Is Port-au-Prince safe?

Q: Is Port-au-Prince safe?

Port-au-Prince scores 30 out of 100 (low safety) on World Safety Map, ranked 6036 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).

Haiti · North America · data updated 2026-09-04

30.0Low · rank 6036 / 6,168
safer than 2% of ranked cities

Port-au-Prince is a city in Haiti, home to about 1.9M people, and one of 6,168 cities worldwide ranked on this site from published safety data. It currently ranks 6,036 of 6,168, with a safety score of 30.0 out of 100, placing it clearly below the global midpoint.

US 4/4 Do not travel UK FCDO advises against all travel to this country

Emergency Ambulance 116 · Fire 115 · Police 122

Armed conflict nearbyUCDP recorded 1,983 deaths from organized violence within 100 km in 2022-2024 (229 events). Crime figures do not capture war risk.
US State Department: Do not travelOfficial travel advisory level 4 of 4 for Haiti, updated 2026-07-09.
UK FCDO advises against all travel to this countryOfficial UK government travel advice, updated 2025-12-10.
Very high homicide rate22.7 homicides per 100,000 per year (city-measured), about 8× the global city median.

Deadliest recorded locations nearby

Cite Soleil Wharf Jeremie207 deaths · 1 event
La Plaine (Blanchard, Duvivier, Fourgy, Sibert, Marin (Cité Soleil) and Croix-des-Missions (Tabarre)129 deaths · 2 events
town of Pont-Sondé100 deaths · 1 event

UCDP-recorded organized-violence deaths within 100 km of Port-au-Prince, 2022-2024, at the locations the source itself names. Conflict deaths, not street crime.

How safe is Port-au-Prince really?

The most direct evidence is measured in the city itself: Port-au-Prince recorded 23 homicides per 100,000 residents in 2021 - roughly 8 times the global city median. Haiti's income inequality is middling (Gini 41.1) - in this dataset inequality predicts city violence better than any other structural factor, so this neither raises nor lowers the picture much.

Crime statistics are not the main story here: the Uppsala Conflict Data Program recorded 1,983 deaths from organized violence - war, armed conflict, militia or cartel fighting - within 100 km of Port-au-Prince across 229 events in 2022-2024. That is active-conflict territory, and ordinary crime figures say nothing about it. The deadliest recorded locations in that radius were Cite Soleil Wharf Jeremie (207 deaths), La Plaine (Blanchard, Duvivier, Fourgy, Sibert, Marin (Cité Soleil) and Croix-des-Missions (Tabarre) (129 deaths), town of Pont-Sondé (100 deaths).

What the travel advisories say

The US State Department currently rates Haiti at level 4 of 4 - "Do not travel" (updated 2026-07-09). The UK Foreign Office advises against all travel to this country. 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 Haiti

Terrorism in Haiti · Haiti-Dominican Republic border closure · Political situation · Criminal and gang activity · Criminal kidnaps · Illegal drugs and prison sentences · Personal ID · LGBT+ · Road travel · Hurricanes · Earthquakes

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

The numbers

Homicide rate: 23 /100kcity-measured, 2021 · ~8× the global city median
Conflict deaths: 1,983within 100 km, 2022-2024 (UCDP)
Income inequality: Gini 41.1country, 2012
Human development: HDI 0.554country, 2023
Income: $3,130/yrGNI per capita PPP · context only, not scored
Population: 1.9Murban centre · 6,794/km²
Nearest airport: 4 kmToussaint Louverture International Airport (PAP) · also CAP, 131 km

Straight-line distance from the city centre, not drive time. Scheduled-service airports only (OurAirports).

Country context for travelers

Road deaths: 18.8 /100kWHO, 2019 · often the biggest real travel risk
Political stability: 45/100World Bank WGI, 2024 · higher = more stable
Rule of law: 29/100World Bank WGI, 2024 · police and courts reliability
Corruption perceptions: 16/100Transparency International, 2025 · higher = cleaner
Natural-hazard risk: 7.6/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
Women, Peace & Security: 0.40Georgetown WPS Index, 2025 · 0-1, higher = better
Air quality: 15.8 µg/m³PM2.5 annual mean, 2023 · WHO guideline is 5
Safely managed drinking water: no dataof the population · WHO/UNICEF JMP
Healthcare capacity: 0.3 doctors /1k4.9 hospital beds per 1,000
Malaria: 9 /1k at riskWHO, 2024 · listed for endemic countries only

Natural hazards in Haiti

Cyclone: 8.8/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
Earthquake: 8.4/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
Flood: 4.7/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
Tsunami: 4.1/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
Drought: 3.7/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier

Hazard types scoring under 1 out of 10 are not listed. These describe Haiti as a whole, not Port-au-Prince specifically.

Same-sex sexual activity is legal in Haiti (as of 2025).

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

How the score works

Low homicide40%17

Peace25%18

Equality25%53

Development10%55

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 Port-au-Prince that gives 30.0/100. Full methodology, anchors and sources →

Port-au-Prince compared with Santiago de los Caballeros

The nearest ranked city of comparable size. Green favours Port-au-Prince, red favours Santiago de los Caballeros.
Measure	Port-au-Prince	Santiago de los Caballeros	Difference
Safety score	30.0	62.1	−32.0 — better for Santiago de los Caballeros
Homicide ratecity-measured where published, otherwise the national rate	23 /100k	7.2 /100k	+16 /100k — better for Santiago de los Caballeros
Conflict deaths within 100 km	1,983	0	+1,983 — better for Santiago de los Caballeros
Income inequality (Gini)	41.1	39.0	+2.1 — better for Santiago de los Caballeros
Human development (HDI)	0.554	0.776	−0.222 — better for Santiago de los Caballeros
Road deaths	18.8 /100k	64.6 /100k	−45.8 /100k — better for Port-au-Prince
Rule of law	29/100	54/100	−25/100 — better for Santiago de los Caballeros
Corruption perceptions	16/100	37/100	−21/100 — better for Santiago de los Caballeros
Air quality (PM2.5)	15.8 µg/m³	13.5 µg/m³	+2.3 µg/m³ — better for Santiago de los Caballeros
Natural-hazard risk	7.6/10	4.4/10	+3.2/10 — better for Santiago de los Caballeros

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 Santiago de los Caballeros →

Nearby cities

Léogâne 23.2
Jacmel 23.4
Petit-Goâve 23.2
Saint-Marc 23.2
Gonaïves 27.5
Cap-Haitien 28.5
Port-de-Paix 28.9
Santiago de los Caballeros, Dominican Republic 62.1

See Port-au-Prince on the interactive map → · Safest cities in North America → · Full travel briefings →