Mandera scores 52 out of 100 (moderate safety) on World Safety Map, ranked 5070 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 Mandera safe?

Kenya · Africa · data updated 2026-09-04

52.1Moderate · rank 5070 / 6,168
safer than 18% of ranked cities

Mandera is a city in Kenya, home to about 112k people, and one of 6,168 cities worldwide ranked on this site from published safety data. It currently ranks 5,070 of 6,168, with a safety score of 52.1 out of 100, which lands it in the middle band of the ranking.

US 2/4 Exercise increased caution UK FCDO advises against all travel to parts of this country

Emergency 999 (ambulance, fire, police)

UK FCDO advises against all travel to parts of this country9 named areas - see "areas to avoid" below.
Same-sex activity criminalizedLaw on the books in Kenya as of 2025 (OWID legal-status series) - enforcement varies, but LGBTQ+ travelers face legal risk.

Deadliest recorded locations nearby

Luuq district15 deaths · 1 event
eight kilometres from Mandera town10 deaths · 1 event
Beledhawo district7 deaths · 1 event

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

Areas the UK FCDO advises against visiting country

Kenya-Somalia border and northern parts of the east coast
Mandera County
Tarbaj and Wajir East constituencies in Wajir County, except for Wajir Town
areas of Wajir County within 60km of Kenya’s border with Somalia
Garissa County - except for Garissa Town, the constituency of Lagdera and the areas of Balambala constituency which lie north and west of the main road which runs from Saka on the Tana River up to the intersection with the C81 Road
Lamu County, except for Lamu Island and Manda Island
Garissa Town
Tana River County north of the Tana River as far as the town of Saka
within 15km of the east coast between the Tana River and the Galana (Athi-Galana-Sabaki) River

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

How safe is Mandera really?

No published homicide figure exists for Mandera itself, so the national rate stands in: Kenya recorded 4.7 homicides per 100,000 people in 2024 - close to the global city median. The city itself may be safer or more dangerous than its country's average. Kenya's income inequality is middling (Gini 38.5) - in this dataset inequality predicts city violence better than any other structural factor, so this neither raises nor lowers the picture much.

Mandera also carries some conflict exposure: UCDP recorded 77 deaths from organized violence within 100 km across 20 events in 2022-2024 - a factor crime statistics alone would miss. The deadliest recorded locations in that radius were Luuq district (15 deaths), eight kilometres from Mandera town (10 deaths), Beledhawo district (7 deaths).

What the travel advisories say

The US State Department currently rates Kenya at level 2 of 4 - "Exercise increased caution" (updated 2026-07-27). The UK Foreign Office advises against all travel to parts of this country, naming 9 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 Kenya

Terrorism in Kenya · Lamu Island and Manda Island · Terrorist kidnap · Political situation · Protecting your belongings · Vehicle crime · Scams · Drink and food spiking · Methanol poisoning · Attacks and sexual assault · Social media and dating apps · Personal ID · Dress code · Smoking and e-cigarette bans · +15 more

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

The numbers

Homicide rate: 4.7 /100knational rate, 2024
Conflict deaths: 77within 100 km, 2022-2024 (UCDP)
Income inequality: Gini 38.5country, 2022
Human development: HDI 0.628country, 2023
Income: $6,910/yrGNI per capita PPP · context only, not scored
Population: 112kurban centre · 5,096/km²

Country context for travelers

Road deaths: 28.3 /100kWHO, 2019 · often the biggest real travel risk
Political stability: 43/100World Bank WGI, 2024 · higher = more stable
Rule of law: 49/100World Bank WGI, 2024 · police and courts reliability
Corruption perceptions: 30/100Transparency International, 2025 · higher = cleaner
Natural-hazard risk: 6.1/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
Women, Peace & Security: 0.54Georgetown WPS Index, 2025 · 0-1, higher = better
Air quality: 20.3 µg/m³PM2.5 annual mean, 2023 · WHO guideline is 5
Safely managed drinking water: no dataof the population · WHO/UNICEF JMP
Healthcare capacity: 0.3 doctors /1k1.3 hospital beds per 1,000
Malaria: 74 /1k at riskWHO, 2024 · listed for endemic countries only

Natural hazards in Kenya

Drought: 6.6/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
Flood: 5.2/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
Tsunami: 3.2/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
Earthquake: 2.7/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier

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

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

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

How the score works

Low homicide40%45

Peace25%53

Equality25%59

Development10%63

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 Mandera that gives 52.1/100. Full methodology, anchors and sources →

Mandera compared with Melka Chireti

The nearest ranked city of comparable size. Green favours Mandera, red favours Melka Chireti.
Measure	Mandera	Melka Chireti	Difference
Safety score	52.1	60.6	−8.5 — better for Melka Chireti
Homicide ratecity-measured where published, otherwise the national rate	4.7 /100k	8.5 /100k	−3.9 /100k — better for Mandera
Conflict deaths within 100 km	77	1	+76 — better for Melka Chireti
Income inequality (Gini)	38.5	31.1	+7.4 — better for Melka Chireti
Human development (HDI)	0.628	0.497	+0.131 — better for Mandera
Road deaths	28.3 /100k	28.2 /100k	+0.1 /100k — better for Melka Chireti
Rule of law	49/100	39/100	+10/100 — better for Mandera
Corruption perceptions	30/100	38/100	−8/100 — better for Melka Chireti
Air quality (PM2.5)	20.3 µg/m³	23.8 µg/m³	−3.5 µg/m³ — better for Mandera
Natural-hazard risk	6.1/10	7.1/10	−1.0/10 — better for Mandera

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 Melka Chireti →

Nearby cities

See Mandera on the interactive map → · Safest cities in Africa → · Full travel briefings →