), Rafah (404 deaths).

What the travel advisories say

The US State Department currently rates Israel at level 3 of 4 - "Reconsider travel" (updated 2026-08-25). The UK Foreign Office advises against all travel to parts of this country, naming 9 specific areas - listed above with the official advisory linked for exact boundaries and exceptions. Both advisories are country-level: no official source publishes verified neighborhood-level crime guidance for individual cities, which is why this page reports named areas only where an official source names them.

What to watch out for in Israel

Conflict between Lebanese Hizballah and Israel · Conflict between Iran and Israel · Conflict between the Houthis (in Yemen) and Israel · Conflict in Israel and Palestine · Terrorism in Israel and Palestine · Terrorist kidnap · Violent incidents · Demonstrations and armed clashes · Refugee camps · Settlements · Protecting your belongings · Personal ID · Dress code · Ramadan · +11 more

Topic headings from the official UK FCDO travel advice for Israel — country-level, not specific to Ashkelon. Read what each one says →

The numbers

Homicide rate: 3.7 /100knational rate, 2024
Conflict deaths: 48,255within 100 km, 2022-2024 (UCDP)
Income inequality: Gini 38.3country, 2022
Human development: HDI 0.919country, 2023
Income: $58,870/yrGNI per capita PPP · context only, not scored
Population: 109kurban centre · 4,729/km²

Country context for travelers

Road deaths: 3.9 /100kWHO, 2019 · often the biggest real travel risk
Political stability: 48/100World Bank WGI, 2024 · higher = more stable
Rule of law: 67/100World Bank WGI, 2024 · police and courts reliability
Corruption perceptions: 62/100Transparency International, 2025 · higher = cleaner
Natural-hazard risk: 3.3/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
Women, Peace & Security: 0.70Georgetown WPS Index, 2025 · 0-1, higher = better
Air quality: 21.9 µg/m³PM2.5 annual mean, 2023 · WHO guideline is 5
Safely managed drinking water: 100%of the population, 2024 · WHO/UNICEF JMP
Healthcare capacity: 3.8 doctors /1k3.1 hospital beds per 1,000

Natural hazards in Israel

Earthquake: 6.9/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
Drought: 5.3/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
Tsunami: 2.7/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier

Hazard types scoring under 1 out of 10 are not listed. These describe Israel as a whole, not Ashkelon specifically.

Same-sex sexual activity is legal in Israel (as of 2025).

All country-level figures shared by every city in Israel; none of them affect the safety score.

How the score works

Low homicide40%49

Peace25%0

Equality25%59

Development10%92

One fixed, calibrated mix for every city: 40% homicide · 25% peace · 25% equality · 10% HDI. Homicide and conflict deaths are measured outcomes; income inequality carries the structural share because it predicts real city violence far better than national income (which is shown above but scored at zero). Each factor maps to 0-100 against fixed anchors, missing data drops out and is never estimated, and cities with data behind less than half the weighting get “no data” instead of a score. For Ashkelon that gives 43.5/100. Full methodology, anchors and sources →

Ashkelon compared with Gaza

The nearest ranked city of comparable size. Green favours Ashkelon, red favours Gaza.
Measure	Ashkelon	Gaza	Difference
Safety score	43.5	60.5	−17.0 — better for Gaza
Homicide ratecity-measured where published, otherwise the national rate	3.7 /100k	0.3 /100k	+3.5 /100k — better for Gaza
Conflict deaths within 100 km	48,255	47,950	+305 — better for Gaza
Income inequality (Gini)	38.3	36.4	+1.9 — better for Gaza
Human development (HDI)	0.919	0.674	+0.245 — better for Ashkelon
Road deaths	3.9 /100k	5.3 /100k	−1.4 /100k — better for Ashkelon
Rule of law	67/100	40/100	+27/100 — better for Ashkelon
Corruption perceptions	62/100	no data	—
Air quality (PM2.5)	21.9 µg/m³	22.4 µg/m³	−0.5 µg/m³ — better for Ashkelon
Natural-hazard risk	3.3/10	6.5/10	−3.2/10 — better for Ashkelon

Differences are plain arithmetic between the two stored figures — nothing is modelled. Country-level rows describe the two countries, not the cities themselves. Full report for Gaza →

Nearby cities

See Ashkelon on the interactive map → · Safest cities in Asia → · Full travel briefings →