Cartago scores 50 out of 100 (moderate safety) on World Safety Map, ranked 5205 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 Cartago safe?

Costa Rica · North America · data updated 2026-09-04

49.6Moderate · rank 5205 / 6,168
safer than 16% of ranked cities

Cartago is a city in Costa Rica, home to about 190k people, and one of 6,168 cities worldwide ranked on this site from published safety data. It currently ranks 5,205 of 6,168, with a safety score of 49.6 out of 100, which lands it in the middle band of the ranking.

US 2/4 Exercise increased caution

Emergency 911 (ambulance, fire, police)

Very high homicide rate27.8 homicides per 100,000 per year (city-measured), about 10× the global city median.
High income inequalityGini 45.5 puts Costa Rica 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 Costa Rica are country-level, and no published dataset covers neighborhood-level crime - so this briefing does not invent it.

How safe is Cartago really?

The most direct evidence is measured in the city itself: Cartago recorded 28 homicides per 100,000 residents in 2024 - roughly 10 times the global city median. That matters because income inequality is the strongest structural predictor of city violence in this dataset, and Costa Rica's Gini of 45.5 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 Costa Rica at level 2 of 4 - "Exercise increased caution" (updated 2026-04-01). The UK Foreign Office publishes travel advice for Costa Rica 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 Costa Rica

Terrorism in Costa Rica · Protecting your belongings · Violent crime · Spiked drinks and sexual assault · Methanol poisoning · Personal ID · Illegal drugs and prison sentences · LGBT+ travellers · Swimming safety · Water sports · Rainforest tours and Adventure Tourism. · Road travel · Taxis · Airport disruptions · +4 more

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

The numbers

Homicide rate: 28 /100kcity-measured, 2024 · ~10× the global city median
Conflict deaths: 0within 100 km, 2022-2024 (UCDP)
Income inequality: Gini 45.5country, 2025
Human development: HDI 0.833country, 2023
Income: $30,760/yrGNI per capita PPP · context only, not scored
Population: 190kurban centre · 4,214/km²

Country context for travelers

Road deaths: 14.8 /100kWHO, 2019 · often the biggest real travel risk
Political stability: 86/100World Bank WGI, 2024 · higher = more stable
Rule of law: 68/100World Bank WGI, 2024 · police and courts reliability
Corruption perceptions: 56/100Transparency International, 2025 · higher = cleaner
Natural-hazard risk: 4.0/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
Women, Peace & Security: 0.82Georgetown WPS Index, 2025 · 0-1, higher = better
Air quality: 17.7 µg/m³PM2.5 annual mean, 2023 · WHO guideline is 5
Safely managed drinking water: 81%of the population, 2024 · WHO/UNICEF JMP
Healthcare capacity: 2.7 doctors /1k1.1 hospital beds per 1,000
Malaria: 0 /1k at riskWHO, 2024 · listed for endemic countries only

Natural hazards in Costa Rica

Earthquake: 9.1/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
Tsunami: 8.3/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
Flood: 2.4/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
Cyclone: 1.4/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
Drought: 1.0/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier

Hazard types scoring under 1 out of 10 are not listed. These describe Costa Rica as a whole, not Cartago specifically.

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

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

How the score works

Low homicide40%13

Peace25%100

Equality25%43

Development10%83

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 Cartago that gives 49.6/100. Full methodology, anchors and sources →

Cartago compared with San Jose

The nearest ranked city of comparable size. Green favours Cartago, red favours San Jose.
Measure	Cartago	San Jose	Difference
Safety score	49.6	49.6	±0.0
Homicide ratecity-measured where published, otherwise the national rate	28 /100k	28 /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 Costa Rica, so they share every country-level figure and only the city-level ones are listed. Full report for San Jose →

Nearby cities

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