Is Pécs safe?
Hungary · Europe · data updated 2026-09-04
Pécs is a city in Hungary, home to about 118k people, and one of 6,168 cities worldwide ranked on this site from published safety data. It currently ranks 418 of 6,168, with a safety score of 84.0 out of 100, which puts it in the top band of the ranking.
Emergency 112 (ambulance, fire, police)
No official source names specific areas to avoid here: travel advisories for Hungary are country-level, and no published dataset covers neighborhood-level crime - so this briefing does not invent it.
How safe is Pécs really?
No published homicide figure exists for Pécs itself, so the national rate stands in: Hungary recorded 0.7 homicides per 100,000 people in 2024 - well below the global city median. The city itself may be safer or more dangerous than its country's average. Hungary is also one of the more equal societies in the dataset (Gini 30.6), and low inequality is the strongest structural predictor of low city violence in this data.
What the travel advisories say
The US State Department currently rates Hungary at level 1 of 4 - "Exercise normal precautions" (updated 2026-04-14). The UK Foreign Office publishes travel advice for Hungary 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 Hungary
Political situation · Protecting yourself and your belongings · Scams when paying bills · Bank card fraud · Drink spiking · Personal ID · Illegal drugs · LGBT+ travellers · Festivals · Public transport · Road travel · Driving regulations · Roads that require an e-vignette (toll) · Transporting humanitarian or medical aid · +2 more
Topic headings from the official UK FCDO travel advice for Hungary — country-level, not specific to Pécs. Read what each one says →
The numbers
- Homicide rate
- 0.7 /100knational rate, 2024
- Conflict deaths
- 0within 100 km, 2022-2024 (UCDP)
- Income inequality
- Gini 30.6country, 2017
- Human development
- HDI 0.870country, 2023
- Income
- $48,630/yrGNI per capita PPP · context only, not scored
- Population
- 118kurban centre · 3,485/km²
Country context for travelers
- Road deaths
- 7.7 /100kWHO, 2019 · often the biggest real travel risk
- Political stability
- 73/100World Bank WGI, 2024 · higher = more stable
- Rule of law
- 60/100World Bank WGI, 2024 · police and courts reliability
- Corruption perceptions
- 40/100Transparency International, 2025 · higher = cleaner
- Natural-hazard risk
- 2.2/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
- Women, Peace & Security
- 0.83Georgetown WPS Index, 2025 · 0-1, higher = better
- Air quality
- 13.7 µg/m³PM2.5 annual mean, 2023 · WHO guideline is 5
- Safely managed drinking water
- 100%of the population, 2024 · WHO/UNICEF JMP
- Healthcare capacity
- 3.5 doctors /1k6.6 hospital beds per 1,000
Natural hazards in Hungary
- Flood
- 7.3/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
- Drought
- 2.6/10EU 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 Hungary as a whole, not Pécs specifically.
Same-sex sexual activity is legal in Hungary (as of 2025).
All country-level figures shared by every city in Hungary; 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 Pécs that gives 84.0/100. Full methodology, anchors and sources →
Pécs compared with Budapest
| Measure | Pécs | Budapest | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Safety score | 84.0 | 80.9 | +3.2 — better for Pécs |
| Homicide ratecity-measured where published, otherwise the national rate | 0.7 /100k | 1.1 /100k | −0.4 /100k — better for Pécs |
| Conflict deaths within 100 km | 0 | 0 | ±0 |
Differences are plain arithmetic between the two stored figures — nothing is modelled. Both cities are in Hungary, so they share every country-level figure and only the city-level ones are listed. Full report for Budapest →
Nearby cities
- Szeged 84.0
- Novi Sad, Serbia 77.6
- Budapest 80.9
- Zagreb, Croatia 84.5
- Belgrade, Serbia 77.6
- Timișoara, Romania 80.9
- Arad, Romania 80.9
- Graz, Austria 74.1
See Pécs on the interactive map → · Safest cities in Europe → · Full travel briefings →