Reykjavik scores 90 out of 100 (very high safety) on World Safety Map, ranked 95 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 Reykjavik safe?

Iceland · Europe · data updated 2026-09-04

89.5Very high · rank 95 / 6,168
safer than 98% of ranked cities

Reykjavik is a city in Iceland, home to about 218k people, and one of 6,168 cities worldwide ranked on this site from published safety data. It currently ranks 95 of 6,168, with a safety score of 89.5 out of 100, which puts it in the top band of the ranking.

US 1/4 Exercise normal precautions

Emergency 112 (ambulance, fire, police)

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

How safe is Reykjavik really?

The most direct evidence is measured in the city itself: Reykjavik recorded 0.5 homicides per 100,000 residents in 2022 - well below the global city median. Iceland is also one of the more equal societies in the dataset (Gini 26.8), 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 Iceland at level 1 of 4 - "Exercise normal precautions" (updated 2026-05-04). The UK Foreign Office publishes travel advice for Iceland 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 Iceland

Terrorism in Iceland · Crime · Personal ID · Smoking and e-cigarette bans · Illegal drugs · LGBT+ travellers · Hiking and mountaineering · Road travel · Driving conditions · Electric Scooters · Volcanic eruptions and earthquakes · Arctic travel

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

The numbers

Homicide rate: 0.5 /100kcity-measured, 2022
Conflict deaths: 0within 100 km, 2022-2024 (UCDP)
Income inequality: Gini 26.8country, 2019
Human development: HDI 0.972country, 2023
Income: $83,250/yrGNI per capita PPP · context only, not scored
Population: 218kurban centre · 2,501/km²

Country context for travelers

Road deaths: 2.0 /100kWHO, 2019 · often the biggest real travel risk
Political stability: 86/100World Bank WGI, 2024 · higher = more stable
Rule of law: 85/100World Bank WGI, 2024 · police and courts reliability
Corruption perceptions: 77/100Transparency International, 2025 · higher = cleaner
Natural-hazard risk: 1.6/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
Women, Peace & Security: 0.93Georgetown WPS Index, 2025 · 0-1, higher = better
Air quality: 4.9 µg/m³PM2.5 annual mean, 2023 · WHO guideline is 5
Safely managed drinking water: 100%of the population, 2024 · WHO/UNICEF JMP
Healthcare capacity: 4.4 doctors /1k2.8 hospital beds per 1,000

Natural hazards in Iceland

Earthquake: 5.4/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier

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

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

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

How the score works

Low homicide40%84

Peace25%100

Equality25%85

Development10%97

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 Reykjavik that gives 89.5/100. Full methodology, anchors and sources →

Reykjavik compared with Glasgow

The nearest ranked city of comparable size. Green favours Reykjavik, red favours Glasgow.
Measure	Reykjavik	Glasgow	Difference
Safety score	89.5	76.4	+13.1 — better for Reykjavik
Homicide ratecity-measured where published, otherwise the national rate	0.5 /100k	2.0 /100k	−1.5 /100k — better for Reykjavik
Conflict deaths within 100 km	0	0	±0
Income inequality (Gini)	26.8	32.4	−5.6 — better for Reykjavik
Human development (HDI)	0.972	0.946	+0.026 — better for Reykjavik
Road deaths	2.0 /100k	3.2 /100k	−1.2 /100k — better for Reykjavik
Rule of law	85/100	79/100	+6/100 — better for Reykjavik
Corruption perceptions	77/100	70/100	+7/100 — better for Reykjavik
Air quality (PM2.5)	4.9 µg/m³	9.5 µg/m³	−4.6 µg/m³ — better for Reykjavik
Natural-hazard risk	1.6/10	2.2/10	−0.6/10 — better for Reykjavik

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 Glasgow →

Nearby cities

See Reykjavik on the interactive map → · Safest cities in Europe → · Full travel briefings →