Kaunas scores 79 out of 100 (high safety) on World Safety Map, ranked 2023 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 Kaunas safe?

Lithuania · Europe · data updated 2026-09-04

78.8High · rank 2023 / 6,168
safer than 67% of ranked cities

Kaunas is a city in Lithuania, home to about 264k people, and one of 6,168 cities worldwide ranked on this site from published safety data. It currently ranks 2,023 of 6,168, with a safety score of 78.8 out of 100 - comfortably in the safer part of the ranking.

US 1/4 Exercise normal precautions

Emergency 112 (ambulance, fire, police)

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

How safe is Kaunas really?

The most direct evidence is measured in the city itself: Kaunas recorded 1.0 homicides per 100,000 residents in 2022 - well below the global city median. Lithuania's income inequality is middling (Gini 36.0) - 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 Lithuania at level 1 of 4 - "Exercise normal precautions" (updated 2026-04-27). The UK Foreign Office publishes travel advice for Lithuania 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 Lithuania

Protecting your belongings · Drink and food spiking · Illegal drugs · LGBT+ travellers · Road travel · Taxis · Drone activity · Curonian Spit, Klaipeda

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

The numbers

Homicide rate: 1.0 /100kcity-measured, 2022
Conflict deaths: 0within 100 km, 2022-2024 (UCDP)
Income inequality: Gini 36.0country, 2023
Human development: HDI 0.895country, 2023
Income: $55,010/yrGNI per capita PPP · context only, not scored
Population: 264kurban centre · 3,108/km²

Country context for travelers

Road deaths: 8.1 /100kWHO, 2019 · often the biggest real travel risk
Political stability: 82/100World Bank WGI, 2024 · higher = more stable
Rule of law: 81/100World Bank WGI, 2024 · police and courts reliability
Corruption perceptions: 65/100Transparency International, 2025 · higher = cleaner
Natural-hazard risk: 2.1/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
Women, Peace & Security: 0.89Georgetown WPS Index, 2025 · 0-1, higher = better
Air quality: 10.7 µg/m³PM2.5 annual mean, 2023 · WHO guideline is 5
Safely managed drinking water: 97%of the population, 2024 · WHO/UNICEF JMP
Healthcare capacity: 4.5 doctors /1k5.7 hospital beds per 1,000

Natural hazards in Lithuania

Flood: 5.8/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
Drought: 2.4/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier

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

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

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

How the score works

Low homicide40%72

Peace25%100

Equality25%64

Development10%90

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 Kaunas that gives 78.8/100. Full methodology, anchors and sources →

Kaunas compared with Riga

The nearest ranked city of comparable size. Green favours Kaunas, red favours Riga.
Measure	Kaunas	Riga	Difference
Safety score	78.8	69.4	+9.3 — better for Kaunas
Homicide ratecity-measured where published, otherwise the national rate	1.0 /100k	4.4 /100k	−3.4 /100k — better for Kaunas
Conflict deaths within 100 km	0	0	±0
Income inequality (Gini)	36.0	34.0	+2.0 — better for Riga
Human development (HDI)	0.895	0.889	+0.006 — better for Kaunas
Road deaths	8.1 /100k	8.1 /100k	±0.0 /100k
Rule of law	81/100	76/100	+5/100 — better for Kaunas
Corruption perceptions	65/100	60/100	+5/100 — better for Kaunas
Air quality (PM2.5)	10.7 µg/m³	13.0 µg/m³	−2.3 µg/m³ — better for Kaunas
Natural-hazard risk	2.1/10	2.6/10	−0.5/10 — better for Kaunas

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 Riga →

Nearby cities

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