Is Mecca safe?
Saudi Arabia · Asia · data updated 2026-09-04
Mecca is a city in Saudi Arabia, home to about 1.7M people, and one of 6,168 cities worldwide ranked on this site from published safety data. It currently ranks 3,227 of 6,168, with a safety score of 71.6 out of 100 - comfortably in the safer part of the ranking.
Emergency 911 (ambulance, fire, police)
- US State Department: Reconsider travelOfficial travel advisory level 3 of 4 for Saudi Arabia, updated 2026-03-12.
- UK FCDO advises against all travel to parts of this country1 named areas - see "areas to avoid" below.
- Same-sex activity criminalized - death penalty in lawLaw on the books in Saudi Arabia as of 2025 (OWID legal-status series) - enforcement varies, but LGBTQ+ travelers face legal risk.
Areas the UK FCDO advises against visiting country
- Saudi Arabia-Yemen border
Named in the official UK travel advice for Saudi Arabia (in full or in part - the advisory lists exact boundaries and exceptions). These are country-level warnings and may be far from Mecca.
How safe is Mecca really?
The most direct evidence is measured in the city itself: Mecca recorded 3.6 homicides per 100,000 residents in 2015 - close to the global city median.
What the travel advisories say
The US State Department currently rates Saudi Arabia at level 3 of 4 - "Reconsider travel" (updated 2026-03-12). The UK Foreign Office advises against all travel to parts of this country, naming 1 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 Saudi Arabia
Terrorism in Saudi Arabia · Conflict affecting Lebanon · Political situation · Crime · Personal ID · Ramadan · Dress code · Religion · Alcohol laws and bans · Illegal drugs penalties · Sexual relations outside of marriage · Pregnancy outside of marriage · Filming, photography and other media restrictions · Public statements and criticism · +10 more
Topic headings from the official UK FCDO travel advice for Saudi Arabia — country-level, not specific to Mecca. Read what each one says →
The numbers
- Homicide rate
- 3.6 /100kcity-measured, 2015
- Conflict deaths
- 0within 100 km, 2022-2024 (UCDP)
- Income inequality
- no datacountry,
- Human development
- HDI 0.900country, 2023
- Income
- $74,400/yrGNI per capita PPP · context only, not scored
- Population
- 1.7Murban centre · 7,201/km²
Country context for travelers
- Road deaths
- 35.9 /100kWHO, 2019 · often the biggest real travel risk
- Political stability
- 65/100World Bank WGI, 2024 · higher = more stable
- Rule of law
- 61/100World Bank WGI, 2024 · police and courts reliability
- Corruption perceptions
- 57/100Transparency 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
- 73.5 µg/m³PM2.5 annual mean, 2023 · WHO guideline is 5
- Safely managed drinking water
- no dataof the population · WHO/UNICEF JMP
- Healthcare capacity
- 3.4 doctors /1k2.4 hospital beds per 1,000
- Malaria
- 0 /1k at riskWHO, 2024 · listed for endemic countries only
Natural hazards in Saudi Arabia
- Drought
- 5.0/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
- Flood
- 4.7/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
- Earthquake
- 1.8/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
Hazard types scoring under 1 out of 10 are not listed. These describe Saudi Arabia as a whole, not Mecca specifically.
Same-sex sexual activity is criminalized in Saudi Arabia, with the death penalty applying in law (as of 2025). This describes the law on the books, not necessarily enforcement practice.
All country-level figures shared by every city in Saudi Arabia; 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 Mecca that gives 71.6/100. Full methodology, anchors and sources →
Mecca compared with Jeddah
| Measure | Mecca | Jeddah | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Safety score | 71.6 | 85.7 | −14.1 — better for Jeddah |
| Homicide ratecity-measured where published, otherwise the national rate | 3.6 /100k | 0.8 /100k | +2.8 /100k — better for Jeddah |
| Conflict deaths within 100 km | 0 | 0 | ±0 |
Differences are plain arithmetic between the two stored figures — nothing is modelled. Both cities are in Saudi Arabia, so they share every country-level figure and only the city-level ones are listed. Full report for Jeddah →
Nearby cities
- Ash Sharai 71.6
- At Ta'if 85.7
- Jeddah 85.7
- Al Hawiyah 85.7
- Hayy as Salihiyah 85.7
- Port Sudan, Sudan 70.6
- Medina 85.7
- Yanbu` 85.7
See Mecca on the interactive map → · Safest cities in Asia → · Full travel briefings →