Cork scores 86 out of 100 (very high safety) on World Safety Map, ranked 185 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 Cork safe?

Ireland · Europe · data updated 2026-09-04

85.7Very high · rank 185 / 6,168
safer than 97% of ranked cities

Cork is a city in Ireland, home to about 154k people, and one of 6,168 cities worldwide ranked on this site from published safety data. It currently ranks 185 of 6,168, with a safety score of 85.7 out of 100 - among the safest cities in this dataset.

US 1/4 Exercise normal precautions

Emergency 112 or 999 (ambulance, fire, police)

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

How safe is Cork really?

No published homicide figure exists for Cork itself, so the national rate stands in: Ireland recorded 0.7 homicides per 100,000 people in 2024 - well below the global city median. The city itself may be safer or more dangerous than its country's average. Ireland is also one of the more equal societies in the dataset (Gini 29.0), and low inequality is the strongest structural predictor of low city violence in this data.

What the travel advisories say

The US State Department currently rates Ireland at level 1 of 4 - "Exercise normal precautions" (updated 2026-03-19). The UK Foreign Office publishes travel advice for Ireland 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 Ireland

Terrorism in Ireland · Demonstrations · Crime · Illegal drugs · Road travel

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

The numbers

Homicide rate: 0.7 /100knational rate, 2024
Conflict deaths: 0within 100 km, 2022-2024 (UCDP)
Income inequality: Gini 29.0country, 2023
Human development: HDI 0.949country, 2023
Income: $106,310/yrGNI per capita PPP · context only, not scored
Population: 154kurban centre · 2,853/km²

Country context for travelers

Road deaths: 3.1 /100kWHO, 2019 · often the biggest real travel risk
Political stability: 78/100World Bank WGI, 2024 · higher = more stable
Rule of law: 84/100World Bank WGI, 2024 · police and courts reliability
Corruption perceptions: 76/100Transparency International, 2025 · higher = cleaner
Natural-hazard risk: 2.3/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
Women, Peace & Security: 0.89Georgetown WPS Index, 2025 · 0-1, higher = better
Air quality: 7.5 µg/m³PM2.5 annual mean, 2023 · WHO guideline is 5
Safely managed drinking water: 96%of the population, 2024 · WHO/UNICEF JMP
Healthcare capacity: 3.9 doctors /1k3.0 hospital beds per 1,000

Natural hazards in Ireland

Flood: 3.5/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
Tsunami: 1.9/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier

Hazard types scoring under 1 out of 10 are not listed. These describe Ireland as a whole, not Cork specifically.

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

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

How the score works

Low homicide40%78

Peace25%100

Equality25%80

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 Cork that gives 85.7/100. Full methodology, anchors and sources →

Cork compared with Dublin

The nearest ranked city of comparable size. Green favours Cork, red favours Dublin.
Measure	Cork	Dublin	Difference
Safety score	85.7	81.4	+4.3 — better for Cork
Homicide ratecity-measured where published, otherwise the national rate	0.7 /100k	1.3 /100k	−0.6 /100k — better for Cork
Conflict deaths within 100 km	0	0	±0

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

Nearby cities

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