Is Cobán safe?
Guatemala · North America · data updated 2026-09-04
Cobán is a city in Guatemala, home to about 229k people, and one of 6,168 cities worldwide ranked on this site from published safety data. It currently ranks 4,715 of 6,168, with a safety score of 56.8 out of 100, which lands it in the middle band of the ranking.
Emergency Fire and Ambulance 122 or 123 · Police 110
- US State Department: Reconsider travelOfficial travel advisory level 3 of 4 for Guatemala, updated 2026-03-11.
- UK FCDO advises against all but essential travel to parts of this country2 named areas - see "areas to avoid" below.
- High income inequalityGini 45.2 puts Guatemala 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).
Areas the UK FCDO advises against visiting country
- within 5km of the Mexican border from the Pacific Coast up to and including the Gracias a Dios crossing
- to the towns of Santa Ana Huista, San Antonio Huista and La Democracia in the department of Huehuetenango
Named in the official UK travel advice for Guatemala (in full or in part - the advisory lists exact boundaries and exceptions). These are country-level warnings and may be far from Cobán.
How safe is Cobán really?
The most direct evidence is measured in the city itself: Cobán recorded 2.6 homicides per 100,000 residents in 2024 - close to the global city median. That matters because income inequality is the strongest structural predictor of city violence in this dataset, and Guatemala's Gini of 45.2 puts it in the most unequal quarter of countries - conditions under which street crime and robbery tend to be a real concern.
Cobán also carries some conflict exposure: UCDP recorded 17 deaths from organized violence within 100 km across 13 events in 2022-2024 - a factor crime statistics alone would miss.
What the travel advisories say
The US State Department currently rates Guatemala at level 3 of 4 - "Reconsider travel" (updated 2026-03-11). The UK Foreign Office advises against all but essential travel to parts of this country, naming 2 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 Guatemala
Terrorism in Guatemala · Political situation · Violent crime · Protecting yourself and your belongings · Buses and coaches · ATM tampering · Fake police officers · Scams · Criminal kidnapping · Personal ID · Alcohol laws and bans · Illegal drugs and prison sentences · Taking photos without permission · LGBT+ travellers · +7 more
Topic headings from the official UK FCDO travel advice for Guatemala — country-level, not specific to Cobán. Read what each one says →
The numbers
- Homicide rate
- 2.6 /100kcity-measured, 2024
- Conflict deaths
- 17within 100 km, 2022-2024 (UCDP)
- Income inequality
- Gini 45.2country, 2023
- Human development
- HDI 0.662country, 2023
- Income
- $15,020/yrGNI per capita PPP · context only, not scored
- Population
- 229kurban centre · 9,542/km²
Country context for travelers
- Road deaths
- 22.9 /100kWHO, 2019 · often the biggest real travel risk
- Political stability
- 62/100World Bank WGI, 2024 · higher = more stable
- Rule of law
- 40/100World Bank WGI, 2024 · police and courts reliability
- Corruption perceptions
- 26/100Transparency International, 2025 · higher = cleaner
- Natural-hazard risk
- 5.9/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
- Women, Peace & Security
- 0.56Georgetown WPS Index, 2025 · 0-1, higher = better
- Air quality
- 29.7 µg/m³PM2.5 annual mean, 2023 · WHO guideline is 5
- Safely managed drinking water
- 49%of the population, 2024 · WHO/UNICEF JMP
- Healthcare capacity
- 1.3 doctors /1k0.5 hospital beds per 1,000
- Malaria
- 0 /1k at riskWHO, 2024 · listed for endemic countries only
Natural hazards in Guatemala
- Earthquake
- 9.5/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
- Tsunami
- 6.8/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
- Flood
- 4.2/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
- Cyclone
- 3.7/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
- Drought
- 3.5/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
Hazard types scoring under 1 out of 10 are not listed. These describe Guatemala as a whole, not Cobán specifically.
Same-sex sexual activity is legal in Guatemala (as of 2025).
All country-level figures shared by every city in Guatemala; 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 Cobán that gives 56.8/100. Full methodology, anchors and sources →
Cobán compared with Guatemala City
| Measure | Cobán | Guatemala City | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Safety score | 56.8 | 34.0 | +22.8 — better for Cobán |
| Homicide ratecity-measured where published, otherwise the national rate | 2.6 /100k | 46 /100k | −44 /100k — better for Cobán |
| Conflict deaths within 100 km | 17 | 46 | −29 — better for Cobán |
Differences are plain arithmetic between the two stored figures — nothing is modelled. Both cities are in Guatemala, so they share every country-level figure and only the city-level ones are listed. Full report for Guatemala City →
Nearby cities
- San Pedro Carchá 56.8
- San Pedro Sacatepéquez 34.0
- Guatemala City 34.0
- Chimaltenango 39.3
- Antigua Guatemala 34.0
- Totonicapán 38.2
- Escuintla 38.9
- Quetzaltenango 40.4
See Cobán on the interactive map → · Safest cities in North America → · Full travel briefings →