Monrovia scores 66 out of 100 (high safety) on World Safety Map, ranked 3869 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 Monrovia safe?

Liberia · Africa · data updated 2026-09-04

65.5High · rank 3869 / 6,168
safer than 37% of ranked cities

Monrovia is a city in Liberia, home to about 1.9M people, and one of 6,168 cities worldwide ranked on this site from published safety data. It currently ranks 3,869 of 6,168, with a safety score of 65.5 out of 100 - comfortably in the safer part of the ranking.

US 2/4 Exercise increased caution

Emergency Police +231 770 800 911

Same-sex activity criminalizedLaw on the books in Liberia as of 2025 (OWID legal-status series) - enforcement varies, but LGBTQ+ travelers face legal risk.

No official source names specific areas to avoid here: travel advisories for Liberia are country-level, and no published dataset covers neighborhood-level crime - so this briefing does not invent it.

How safe is Monrovia really?

No published homicide figure exists for Monrovia itself, so the national rate stands in: Liberia recorded 3.1 homicides per 100,000 people in 2012 - close to the global city median. The city itself may be safer or more dangerous than its country's average. Liberia's income inequality is middling (Gini 35.3) - in this dataset inequality predicts city violence better than any other structural factor, so this neither raises nor lowers the picture much.

Monrovia also carries some conflict exposure: UCDP recorded 1 deaths from organized violence within 100 km across 1 events in 2022-2024 - a factor crime statistics alone would miss.

What the travel advisories say

The US State Department currently rates Liberia at level 2 of 4 - "Exercise increased caution" (updated 2025-12-10). The UK Foreign Office publishes travel advice for Liberia 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 Liberia

Terrorism in Liberia · Political situation · Protecting yourself and your belongings · Sexual assault · Personal ID · Drug trafficking and diamond smuggling · LGBT+ travellers · Adoption in Liberia · Money · Swimming and water safety · Sporting events · Road travel · Road conditions and driving standards · Air travel

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

The numbers

Homicide rate: 3.1 /100knational rate, 2012
Conflict deaths: 1within 100 km, 2022-2024 (UCDP)
Income inequality: Gini 35.3country, 2016
Human development: HDI 0.510country, 2023
Income: $1,840/yrGNI per capita PPP · context only, not scored
Population: 1.9Murban centre · 6,222/km²

Country context for travelers

Road deaths: 38.9 /100kWHO, 2019 · often the biggest real travel risk
Political stability: 62/100World Bank WGI, 2024 · higher = more stable
Rule of law: 42/100World Bank WGI, 2024 · police and courts reliability
Corruption perceptions: 28/100Transparency International, 2025 · higher = cleaner
Natural-hazard risk: 4.9/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
Women, Peace & Security: 0.51Georgetown WPS Index, 2025 · 0-1, higher = better
Air quality: 17.9 µg/m³PM2.5 annual mean, 2023 · WHO guideline is 5
Safely managed drinking water: no dataof the population · WHO/UNICEF JMP
Healthcare capacity: 0.2 doctors /1k1.6 hospital beds per 1,000
Malaria: 172 /1k at riskWHO, 2024 · listed for endemic countries only

Natural hazards in Liberia

Flood: 7.4/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
Tsunami: 2.5/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier

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

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

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

How the score works

Low homicide40%52

Peace25%92

Equality25%66

Development10%51

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 Monrovia that gives 65.5/100. Full methodology, anchors and sources →

Monrovia compared with Freetown

The nearest ranked city of comparable size. Green favours Monrovia, red favours Freetown.
Measure	Monrovia	Freetown	Difference
Safety score	65.5	69.1	−3.5 — better for Freetown
Homicide ratecity-measured where published, otherwise the national rate	3.1 /100k	2.2 /100k	+0.9 /100k — better for Freetown
Conflict deaths within 100 km	1	0	+1 — better for Freetown
Income inequality (Gini)	35.3	35.7	−0.4 — better for Monrovia
Human development (HDI)	0.510	0.467	+0.043 — better for Monrovia
Road deaths	38.9 /100k	33.0 /100k	+5.9 /100k — better for Freetown
Rule of law	42/100	43/100	−1/100 — better for Freetown
Corruption perceptions	28/100	34/100	−6/100 — better for Freetown
Air quality (PM2.5)	17.9 µg/m³	22.5 µg/m³	−4.6 µg/m³ — better for Monrovia
Natural-hazard risk	4.9/10	4.8/10	+0.1/10 — better for Freetown

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 Freetown →

Nearby cities

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