Is La Serena safe?
Chile · South America · data updated 2026-09-04
La Serena is a city in Chile, home to about 473k people, and one of 6,168 cities worldwide ranked on this site from published safety data. It currently ranks 4,085 of 6,168, with a safety score of 63.7 out of 100 - comfortably in the safer part of the ranking.
Emergency Ambulance 131 · Fire 132 · Police 133
No official source names specific areas to avoid here: travel advisories for Chile are country-level, and no published dataset covers neighborhood-level crime - so this briefing does not invent it.
How safe is La Serena really?
The most direct evidence is measured in the city itself: La Serena recorded 4.8 homicides per 100,000 residents in 2024 - close to the global city median. Chile's income inequality is middling (Gini 43.0) - 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 Chile at level 2 of 4 - "Exercise increased caution" (updated 2026-05-19). The UK Foreign Office publishes travel advice for Chile 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 Chile
Terrorism in Chile · Political situation · Taxi scams at Santiago Airport · Protecting your belongings · Violent theft (muggings) · Vehicle crime · Drink spiking · Personal ID · Alcohol laws and bans · Illegal drugs and prison sentences · LGBT+ travellers · Fires in national parks · Hiking and mountaineering · Road travel · +6 more
Topic headings from the official UK FCDO travel advice for Chile — country-level, not specific to La Serena. Read what each one says →
The numbers
- Homicide rate
- 4.8 /100kcity-measured, 2024
- Conflict deaths
- 0within 100 km, 2022-2024 (UCDP)
- Income inequality
- Gini 43.0country, 2024
- Human development
- HDI 0.878country, 2023
- Income
- $35,730/yrGNI per capita PPP · context only, not scored
- Population
- 473kurban centre · 4,046/km²
Country context for travelers
- Road deaths
- 14.9 /100kWHO, 2019 · often the biggest real travel risk
- Political stability
- 68/100World Bank WGI, 2024 · higher = more stable
- Rule of law
- 69/100World Bank WGI, 2024 · police and courts reliability
- Corruption perceptions
- 63/100Transparency International, 2025 · higher = cleaner
- Natural-hazard risk
- 3.1/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
- Women, Peace & Security
- 0.74Georgetown WPS Index, 2025 · 0-1, higher = better
- Air quality
- 23.1 µg/m³PM2.5 annual mean, 2023 · WHO guideline is 5
- Safely managed drinking water
- 98%of the population, 2024 · WHO/UNICEF JMP
- Healthcare capacity
- 3.3 doctors /1k1.9 hospital beds per 1,000
Natural hazards in Chile
- Earthquake
- 9.6/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
- Tsunami
- 8.6/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
- Flood
- 5.5/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
Hazard types scoring under 1 out of 10 are not listed. These describe Chile as a whole, not La Serena specifically.
Same-sex sexual activity is legal in Chile (as of 2025).
All country-level figures shared by every city in Chile; 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 La Serena that gives 63.7/100. Full methodology, anchors and sources →
La Serena compared with Valparaíso
| Measure | La Serena | Valparaíso | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Safety score | 63.7 | 60.2 | +3.5 — better for La Serena |
| Homicide ratecity-measured where published, otherwise the national rate | 4.8 /100k | 7.9 /100k | −3.1 /100k — better for La Serena |
| Conflict deaths within 100 km | 0 | 0 | ±0 |
Differences are plain arithmetic between the two stored figures — nothing is modelled. Both cities are in Chile, so they share every country-level figure and only the city-level ones are listed. Full report for Valparaíso →
Nearby cities
- Copiapó 62.0
- San Juan, Argentina 65.3
- Valparaíso 60.2
- Santiago 61.5
- Mendoza, Argentina 65.0
- San Antonio 62.0
- La Rioja, Argentina 65.3
- Rancagua 60.4
See La Serena on the interactive map → · Safest cities in South America → · Full travel briefings →