Is Gonaïves safe?
Haiti · North America · data updated 2026-09-04
Gonaïves is a city in Haiti, home to about 367k people, and one of 6,168 cities worldwide ranked on this site from published safety data. It currently ranks 6,058 of 6,168, with a safety score of 27.5 out of 100, placing it clearly below the global midpoint.
Emergency Ambulance 116 · Fire 115 · Police 122
- US State Department: Do not travelOfficial travel advisory level 4 of 4 for Haiti, updated 2026-07-09.
- UK FCDO advises against all travel to this countryOfficial UK government travel advice, updated 2025-12-10.
- Very high homicide rate64.34 homicides per 100,000 per year (national rate), about 24× the global city median.
Deadliest recorded locations nearby
- town of Pont-Sondé100 deaths · 1 event
- town of Petite-Riviere in central Haiti70 deaths · 1 event
- cabaret commune source matelas70 deaths · 1 event
UCDP-recorded organized-violence deaths within 100 km of Gonaïves, 2022-2024, at the locations the source itself names. Conflict deaths, not street crime.
How safe is Gonaïves really?
No published homicide figure exists for Gonaïves itself, so the national rate stands in: Haiti recorded 64 homicides per 100,000 people in 2024 - roughly 24 times the global city median. The city itself may be safer or more dangerous than its country's average. Haiti's income inequality is middling (Gini 41.1) - in this dataset inequality predicts city violence better than any other structural factor, so this neither raises nor lowers the picture much.
Gonaïves also carries some conflict exposure: UCDP recorded 403 deaths from organized violence within 100 km across 26 events in 2022-2024 - a factor crime statistics alone would miss. The deadliest recorded locations in that radius were town of Pont-Sondé (100 deaths), town of Petite-Riviere in central Haiti (70 deaths), cabaret commune source matelas (70 deaths).
What the travel advisories say
The US State Department currently rates Haiti at level 4 of 4 - "Do not travel" (updated 2026-07-09). The UK Foreign Office advises against all travel to this country. 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 Haiti
Terrorism in Haiti · Haiti-Dominican Republic border closure · Political situation · Criminal and gang activity · Criminal kidnaps · Illegal drugs and prison sentences · Personal ID · LGBT+ · Road travel · Hurricanes · Earthquakes
Topic headings from the official UK FCDO travel advice for Haiti — country-level, not specific to Gonaïves. Read what each one says →
The numbers
- Homicide rate
- 64 /100knational rate, 2024 · ~24× the global city median
- Conflict deaths
- 403within 100 km, 2022-2024 (UCDP)
- Income inequality
- Gini 41.1country, 2012
- Human development
- HDI 0.554country, 2023
- Income
- $3,130/yrGNI per capita PPP · context only, not scored
- Population
- 367kurban centre · 10,490/km²
- Nearest airport
- 58 kmCap Haitien International Airport (CAP) · also PAP, 106 km
Straight-line distance from the city centre, not drive time. Scheduled-service airports only (OurAirports).
Country context for travelers
- Road deaths
- 18.8 /100kWHO, 2019 · often the biggest real travel risk
- Political stability
- 45/100World Bank WGI, 2024 · higher = more stable
- Rule of law
- 29/100World Bank WGI, 2024 · police and courts reliability
- Corruption perceptions
- 16/100Transparency International, 2025 · higher = cleaner
- Natural-hazard risk
- 7.6/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
- Women, Peace & Security
- 0.40Georgetown WPS Index, 2025 · 0-1, higher = better
- Air quality
- 15.8 µg/m³PM2.5 annual mean, 2023 · WHO guideline is 5
- Safely managed drinking water
- no dataof the population · WHO/UNICEF JMP
- Healthcare capacity
- 0.3 doctors /1k4.9 hospital beds per 1,000
- Malaria
- 9 /1k at riskWHO, 2024 · listed for endemic countries only
Natural hazards in Haiti
- Cyclone
- 8.8/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
- Earthquake
- 8.4/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
- Flood
- 4.7/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
- Tsunami
- 4.1/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
- Drought
- 3.7/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
Hazard types scoring under 1 out of 10 are not listed. These describe Haiti as a whole, not Gonaïves specifically.
Same-sex sexual activity is legal in Haiti (as of 2025).
All country-level figures shared by every city in Haiti; 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 Gonaïves that gives 27.5/100. Full methodology, anchors and sources →
Gonaïves compared with Port-au-Prince
| Measure | Gonaïves | Port-au-Prince | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Safety score | 27.5 | 30.0 | −2.5 — better for Port-au-Prince |
| Homicide ratecity-measured where published, otherwise the national rate | 64 /100k | 23 /100k | +42 /100k — better for Port-au-Prince |
| Conflict deaths within 100 km | 403 | 1,983 | −1,580 — better for Gonaïves |
Differences are plain arithmetic between the two stored figures — nothing is modelled. Both cities are in Haiti, so they share every country-level figure and only the city-level ones are listed. Full report for Port-au-Prince →
Nearby cities
- Saint-Marc 23.2
- Port-de-Paix 28.9
- Cap-Haitien 28.5
- Léogâne 23.2
- Port-au-Prince 30.0
- Petit-Goâve 23.2
- Jacmel 23.4
- Santiago de los Caballeros, Dominican Republic 62.1
See Gonaïves on the interactive map → · Safest cities in North America → · Full travel briefings →