Is Bournemouth safe?
United Kingdom · Europe · data updated 2026-09-04
Bournemouth is a city in United Kingdom, home to about 387k people, and one of 6,168 cities worldwide ranked on this site from published safety data. It currently ranks 1,677 of 6,168, with a safety score of 81.8 out of 100 - among the safest cities in this dataset.
No official source names specific areas to avoid here: travel advisories for United Kingdom are country-level, and no published dataset covers neighborhood-level crime - so this briefing does not invent it.
How safe is Bournemouth really?
No published homicide figure exists for Bournemouth itself, so the national rate stands in: United Kingdom recorded 0.9 homicides per 100,000 people in 2023 - well below the global city median. The city itself may be safer or more dangerous than its country's average. United Kingdom's income inequality is middling (Gini 32.4) - in this dataset inequality predicts city violence better than any other structural factor, so this neither raises nor lowers the picture much.
What the travel advisories say
The US State Department currently rates United Kingdom at level 2 of 4 - "Exercise increased caution" (updated 2025-05-07). 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.
The numbers
- Homicide rate
- 0.9 /100knational rate, 2023
- Conflict deaths
- 0within 100 km, 2022-2024 (UCDP)
- Income inequality
- Gini 32.4country, 2021
- Human development
- HDI 0.946country, 2023
- Income
- $64,210/yrGNI per capita PPP · context only, not scored
- Population
- 387kurban centre · 3,421/km²
Country context for travelers
- Road deaths
- 3.2 /100kWHO, 2019 · often the biggest real travel risk
- Political stability
- 70/100World Bank WGI, 2024 · higher = more stable
- Rule of law
- 79/100World Bank WGI, 2024 · police and courts reliability
- Corruption perceptions
- 70/100Transparency International, 2025 · higher = cleaner
- Natural-hazard risk
- 2.2/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
- Women, Peace & Security
- 0.86Georgetown WPS Index, 2025 · 0-1, higher = better
- Air quality
- 9.5 µg/m³PM2.5 annual mean, 2023 · WHO guideline is 5
- Safely managed drinking water
- 100%of the population, 2024 · WHO/UNICEF JMP
- Healthcare capacity
- 3.3 doctors /1k2.4 hospital beds per 1,000
Natural hazards in United Kingdom
- Flood
- 5.7/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
- Tsunami
- 1.9/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
- Drought
- 1.5/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
Hazard types scoring under 1 out of 10 are not listed. These describe United Kingdom as a whole, not Bournemouth specifically.
Same-sex sexual activity is legal in United Kingdom (as of 2025).
All country-level figures shared by every city in United Kingdom; none of them affect the safety score.
How the score works
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 Bournemouth that gives 81.8/100. Full methodology, anchors and sources →
Bournemouth compared with Bristol
| Measure | Bournemouth | Bristol | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Safety score | 81.8 | 81.8 | ±0.0 |
| Homicide ratecity-measured where published, otherwise the national rate | 0.9 /100k | 0.9 /100k | ±0.0 /100k |
| Conflict deaths within 100 km | 0 | 0 | ±0 |
Differences are plain arithmetic between the two stored figures — nothing is modelled. Both cities are in United Kingdom, so they share every country-level figure and only the city-level ones are listed. Full report for Bristol →
Nearby cities
- Southampton 81.8
- Portsmouth 81.8
- Basingstoke 81.8
- Bristol 81.8
- Swindon 81.8
- Farnham 81.8
- Reading 81.8
- Exeter 81.8
See Bournemouth on the interactive map → · Safest cities in Europe → · Full travel briefings →