Cheltenham scores 82 out of 100 (very high safety) on World Safety Map, ranked 1717 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 Cheltenham safe?

United Kingdom · Europe · data updated 2026-09-04

81.8Very high · rank 1717 / 6,168
safer than 72% of ranked cities

Cheltenham is a city in United Kingdom, home to about 119k people, and one of 6,168 cities worldwide ranked on this site from published safety data. It currently ranks 1,717 of 6,168, with a safety score of 81.8 out of 100, which puts it in the top band of the ranking.

US 2/4 Exercise increased caution

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 Cheltenham really?

No published homicide figure exists for Cheltenham 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: 119kurban centre · 3,728/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 Cheltenham 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

Low homicide40%73

Peace25%100

Equality25%72

Development10%95

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 Cheltenham that gives 81.8/100. Full methodology, anchors and sources →

Cheltenham compared with Bristol

The nearest ranked city of comparable size. Green favours Cheltenham, red favours Bristol.
Measure	Cheltenham	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

Gloucester 81.8
Worcester 81.8
Swindon 81.8
Bristol 81.8
Oxford 81.8
Birmingham 81.8
Coventry 81.8
Newport 81.8

See Cheltenham on the interactive map → · Safest cities in Europe → · Full travel briefings →