Is Mar del Plata safe?
Argentina · South America · data updated 2026-09-04
Mar del Plata is a city in Argentina, home to about 615k people, and one of 6,168 cities worldwide ranked on this site from published safety data. It currently ranks 4,080 of 6,168, with a safety score of 63.9 out of 100, placing it clearly above the global midpoint.
Emergency Ambulance 107 · Fire 100 · Police 911 or 101
No official source names specific areas to avoid here: travel advisories for Argentina are country-level, and no published dataset covers neighborhood-level crime - so this briefing does not invent it.
How safe is Mar del Plata really?
The most direct evidence is measured in the city itself: Mar del Plata recorded 4.8 homicides per 100,000 residents in 2022 - close to the global city median. Argentina's income inequality is middling (Gini 42.4) - 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 Argentina at level 1 of 4 - "Exercise normal precautions" (updated 2026-07-09). The UK Foreign Office publishes travel advice for Argentina 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 Argentina
Terrorism in Argentina · Political protests · Demonstrations · Protecting your belongings · Street crime and scams · Violent crime · Criminal kidnapping · Drink and food spiking and scams · Illegal drugs and prison sentences · LGBT+ travellers · Legal action against oil and gas companies · Surrogacy · Outdoor activities and adventure tourism · Road travel · +7 more
Topic headings from the official UK FCDO travel advice for Argentina — country-level, not specific to Mar del Plata. Read what each one says →
The numbers
- Homicide rate
- 4.8 /100kcity-measured, 2022
- Conflict deaths
- 0within 100 km, 2022-2024 (UCDP)
- Income inequality
- Gini 42.4country, 2024
- Human development
- HDI 0.865country, 2023
- Income
- $31,920/yrGNI per capita PPP · context only, not scored
- Population
- 615kurban centre · 4,842/km²
Country context for travelers
- Road deaths
- 14.1 /100kWHO, 2019 · often the biggest real travel risk
- Political stability
- 63/100World Bank WGI, 2024 · higher = more stable
- Rule of law
- 53/100World Bank WGI, 2024 · police and courts reliability
- Corruption perceptions
- 36/100Transparency International, 2025 · higher = cleaner
- Natural-hazard risk
- 3.9/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
- Women, Peace & Security
- 0.79Georgetown WPS Index, 2025 · 0-1, higher = better
- Air quality
- 14.3 µg/m³PM2.5 annual mean, 2023 · WHO guideline is 5
- Safely managed drinking water
- no dataof the population · WHO/UNICEF JMP
- Healthcare capacity
- 5.1 doctors /1k3.4 hospital beds per 1,000
- Malaria
- 0 /1k at riskWHO, 2024 · listed for endemic countries only
Natural hazards in Argentina
- Flood
- 7.7/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
- Drought
- 5.9/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
- Earthquake
- 5.5/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
Hazard types scoring under 1 out of 10 are not listed. These describe Argentina as a whole, not Mar del Plata specifically.
Same-sex sexual activity is legal in Argentina (as of 2025).
All country-level figures shared by every city in Argentina; 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 Mar del Plata that gives 63.9/100. Full methodology, anchors and sources →
Mar del Plata compared with La Plata
| Measure | Mar del Plata | La Plata | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Safety score | 63.9 | 63.4 | +0.6 — better for Mar del Plata |
| Homicide ratecity-measured where published, otherwise the national rate | 4.8 /100k | 5.2 /100k | −0.4 /100k — better for Mar del Plata |
| Conflict deaths within 100 km | 0 | 0 | ±0 |
Differences are plain arithmetic between the two stored figures — nothing is modelled. Both cities are in Argentina, so they share every country-level figure and only the city-level ones are listed. Full report for La Plata →
Nearby cities
- Tandil 65.3
- La Plata 63.4
- Montevideo, Uruguay 56.5
- Las Piedras, Uruguay 56.5
- Buenos Aires 68.5
- Bahía Blanca 66.8
- Maldonado, Uruguay 59.2
- San Nicolás de los Arroyos 65.3
See Mar del Plata on the interactive map → · Safest cities in South America → · Full travel briefings →