Kalay scores 53 out of 100 (moderate safety) on World Safety Map, ranked 5054 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 Kalay safe?

Myanmar · Asia · data updated 2026-09-04

52.5Moderate · rank 5054 / 6,168
safer than 18% of ranked cities

Kalay is a city in Myanmar, home to about 180k people, and one of 6,168 cities worldwide ranked on this site from published safety data. It currently ranks 5,054 of 6,168, with a safety score of 52.5 out of 100, which lands it in the middle band of the ranking.

US 4/4 Do not travel UK FCDO advises against all travel to parts of this country

Emergency Ambulance 192 · Fire 191 · Police 199

US State Department: Do not travelOfficial travel advisory level 4 of 4 for Myanmar, updated 2026-05-07.
UK FCDO advises against all travel to parts of this country16 named areas - see "areas to avoid" below.
Same-sex activity criminalizedLaw on the books in Myanmar as of 2025 (OWID legal-status series) - enforcement varies, but LGBTQ+ travelers face legal risk.

Deadliest recorded locations nearby

Thantlang Town19 deaths · 3 events
town of Thantlang13 deaths · 1 event
Thee Mit Valley11 deaths · 1 event

UCDP-recorded organized-violence deaths within 100 km of Kalay, 2022-2024, at the locations the source itself names. Conflict deaths, not street crime.

Areas the UK FCDO advises against visiting country

Chin State
Kachin State
Kayah State
Kayin Sate
Mon State
Rakhine State
Sagaing and Magway regions
Tanintharyi Region, excluding Myeik township, and the archipelago and townships south of Tanintharyi township
Shan State North
North Mandalay Region; the townships north of Mandalay City and Pyin Oo Lwin
East of the Yangon-Mandalay Expressway in Bago region
Shan State South and East
Mandalay Region
Tanintharyi Region south of Tanintharyi township
the rest of Bago region
the townships of Kyangin, Myanaung, Ingapu, Lemyethna, Yegyi, Thabaung and Pathein in Ayeyarwady region

Named in the official UK travel advice for Myanmar (in full or in part - the advisory lists exact boundaries and exceptions). These are country-level warnings and may be far from Kalay.

How safe is Kalay really?

No published homicide figure exists for Kalay itself, so the national rate stands in: Myanmar recorded 3.9 homicides per 100,000 people in 2022 - close to the global city median. The city itself may be safer or more dangerous than its country's average. Myanmar is also one of the more equal societies in the dataset (Gini 30.7), and low inequality is the strongest structural predictor of low city violence in this data.

Kalay also carries some conflict exposure: UCDP recorded 484 deaths from organized violence within 100 km across 270 events in 2022-2024 - a factor crime statistics alone would miss. The deadliest recorded locations in that radius were Thantlang Town (19 deaths), town of Thantlang (13 deaths), Thee Mit Valley (11 deaths).

What the travel advisories say

The US State Department currently rates Myanmar at level 4 of 4 - "Do not travel" (updated 2026-05-07). The UK Foreign Office advises against all travel to parts of this country, naming 16 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 Myanmar

Terrorism in Myanmar · Political and conflict situation · Police and military checkpoints · Protecting your belongings · Scams · Unexploded weapons · Mobile phones and internet · Detention and arrest · Religious customs · Illegal drugs · Taking photos and using drones · LGBT+ travellers · Wildlife, animal products and souvenirs · Road travel · +4 more

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

The numbers

Homicide rate: 3.9 /100knational rate, 2022
Conflict deaths: 484within 100 km, 2022-2024 (UCDP)
Income inequality: Gini 30.7country, 2017
Human development: HDI 0.609country, 2023
Income: $5,890/yrGNI per capita PPP · context only, not scored
Population: 180kurban centre · 6,005/km²

Country context for travelers

Road deaths: 20.4 /100kWHO, 2019 · often the biggest real travel risk
Political stability: 30/100World Bank WGI, 2024 · higher = more stable
Rule of law: 26/100World Bank WGI, 2024 · police and courts reliability
Corruption perceptions: 16/100Transparency International, 2025 · higher = cleaner
Natural-hazard risk: 6.7/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
Women, Peace & Security: 0.44Georgetown WPS Index, 2025 · 0-1, higher = better
Air quality: 35.1 µg/m³PM2.5 annual mean, 2023 · WHO guideline is 5
Safely managed drinking water: 60%of the population, 2024 · WHO/UNICEF JMP
Healthcare capacity: 0.8 doctors /1k1.1 hospital beds per 1,000
Malaria: 15 /1k at riskWHO, 2024 · listed for endemic countries only

Natural hazards in Myanmar

Flood: 8.8/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
Tsunami: 8.3/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
Earthquake: 8.2/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
Cyclone: 5.8/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier

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

Same-sex sexual activity is criminalized in Myanmar (as of 2025). This describes the law on the books, not necessarily enforcement practice.

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

How the score works

Low homicide40%48

Peace25%33

Equality25%76

Development10%61

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 Kalay that gives 52.5/100. Full methodology, anchors and sources →

Kalay compared with Imphal

The nearest ranked city of comparable size. Green favours Kalay, red favours Imphal.
Measure	Kalay	Imphal	Difference
Safety score	52.5	61.3	−8.8 — better for Imphal
Homicide ratecity-measured where published, otherwise the national rate	3.9 /100k	2.7 /100k	+1.2 /100k — better for Imphal
Conflict deaths within 100 km	484	186	+298 — better for Imphal
Income inequality (Gini)	30.7	25.5	+5.2 — better for Imphal
Human development (HDI)	0.609	0.685	−0.076 — better for Imphal
Road deaths	20.4 /100k	15.6 /100k	+4.8 /100k — better for Imphal
Rule of law	26/100	56/100	−30/100 — better for Imphal
Corruption perceptions	16/100	39/100	−23/100 — better for Imphal
Air quality (PM2.5)	35.1 µg/m³	54.1 µg/m³	−19.0 µg/m³ — better for Kalay
Natural-hazard risk	6.7/10	5.2/10	+1.5/10 — better for Imphal

Differences are plain arithmetic between the two stored figures — nothing is modelled. Country-level rows describe the two countries, not the cities themselves. Full report for Imphal →

Nearby cities

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