Is Hamburg safe?
Germany · Europe · data updated 2026-09-04
Hamburg is a city in Germany, home to about 1.8M people, and one of 6,168 cities worldwide ranked on this site from published safety data. It currently ranks 210 of 6,168, with a safety score of 85.6 out of 100 - among the safest cities in this dataset.
Emergency Ambulance 112 · Fire 112 · Police 110
No official source names specific areas to avoid here: travel advisories for Germany are country-level, and no published dataset covers neighborhood-level crime - so this briefing does not invent it.
How safe is Hamburg really?
The most direct evidence is measured in the city itself: Hamburg recorded 0.5 homicides per 100,000 residents in 2021 - well below the global city median. Germany's income inequality is middling (Gini 33.7) - 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 Germany at level 2 of 4 - "Exercise increased caution" (updated 2025-05-12). The UK Foreign Office publishes travel advice for Germany 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 Germany
Terrorism in Germany · Protecting yourself and your belongings · Counterfeit currency · Personal ID · Illegal drugs · Hiking · Winter sports · Road travel · Low emission zones
Topic headings from the official UK FCDO travel advice for Germany — country-level, not specific to Hamburg. Read what each one says →
The numbers
- Homicide rate
- 0.5 /100kcity-measured, 2021
- Conflict deaths
- 0within 100 km, 2022-2024 (UCDP)
- Income inequality
- Gini 33.7country, 2022
- Human development
- HDI 0.959country, 2023
- Income
- $78,140/yrGNI per capita PPP · context only, not scored
- Population
- 1.8Murban centre · 3,673/km²
- Nearest airport
- 9 kmHamburg Helmut Schmidt Airport (HAM)
Straight-line distance from the city centre, not drive time. Scheduled-service airports only (OurAirports).
Country context for travelers
- Road deaths
- 3.8 /100kWHO, 2019 · often the biggest real travel risk
- Political stability
- 68/100World Bank WGI, 2024 · higher = more stable
- Rule of law
- 85/100World Bank WGI, 2024 · police and courts reliability
- Corruption perceptions
- 77/100Transparency International, 2025 · higher = cleaner
- Natural-hazard risk
- 2.4/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
- Women, Peace & Security
- 0.87Georgetown WPS Index, 2025 · 0-1, higher = better
- Air quality
- 8.8 µg/m³PM2.5 annual mean, 2023 · WHO guideline is 5
- Safely managed drinking water
- 100%of the population, 2024 · WHO/UNICEF JMP
- Healthcare capacity
- 4.5 doctors /1k7.6 hospital beds per 1,000
Natural hazards in Germany
- Flood
- 7.8/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
- Earthquake
- 3.7/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
- Drought
- 1.3/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
Hazard types scoring under 1 out of 10 are not listed. These describe Germany as a whole, not Hamburg specifically.
Same-sex sexual activity is legal in Germany (as of 2025).
All country-level figures shared by every city in Germany; 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 Hamburg that gives 85.6/100. Full methodology, anchors and sources →
Hamburg compared with Hanover
| Measure | Hamburg | Hanover | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Safety score | 85.6 | 81.3 | +4.3 — better for Hamburg |
| Homicide ratecity-measured where published, otherwise the national rate | 0.5 /100k | 0.9 /100k | −0.4 /100k — better for Hamburg |
| Conflict deaths within 100 km | 0 | 0 | ±0 |
Differences are plain arithmetic between the two stored figures — nothing is modelled. Both cities are in Germany, so they share every country-level figure and only the city-level ones are listed. Full report for Hanover →
Nearby cities
See Hamburg on the interactive map → · Safest cities in Europe → · Full travel briefings →