Is Charsadda safe?
Pakistan · Asia · data updated 2026-09-04
Charsadda is a city in Pakistan, home to about 414k people, and one of 6,168 cities worldwide ranked on this site from published safety data. It currently ranks 5,307 of 6,168, with a safety score of 48.9 out of 100, which lands it in the middle band of the ranking.
Emergency 1122 (ambulance, fire) · Police 15
- Armed conflict nearbyUCDP recorded 631 deaths from organized violence within 100 km in 2022-2024 (223 events). Crime figures do not capture war risk.
- US State Department: Reconsider travelOfficial travel advisory level 3 of 4 for Pakistan, updated 2026-03-02.
- UK FCDO advises against all travel to parts of this country35 named areas - see "areas to avoid" below.
- Same-sex activity criminalized - death penalty in lawLaw on the books in Pakistan as of 2025 (OWID legal-status series) - enforcement varies, but LGBTQ+ travelers face legal risk.
Deadliest recorded locations nearby
- a mosque in Police Lines area of Peshawar102 deaths · 1 event
- Kocha Risaldar area of Peshawar64 deaths · 1 event
- the NADRA office in Khar town64 deaths · 1 event
UCDP-recorded organized-violence deaths within 100 km of Charsadda, 2022-2024, at the locations the source itself names. Conflict deaths, not street crime.
Areas the UK FCDO advises against visiting country
- Pakistan-Afghanistan border
- Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province
- Balochistan Province
- Pakistan-India Border Area
- Pakistan-administered Kashmir
- Sindh Province
- Punjab Province
- Bajaur
- Bannu
- Buner
- Chārsadda
- Dera Ismail Khan
- Hangu
- Karak
- Khyber
- Kohat
- Kurram
- Lakki Marwat
- Upper Dir
- Lower Dir
- Mohmand
- Orakzai
- Peshawar, including the city of Peshawar
- Swat
- Tank
- North Waziristan
- Upper South Waziristan
- Lower South Waziristan
- the Karakoram Highway between Mansehra and Chilas via Battagram, Besham City, Dasu and Sazin up to the junction with the N15
- the N45 Highway, from the north of the Mardan ring road, to the edge of Chitral City, including Kalash valley
- Malakand
- Mardan
- Nowshera
- Shangla
- Swabi
Named in the official UK travel advice for Pakistan (in full or in part - the advisory lists exact boundaries and exceptions). These are country-level warnings and may be far from Charsadda.
How safe is Charsadda really?
No published homicide figure exists for Charsadda itself, so the national rate stands in: Pakistan recorded 4.3 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. Pakistan's income inequality is middling (Gini 33.5) - 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 631 deaths from organized violence - war, armed conflict, militia or cartel fighting - within 100 km of Charsadda across 223 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 a mosque in Police Lines area of Peshawar (102 deaths), Kocha Risaldar area of Peshawar (64 deaths), the NADRA office in Khar town (64 deaths).
What the travel advisories say
The US State Department currently rates Pakistan at level 3 of 4 - "Reconsider travel" (updated 2026-03-02). The UK Foreign Office advises against all travel to parts of this country, naming 35 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 Pakistan
Terrorism in Pakistan · Terrorist kidnap · Political situation · Protecting yourself and your belongings · Criminal kidnap · Personal ID · Ramadan · Dress code · Blasphemy · Death penalty · Alcohol laws and bans · Illegal drugs and penalties · Taking photos in secure areas · Property disputes · +13 more
Topic headings from the official UK FCDO travel advice for Pakistan — country-level, not specific to Charsadda. Read what each one says →
The numbers
- Homicide rate
- 4.3 /100knational rate, 2024
- Conflict deaths
- 631within 100 km, 2022-2024 (UCDP)
- Income inequality
- Gini 33.5country, 2024
- Human development
- HDI 0.544country, 2023
- Income
- $6,430/yrGNI per capita PPP · context only, not scored
- Population
- 414kurban centre · 7,522/km²
Country context for travelers
- Road deaths
- 13.0 /100kWHO, 2019 · often the biggest real travel risk
- Political stability
- 31/100World Bank WGI, 2024 · higher = more stable
- Rule of law
- 39/100World Bank WGI, 2024 · police and courts reliability
- Corruption perceptions
- 28/100Transparency International, 2025 · higher = cleaner
- Natural-hazard risk
- 6.6/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
- Women, Peace & Security
- 0.46Georgetown WPS Index, 2025 · 0-1, higher = better
- Air quality
- 58.4 µg/m³PM2.5 annual mean, 2023 · WHO guideline is 5
- Safely managed drinking water
- 45%of the population, 2024 · WHO/UNICEF JMP
- Healthcare capacity
- 1.2 doctors /1k0.6 hospital beds per 1,000
- Malaria
- 13 /1k at riskWHO, 2024 · listed for endemic countries only
Natural hazards in Pakistan
- Flood
- 9.5/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
- Earthquake
- 9.2/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
- Cyclone
- 7.1/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
- Tsunami
- 6.1/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
- Drought
- 4.5/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
Hazard types scoring under 1 out of 10 are not listed. These describe Pakistan as a whole, not Charsadda specifically.
Same-sex sexual activity is criminalized in Pakistan, with the death penalty applying in law (as of 2025). This describes the law on the books, not necessarily enforcement practice.
All country-level figures shared by every city in Pakistan; 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 Charsadda that gives 48.9/100. Full methodology, anchors and sources →
Charsadda compared with Shabqadar
| Measure | Charsadda | Shabqadar | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Safety score | 48.9 | 48.2 | +0.6 — better for Charsadda |
| Homicide ratecity-measured where published, otherwise the national rate | 4.3 /100k | 4.3 /100k | ±0.0 /100k |
| Conflict deaths within 100 km | 631 | 799 | −168 — better for Charsadda |
Differences are plain arithmetic between the two stored figures — nothing is modelled. Both cities are in Pakistan, so they share every country-level figure and only the city-level ones are listed. Full report for Shabqadar →
Nearby cities
See Charsadda on the interactive map → · Safest cities in Asia → · Full travel briefings →