Is Pedro Juan Caballero safe?
Paraguay · South America · data updated 2026-09-04
Pedro Juan Caballero is a city in Paraguay, home to about 109k people, and one of 6,168 cities worldwide ranked on this site from published safety data. It currently ranks 4,667 of 6,168, with a safety score of 57.4 out of 100, which lands it in the middle band of the ranking.
Emergency Ambulance 141 · Fire 132 · Police 911
- Elevated homicide rate6.88 homicides per 100,000 per year (national rate), about 3× the global city median.
No official source names specific areas to avoid here: travel advisories for Paraguay are country-level, and no published dataset covers neighborhood-level crime - so this briefing does not invent it.
How safe is Pedro Juan Caballero really?
No published homicide figure exists for Pedro Juan Caballero itself, so the national rate stands in: Paraguay recorded 6.9 homicides per 100,000 people in 2024 - roughly 3 times the global city median. The city itself may be safer or more dangerous than its country's average. Paraguay's income inequality is middling (Gini 44.2) - in this dataset inequality predicts city violence better than any other structural factor, so this neither raises nor lowers the picture much.
Pedro Juan Caballero 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 Paraguay at level 1 of 4 - "Exercise normal precautions" (updated 2026-08-18). The UK Foreign Office publishes travel advice for Paraguay 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 Paraguay
Terrorism in Paraguay · Demonstrations and protests · Protecting yourself and your belongings · Organised crime · Reporting crime · Personal ID · Illegal drugs and prison sentences · LGBT+ travellers · Risks at public venues · Swimming safety · Road travel · Driving standards · Public transport · River travel · +2 more
Topic headings from the official UK FCDO travel advice for Paraguay — country-level, not specific to Pedro Juan Caballero. Read what each one says →
The numbers
- Homicide rate
- 6.9 /100knational rate, 2024 · ~3× the global city median
- Conflict deaths
- 1within 100 km, 2022-2024 (UCDP)
- Income inequality
- Gini 44.2country, 2024
- Human development
- HDI 0.756country, 2023
- Income
- $19,390/yrGNI per capita PPP · context only, not scored
- Population
- 109kurban centre · 4,959/km²
Country context for travelers
- Road deaths
- 22.0 /100kWHO, 2019 · often the biggest real travel risk
- Political stability
- 65/100World Bank WGI, 2024 · higher = more stable
- Rule of law
- 47/100World Bank WGI, 2024 · police and courts reliability
- Corruption perceptions
- 24/100Transparency International, 2025 · higher = cleaner
- Natural-hazard risk
- 3.1/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
- Women, Peace & Security
- 0.77Georgetown WPS Index, 2025 · 0-1, higher = better
- Air quality
- 15.3 µg/m³PM2.5 annual mean, 2023 · WHO guideline is 5
- Safely managed drinking water
- 64%of the population, 2024 · WHO/UNICEF JMP
- Healthcare capacity
- 3.9 doctors /1k1.0 hospital beds per 1,000
- Malaria
- 0 /1k at riskWHO, 2024 · listed for endemic countries only
Natural hazards in Paraguay
- Flood
- 5.6/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
- Drought
- 3.9/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
Hazard types scoring under 1 out of 10 are not listed. These describe Paraguay as a whole, not Pedro Juan Caballero specifically.
Same-sex sexual activity is legal in Paraguay (as of 2025).
All country-level figures shared by every city in Paraguay; 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 Pedro Juan Caballero that gives 57.4/100. Full methodology, anchors and sources →
Pedro Juan Caballero compared with Campo Grande
| Measure | Pedro Juan Caballero | Campo Grande | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Safety score | 57.4 | 50.6 | +6.9 — better for Pedro Juan Caballero |
| Homicide ratecity-measured where published, otherwise the national rate | 6.9 /100k | 15 /100k | −8.5 /100k — better for Pedro Juan Caballero |
| Conflict deaths within 100 km | 1 | 0 | +1 — better for Campo Grande |
| Income inequality (Gini) | 44.2 | 50.3 | −6.1 — better for Pedro Juan Caballero |
| Human development (HDI) | 0.756 | 0.786 | −0.030 — better for Campo Grande |
| Road deaths | 22.0 /100k | 16.0 /100k | +6.0 /100k — better for Campo Grande |
| Rule of law | 47/100 | 49/100 | −2/100 — better for Campo Grande |
| Corruption perceptions | 24/100 | 35/100 | −11/100 — better for Campo Grande |
| Air quality (PM2.5) | 15.3 µg/m³ | 13.4 µg/m³ | +1.9 µg/m³ — better for Campo Grande |
| Natural-hazard risk | 3.1/10 | 4.7/10 | −1.6/10 — better for Pedro Juan Caballero |
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 Campo Grande →
Nearby cities
- Dourados, Brazil 50.4
- Campo Grande, Brazil 50.6
- Toledo, Brazil 49.2
- Caaguazú 59.3
- Coronel Oviedo 59.3
- Ciudad del Este 55.3
- Foz do Iguaçu, Brazil 47.8
- Cascavel, Brazil 49.6
See Pedro Juan Caballero on the interactive map → · Safest cities in South America → · Full travel briefings →