Kingston scores 46 out of 100 (moderate safety) on World Safety Map, ranked 5460 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 Kingston safe?

Jamaica · North America · data updated 2026-09-04

46.1Moderate · rank 5460 / 6,168
safer than 11% of ranked cities

Kingston is a city in Jamaica, home to about 598k people, and one of 6,168 cities worldwide ranked on this site from published safety data. It currently ranks 5,460 of 6,168, with a safety score of 46.1 out of 100, which lands it in the middle band of the ranking.

US 2/4 Exercise increased caution

Emergency Ambulance 110 · Fire 110 · Police 119

Very high homicide rate60.9 homicides per 100,000 per year (city-measured), about 22× the global city median.
Same-sex activity criminalizedLaw on the books in Jamaica as of 2025 (OWID legal-status series) - enforcement varies, but LGBTQ+ travelers face legal risk.

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

How safe is Kingston really?

The most direct evidence is measured in the city itself: Kingston recorded 61 homicides per 100,000 residents in 2024 - roughly 22 times the global city median. Jamaica's income inequality is middling (Gini 39.9) - 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 Jamaica at level 2 of 4 - "Exercise increased caution" (updated 2026-06-22). The UK Foreign Office publishes travel advice for Jamaica 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 Jamaica

Terrorism in Jamaica · Zones of Special Operations · Crowds and demonstrations · Protecting yourself and your belongings · Rape and sexual assault · Illegal drugs and prison sentences · LGBT+ travellers · Travel to and from Norman Manley International Airport · Road travel · Road conditions and driving standards · Taxi safety · Hurricanes · Earthquakes

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

The numbers

Homicide rate: 61 /100kcity-measured, 2024 · ~22× the global city median
Conflict deaths: 0within 100 km, 2022-2024 (UCDP)
Income inequality: Gini 39.9country, 2021
Human development: HDI 0.720country, 2023
Income: $13,090/yrGNI per capita PPP · context only, not scored
Population: 598kurban centre · 5,068/km²

Country context for travelers

Road deaths: 15.1 /100kWHO, 2019 · often the biggest real travel risk
Political stability: 74/100World Bank WGI, 2024 · higher = more stable
Rule of law: 56/100World Bank WGI, 2024 · police and courts reliability
Corruption perceptions: 44/100Transparency International, 2025 · higher = cleaner
Natural-hazard risk: 3.7/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
Women, Peace & Security: 0.70Georgetown WPS Index, 2025 · 0-1, higher = better
Air quality: 21.7 µg/m³PM2.5 annual mean, 2023 · WHO guideline is 5
Safely managed drinking water: no dataof the population · WHO/UNICEF JMP
Healthcare capacity: 0.5 doctors /1k1.7 hospital beds per 1,000

Natural hazards in Jamaica

Cyclone: 8.2/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
Earthquake: 7.9/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
Drought: 2.7/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier

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

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

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

How the score works

Low homicide40%0

Peace25%100

Equality25%56

Development10%72

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 Kingston that gives 46.1/100. Full methodology, anchors and sources →

Kingston compared with Portmore

The nearest ranked city of comparable size. Green favours Kingston, red favours Portmore.
Measure	Kingston	Portmore	Difference
Safety score	46.1	46.1	±0.0
Homicide ratecity-measured where published, otherwise the national rate	61 /100k	61 /100k	±0.0 /100k
Conflict deaths within 100 km	0	0	±0

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

Nearby cities

See Kingston on the interactive map → · Safest cities in North America → · Full travel briefings →