Is McAllen safe?
United States · North America · data updated 2026-09-04
McAllen is a city in United States, home to about 355k people, and one of 6,168 cities worldwide ranked on this site from published safety data. It currently ranks 4,831 of 6,168, with a safety score of 55.4 out of 100, which lands it in the middle band of the ranking.
Emergency 911 (ambulance, fire, police)
- Elevated homicide rate5.76 homicides per 100,000 per year (national rate), about 2× the global city median.
Deadliest recorded locations nearby
- kilometer 144 of the Reynosa Highway, in the municipality of General Bravo6 deaths · 1 event
UCDP-recorded organized-violence deaths within 100 km of McAllen, 2022-2024, at the locations the source itself names. Conflict deaths, not street crime.
How safe is McAllen really?
No published homicide figure exists for McAllen itself, so the national rate stands in: United States recorded 5.8 homicides per 100,000 people in 2023 - roughly 2 times the global city median. The city itself may be safer or more dangerous than its country's average. United States's income inequality is middling (Gini 41.8) - in this dataset inequality predicts city violence better than any other structural factor, so this neither raises nor lowers the picture much.
McAllen also carries some conflict exposure: UCDP recorded 20 deaths from organized violence within 100 km across 9 events in 2022-2024 - a factor crime statistics alone would miss. The deadliest recorded locations in that radius were kilometer 144 of the Reynosa Highway, in the municipality of General Bravo (6 deaths).
What the travel advisories say
The UK Foreign Office publishes travel advice for United States 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 United States
Terrorism in the USA · Protecting your belongings · Violent crime · Protests · Personal ID · Alcohol laws · Illegal drugs · LGBT+ travellers · Road travel · Vehicle safety · Petrol stations · Air travel · Snowstorms · Hurricanes · +6 more
Topic headings from the official UK FCDO travel advice for United States — country-level, not specific to McAllen. Read what each one says →
The numbers
- Homicide rate
- 5.8 /100knational rate, 2023 · ~2× the global city median
- Conflict deaths
- 20within 100 km, 2022-2024 (UCDP)
- Income inequality
- Gini 41.8country, 2024
- Human development
- HDI 0.938country, 2023
- Income
- $89,490/yrGNI per capita PPP · context only, not scored
- Population
- 355kurban centre · 2,207/km²
Country context for travelers
- Road deaths
- 12.7 /100kWHO, 2019 · often the biggest real travel risk
- Political stability
- 64/100World Bank WGI, 2024 · higher = more stable
- Rule of law
- 74/100World Bank WGI, 2024 · police and courts reliability
- Corruption perceptions
- 64/100Transparency International, 2025 · higher = cleaner
- Natural-hazard risk
- 3.3/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
- Women, Peace & Security
- 0.84Georgetown WPS Index, 2025 · 0-1, higher = better
- Air quality
- 7.0 µg/m³PM2.5 annual mean, 2023 · WHO guideline is 5
- Safely managed drinking water
- 98%of the population, 2024 · WHO/UNICEF JMP
- Healthcare capacity
- 3.7 doctors /1k2.7 hospital beds per 1,000
Natural hazards in United States
- Earthquake
- 7.7/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
- Cyclone
- 7.7/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
- Flood
- 7.4/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
- Tsunami
- 7.2/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
- Drought
- 4.2/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
Hazard types scoring under 1 out of 10 are not listed. These describe United States as a whole, not McAllen specifically.
Same-sex sexual activity is legal in United States (as of 2025).
All country-level figures shared by every city in United States; 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 McAllen that gives 55.4/100. Full methodology, anchors and sources →
McAllen compared with Reynosa
| Measure | McAllen | Reynosa | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Safety score | 55.4 | 46.5 | +9.0 — better for McAllen |
| Homicide ratecity-measured where published, otherwise the national rate | 5.8 /100k | 15 /100k | −9.6 /100k — better for McAllen |
| Conflict deaths within 100 km | 20 | 21 | −1 — better for McAllen |
| Income inequality (Gini) | 41.8 | 42.6 | −0.8 — better for McAllen |
| Human development (HDI) | 0.938 | 0.789 | +0.149 — better for McAllen |
| Road deaths | 12.7 /100k | 12.8 /100k | −0.1 /100k — better for McAllen |
| Rule of law | 74/100 | 37/100 | +37/100 — better for McAllen |
| Corruption perceptions | 64/100 | 27/100 | +37/100 — better for McAllen |
| Air quality (PM2.5) | 7.0 µg/m³ | 16.6 µg/m³ | −9.6 µg/m³ — better for McAllen |
| Natural-hazard risk | 3.3/10 | 4.9/10 | −1.6/10 — better for McAllen |
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 Reynosa →
Nearby cities
- Reynosa, Mexico 46.5
- Brownsville 61.8
- Matamoros, Mexico 57.0
- Corpus Christi 61.2
- Laredo 62.5
- Nuevo Laredo, Mexico 53.6
- El Puente, Mexico 38.6
- Monterrey, Mexico 38.6
See McAllen on the interactive map → · Safest cities in North America → · Full travel briefings →