World Safety Map

Is Bilwi safe?

Nicaragua · North America · data updated 2026-09-04

59.3Moderate · rank 4486 / 6,168
safer than 27% of ranked cities

Bilwi is a city in Nicaragua, home to about 106k people, and one of 6,168 cities worldwide ranked on this site from published safety data. It currently ranks 4,486 of 6,168, with a safety score of 59.3 out of 100, which lands it in the middle band of the ranking.

Emergency 911 (ambulance, fire, police)

  • US State Department: Reconsider travelOfficial travel advisory level 3 of 4 for Nicaragua, updated 2026-05-13.
  • Elevated homicide rate5.45 homicides per 100,000 per year (national rate), about 2× the global city median.
  • High income inequalityGini 46.2 puts Nicaragua in the most unequal quarter of countries - the strongest structural predictor of city violence in this dataset (street crime and robbery tend to track it).

No official source names specific areas to avoid here: travel advisories for Nicaragua are country-level, and no published dataset covers neighborhood-level crime - so this briefing does not invent it.

How safe is Bilwi really?

No published homicide figure exists for Bilwi itself, so the national rate stands in: Nicaragua recorded 5.5 homicides per 100,000 people in 2023 - roughly 2 times the global city median. The city itself may be safer or more dangerous than its country's average. That matters because income inequality is the strongest structural predictor of city violence in this dataset, and Nicaragua's Gini of 46.2 puts it in the most unequal quarter of countries - conditions under which street crime and robbery tend to be a real concern.

What the travel advisories say

The US State Department currently rates Nicaragua at level 3 of 4 - "Reconsider travel" (updated 2026-05-13). The UK Foreign Office publishes travel advice for Nicaragua without any avoid-travel warning in force. 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 Nicaragua

Terrorism in Nicaragua · Political situation · Violent crime · Taxi safety and criminal kidnap · Sexual assault · Risks when exchanging money · Illegal drugs and prison sentences · Flying drones · Swimming safety · Scuba diving · Road travel · Driving standards and road conditions · Boat and ferry travel · Hurricanes · +2 more

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

The numbers

Homicide rate
5.5 /100knational rate, 2023 · ~2× the global city median
Conflict deaths
0within 100 km, 2022-2024 (UCDP)
Income inequality
Gini 46.2country, 2014
Human development
HDI 0.706country, 2023
Income
$8,780/yrGNI per capita PPP · context only, not scored
Population
106kurban centre · 5,602/km²

Country context for travelers

Road deaths
16.9 /100kWHO, 2019 · often the biggest real travel risk
Political stability
65/100World Bank WGI, 2024 · higher = more stable
Rule of law
29/100World Bank WGI, 2024 · police and courts reliability
Corruption perceptions
14/100Transparency International, 2025 · higher = cleaner
Natural-hazard risk
4.3/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
Women, Peace & Security
0.66Georgetown WPS Index, 2025 · 0-1, higher = better
Air quality
20.4 µg/m³PM2.5 annual mean, 2023 · WHO guideline is 5
Safely managed drinking water
no dataof the population · WHO/UNICEF JMP
Healthcare capacity
0.7 doctors /1k1.0 hospital beds per 1,000
Malaria
1 /1k at riskWHO, 2024 · listed for endemic countries only

Natural hazards in Nicaragua

Earthquake
8.2/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
Tsunami
7.2/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
Flood
5.0/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
Cyclone
4.2/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
Drought
3.9/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier

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

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

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

How the score works

Low homicide40%42
Peace25%100
Equality25%42
Development10%71

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 Bilwi that gives 59.3/100. Full methodology, anchors and sources →

Bilwi compared with Managua

The nearest ranked city of comparable size. Green favours Bilwi, red favours Managua.
MeasureBilwiManaguaDifference
Safety score59.357.5+1.9 — better for Bilwi
Homicide ratecity-measured where published, otherwise the national rate5.5 /100k7.1 /100k−1.6 /100k — better for Bilwi
Conflict deaths within 100 km00±0

Differences are plain arithmetic between the two stored figures — nothing is modelled. Both cities are in Nicaragua, so they share every country-level figure and only the city-level ones are listed. Full report for Managua

Nearby cities

See Bilwi on the interactive map → · Safest cities in North America · Full travel briefings →