Chiayi scores 68 out of 100 (high safety) on World Safety Map, ranked 3624 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 Chiayi safe?

Taiwan · Asia · data updated 2026-09-04

68.2High · rank 3624 / 6,168
safer than 41% of ranked cities

Chiayi is a city in Taiwan, home to about 436k people, and one of 6,168 cities worldwide ranked on this site from published safety data. It currently ranks 3,624 of 6,168, with a safety score of 68.2 out of 100, placing it clearly above the global midpoint.

US 1/4 Exercise normal precautions

Emergency Ambulance and fire 119 · Police 110 · Coastguard 118 · Domestic abuse and sexual assault hotline 113 · Any further assistance 0800 024 111 (‘Information for Foreigners in Taiwan’ helpline)

Elevated homicide rate5.6 homicides per 100,000 per year (city-measured), about 2× the global city median.

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

How safe is Chiayi really?

The most direct evidence is measured in the city itself: Chiayi recorded 5.6 homicides per 100,000 residents in 2016 - roughly 2 times the global city median. Taiwan's income inequality is middling (Gini 33.9) - 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 Taiwan at level 1 of 4 - "Exercise normal precautions" (updated 2025-11-24). The UK Foreign Office publishes travel advice for Taiwan 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 Taiwan

Terrorism in Taiwan · Crisis preparedness · Crime · Personal ID · Illegal drugs and penalties · LGBT+ travellers · Road travel · Driving standards and road rules · Typhoons · Earthquakes

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

The numbers

Homicide rate: 5.6 /100kcity-measured, 2016 · ~2× the global city median
Conflict deaths: 0within 100 km, 2022-2024 (UCDP)
Income inequality: Gini 33.9country, 2023
Human development: HDI 0.926country, 2021
Income: $72,500/yrGNI per capita PPP · context only, not scored
Population: 436kurban centre · 5,667/km²

Country context for travelers

Road deaths: no dataWHO · often the biggest real travel risk
Political stability: no dataWorld Bank WGI · higher = more stable
Rule of law: no dataWorld Bank WGI · police and courts reliability
Corruption perceptions: 68/100Transparency International, 2025 · higher = cleaner
Natural-hazard risk: no dataEU INFORM · higher = riskier
Women, Peace & Security: 0.85Georgetown WPS Index, 2025 · 0-1, higher = better
Air quality: no dataPM2.5 annual mean · WHO guideline is 5
Safely managed drinking water: no dataof the population · WHO/UNICEF JMP
Healthcare capacity: no datahospital beds: no data

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

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

How the score works

Low homicide40%42

Peace25%100

Equality25%69

Development10%93

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 Chiayi that gives 68.2/100. Full methodology, anchors and sources →

Chiayi compared with Tainan

The nearest ranked city of comparable size. Green favours Chiayi, red favours Tainan.
Measure	Chiayi	Tainan	Difference
Safety score	68.2	76.1	−8.0 — better for Tainan
Homicide ratecity-measured where published, otherwise the national rate	5.6 /100k	1.8 /100k	+3.8 /100k — better for Tainan
Conflict deaths within 100 km	0	0	±0

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

Nearby cities

See Chiayi on the interactive map → · Safest cities in Asia → · Full travel briefings →